Looking for a light weight can't lift a heavy one that has good pickup as my daughter has a cat. Any help would be appreciated.

I love my Dyson for cat hair but it is quite heavy, I have heard the Orecks are good for pet hair and also light.

I also needed one that would not be too heavy. DH and I spent a lot of time reading reviews of various models on amazon.com, and we ended up buying a canister model in the mid-range--Delphi by Miele. Miele is a German manufacturer with a well-earned reputation for quality. I am extremely happy with the vacuum and would buy that brand again without hesitation. It was a bit different from my prior bargain upright bagless vacuum that just glided around the floor so easily, but didn't pick up much of anything. I felt a little pull with the Miele, but soon realized that it was really doing the work for me. Can't remember the exact price of the Miele, but it was comparable to some of the Dyson models (around $500). You get what you pay for!

I love love love my Dyson! I got the one with the ball that goes around things. I honestly didn't realize how much my old vacuum was missing before. I highly recommend Dyson to everyone! I am shocked at how much it picks up! I'm like 'where did all this come from??' LOL!