Going back through the game, I'm at Fox quest #7.  I talk to the guy.  I ask him if he's afraid of cats.  I go to the Dojima Residence looking for the cat.  The cat never shows up.  What am I doing wrong?  My disc is messed up, and has been freezing and failing to load.  Could it be possible that the disc is damaged where that data is and it will never load the cat, and I have to buy another copy of the game to finish the quest?

After you talk to the guy at the Samegawa flood plain the cat should be outside of the dojima residence on a day when it isn't raining. if its not showing up theres something wrong with your disc

Thank you internet.