Welcome to the Board!! It's very addictive, as I'm sure you'll soon discover. _:-)_ Other information you might check out is threads on this Board about where to shop. Connecting Threads, Keepsake Quilting, etc., are both good but there are certainly others. Use the Search feature at the top to look for shopping or some such.
As for cats and other furry creatures, that's a big YES for a lot of us!! the only way I could get anything done in my sewing room was to add a comfy bed for each kitty (4). And, no shutting them out!! Oh, no!! Rudy (see my avatar) will scream, and I mean SCREAM, outside the door until I let him in. My Squeaky will bull doze the door until it pops open. Very determined, those two. The other two just sit back until "open sesame," then they just walk on in.