In what cases should I use 条 for 猫? I learned that the measure word for 猫 is 只.
However, my friend said 条 is the correct measure word for 猫.
The conversation with the friend is the following:

X: 你有养猫吗？
I: 哈哈 这只不是我的，我韩国旅游时的我的房东的。
X: 我家有一条
I: 猫应该是只还是条？
X: 条

So she said clearly it should be 条, not 只.
But my Pleco only shows 只, while 网易有道词典 doesn't mention it.
Now I wonder in what cases 条 should be used instead of 只, and why 只 is not correct here.
Misusing quantifiers is a practice of rhetorics. Consider the examples of 一滩猫 and 一坨代码. 滩 gives a metaphor noting the liquidity of a cat, and 坨 implies that the code is badly programmed to look like shit.

In orthographic usages, 条 cannot quantify 猫. However, if you have a specific rhetorical purpose, you may quantify anything with any quantifier you prefer.

In this very particular case, when 条 is used to quantify 猫, it would seem that you are giving an explicit implication that the cat is pretty long or very thin; and note that context matters.