I have to say, you pack an awesome amount of world building into one relatively short little space, and manage to make it plausibly matter of fact. They turn into cats that don't necessarily correspond with their human gender. No big. That's just the way it is.

I loved your description of Cougar, of how his hold on humanity is so tenuous, the bond between him and his cat so strong.


Also, chatters and mrrps and yowls proves that you actually have cats, as the mrrp is one of those cat sounds that anyone who has a cat will recognize, while anyone who doesn't will go, "Mrrp? WTF?" and it lends a credence to your narrative that is hard to come by with this type of piece.

Hope there is more to come!