Now, even though you will all think me some1 who has only seen a few anime things and not really a fan, i have to dissagree with your view on the cat like characters.
You talk of not finding them attractive (although non of us really want to admit that we find cartoons attractive, at least not to people we know) but that is their only purpose. Hojima Ca'Riche bassed his idea of racial coversions to attract anime fans beacause they hold the related appearance of a cat. If we dont admit they can create an attraction, then they've lost their purpose... besides just making cat's eyes now and then