Panic Disorder Comic version 3- the question of representation

I've got a bit of a dilemma to sort out. I thought that it would be nice to use animals instead of humans for this comic, partly to sidestep any issues around gender. There are more than enough stereotypes of women as panickers, men as authority figures, and I didn't need to add to that.

In addition, Scott McCloud in his 1993 book 'Understanding Comics' talks about the universality of icons and non-specific cartoons, which I wanted to tap into.

Unfortunately the person commissioning the cartoon has asked that I revert to the man and woman as he feels this undermines the truthfulness of the situation. I disagree. If you look at Art Spiegelman's Maus, for example, depicting the Holocaust from a survivor's perspective, using animal representation. And that won a Pulitzer, the only comic ever to do so.

What do you think?