Yay! Protecting the obstinate cat is the vibe I was going for so I'm glad that came across! :) I changed things already in my own version of the game so that the mouse is visible when the bucket is placed. I also changed the dash key from D to Space after collecting feedback. Will update the web version with this and more levels once rating is over.
Sorry you had trouble with that level! The timing is definitely tricky on that one. I won't spoil it for others, but you have dash at a very exact time.
Thanks for playing!