I think Richard is allergic to cats. Everyone knows that cats are attracted to people who are allergic to them

I vote for option 1, since fluids are also unaffected by his gravity

Also a slight correction, maybe Richard LOVE cats

3. The cat had the zoomies, was running toward Richard, got spooked, turned to run away digging their carpet destroying knife hands into the carpet, and this is the still shot of them primed to reach escape velocity going away from Richard

Or … Their greater mass renders them less affected than the tiny cat.