Fellow cat lovers--a few questions?

Help me out here, guys? (posted this to cat_lovers as well)

So, I adopted Ula last Saturday. She and Foot are still hissy and growly at each other, although a brand new Feliway plug in last night seems to have helped little bit. I figure that part's just going to take time. Because, yeah, cats and all.

But...I do have a few concerns with Ula, mostly because the cats I had before her (including Foot) were always young enough that any unwanted behavior was easily rectified and corrected. Ula is already two years old though, and a full grown adult (and also very used to her former foster home rules, which I'm finding out differed a bit from how my own home is run. Poor Ula. :/)

Anyway, problem number one is that apparently, Ula was permitted to gently nip when being pet. Which is something I never allowed with my own furry 'kids'. Of course, I do the 'stop moving and say ow' in a firm voice with her, which does make her stop, but also startles her because she's still a little unsteady in her new home. I'm wondering if there's a gentler way to train her out of that...or even if I can at this point.

Second is that she LOVES to be petted...for about a minute, and then she'll jerk away and stare at my hand and sniff it before settling down again. I'm not sure if she's one of those cats that over-stimulates easily, or if she's still just that nervous in her new home. I'm also wondering if I'm going to end up getting tagged from it--because she will roll onto her side and raise her paw sometimes, which is a precursor to getting smacked. She hasn't yet, but I'm not really sure she won't, either.

Third and last, is if I reach for her head and my palm happens to be positioned 'overhead' from her POV, she flinches and pulls away at first...which makes me think she got hit in the head/face a lot in the past (Hopefully just by the other cats and/or by accident if it was by a human), but also concerns me, because, again, although I know she's new, she seems to be a lot more nervy than most cats I've known/raised/owned in the past.

Anyone have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

So

If you're designing a world that holds elements/constellations linked to those elements in high importance, and you set it up, and you notice that all the 'male' elements end up being represented by, essentially, animals, and the 'female' elements by anthromorphized animals (meaning they are both human and animal in physical traits), would you be concerned? Mind you, the division wasn't intentional--that's just how it worked out.

And, assuming it ever made it to popular print, how long do you think before the cries of 'reverse-misogamy!' started up in reviews and discussion boards?

And would you change anything knowing that's a possibility?

:)

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