I may not have a cat's ears, but thanks to my autism and the way it affects my senses, I can personally relate to that sort of sensory overload. It's exhausting, having to go out into the world and be social when all your senses are dialed to 11 at all hours of the day -- and even if it gives people the wrong impression, I have to wear over-ear headphones and a hooded coat to reduce the light, if I don't want to burn myself out over the span of a simple errand.

It just goes to show, there's very real topics that a story about turning into a towering tiger-lady can address when it needs to.

Fellow autistic person here. Can hardly bear to look up at the sky on sunny days, it's so bright. At least I have somewhat decent night vision... But don't get me started on the hearing...or the smells, for that matter.

Flavors and textures as well. I've got a very poor tolerance for bitter flavors, and there's some foods that I can't stomach purely because of their texture in my mouth -- it's something I've only really heard from other folks on the spectrum, while to anybody else, it just makes me a picky eater.

[T]here's some foods that I can't stomach purely because of their texture in my mouth[.]
Don't even get me started! Especially onions!

For me, it's fresh tomatoes. For my BF, it's scrambled eggs. The specific food seems to vary every time, but it's always a texture thing rather than a flavor thing, at least of the people I've talked to. (I genuinely like the flavor of tomatoes, but the texture of a fresh-cut raw tomato makes me gag.)

Same here. I like the flavor, but the texture is just...no.

Man, now I wish I could remember which story I was reading that brought up the same kind of thing. How one would have to learn to filter out all the things they don't want or need to hear.

Could it be Freefall?
(I think that may be the only time they bring it up, though)

Na, definitely not that one. Pretty sure it was one of the major comic publications. Might've been The Sentry or something. But again, still not sure.

Hah, my first thought was that someone needed to link that :D