I found it charming and thoughtful -- though I think I could forgive someone for thinking it came off as preachy; them's the breaks with a societal critique kinda story that only has one volume.
It definitely surprised me at a few points; I can't remember the last time I read something that so thoroughly understood that the majority of real life discrimination doesn't come in the form of big, exclusionary declarations or over the top act of bullying; it comes in daily microaggressions, small things that a person is just expected to brush off or ignore in fear of being seen as 'pushy', 'dramatic'.
An amount of other shockingly nuanced ideas are brought up; the sheer disappointment of reading along with something you like with a character like you that finally feels different and fresh! only to read the latest chapter and see them get boxes into tired old stereotypes. The complicated feelings of 'you shouldn't expect me to pat your ass just for barely not being a bigot' versus 'lashing out at people trying unlearn bad things isn't exactly productive'. 'I play into stereotypes because it endears people to me and that's safer' versus 'you playing into that kinda thing gives us a bad name'.
My last comment is that I generally assumed that it would be more a metaphor for racism; cats and humans, different races, etc.
To be honest, it reads much more like metaphor for sexism; cat folk are 'cute, expected to model, be paraded around as something to look at', etc. Just something to think about.
I will say! I worry I made it sound like a drag; it's honestly not dreary a read. It's actually pretty light and keeps the subject easy to follow.