Class/Race powers active

[horseyconseco]

We had a situation come up last night playing Star Munchkin where a player kicked a Feline race card. He equipped it and said since he was a feline and didn't find a monster he could kick again. I tried to tell him that since he was not a feline during his initial kick, and did not have the power when he kicked, he couldn't kick again this turn. He said that because he had the power he could use it even though he got the power from his first kick?

When do class or race powers go into effect? Does the Feline curiosity power retroactively let him kick again?

Edit: I just thought of another one. When faced with a curse on their turn, could a player become an orc to lose a level instead of get hit by the curse after the curse is already in play?