I've actually had great luck with the ShiningBeam S-mini series of lights. Simple low medium high, and so far has been the best value level light I've used. Their other house brand lights are probably decent. The beam profile should be pretty good for checking out the cats and the low should be good at not turning the sound room into a glowing window.
I forget what order the modes are in though, and there is a memory, so you may need to do the hold against hip while activating to avoid starting in a bright mode.
I use mine as bike lights that I park in urban areas, so that if they get stolen (which happened to a 4Sevens light I had on a bike once, grrr), I don't feel too bad.