Photographing a black cat is not easy!
Handheld shot with kit lens
Shot in raw, converted with Raw Shooter
Edited to B&W, no noise reduction to enhance film grain look
This is a perfect image to try doing two raw conversions, one for the background and one for the cat. Put the one with the good background on top of the one with the good cat and use a layer mask to paint through the lighter cat.
Isabel