There seems to be a common theme with electronics type people- a love of animals, especially cats. There must be some deep psychological reason for that.
As for cats wanting to kill you, I think that depends on the cat. The cats that I have owned/known would tear another animal to pieces if it thought they were a danger to the owner. But the owner could do anything to the cat without fear. When I was about eight I had a massive tom called Tiger. He was king of the patch, and even dogs didn't mess with him. He was old and irritable towards the end, and if anyone bothered him he would let rip. But I could and did push him around like when he was a kitten. I could tell he was just tolerating me but he would never be aggressive.
He would go on the prowl for about a week and then he would always show up at the same spot at the end of the garden path, with yet another piece of ear missing and his head covered in claw marks. My Mom immediately scrubbed him up in a solution of soap and Detol in the kitchen sink which caused him to yowl most pitifully. Once he was dried he would have a couple of bowls of bread and milk and then sleep for about 18 hours. One day he didn't retun from his prowls.