Kristyn Vitale is a woman on a mission: She's out to dispel at least part of the bad rap about cats — that they're aloof and independent, that they only care about their humans because we feed them and so forth. Any cat person who's gotten into a debate with a dog person knows all about that drill. Vitale, a researcher in the Human-Animal Interaction Lab in Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences, is working to disprove that bad rap, one study at a time. Her latest study, showing that pet cats form attachments to their human owners that are similar to the bond formed by children and dogs, earned attention from major media, including The New York Times and The Oregonian. The media spotlight, Vitale said, has been "very overwhelming, but in a good way."