I am of a certain vintage that remembers when Cher and Dolly were considered to be freak shows. So it comes as no surprise to me, though Cat Man can’t believe it, that I am fascinated with Lady Gaga. I watched HBO’s special this past weekend, “Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour,” and now I can’t stop singing (to myself, don’t worry) “Born This Way.”
I wonder if Lucius was “born this way,” meaning a cat who is half-empathetic and half-demonic. Prior to my Gaga sighting, this thought also came to mind when Dr. O. introduced me recently to a six-week-old orange-tabby foundling who was discovered at a Houston-area high school. The kitten is all sweetness and light, and could Lucius ever have been described in this way? Or, was he born to be sensitive and neurotic?
I can only imagine Lucius in his early youth, as I met him when he was already two years old and had developed his distinct point of view, otherwise known as an attitude. I have since watched him become a senior cat with a vengeance. I don’t mean to flatter myself, but perhaps if I had intervened when Lucius was a toddler, he would not be quite so nutty today.
Yet I love that Lucius is who he is, and I certainly can’t write with any conviction that he and I have a “bad romance,” to quote another one of my new and favorite Gaga tunes. As Lady Gaga herself convincingly sings about humankind’s shared DNA, “Ooh, there ain’t no other way, baby.” And as Lucius might refrain, “I’m on the right track, Cat Lady, I was born this way.”
Query of the Day: Were your cats born to be wild or kind, or both ways?
My "lovey" didn't get her nickname without a reason. I often think how could this once feral cat not have a mean bone in her body. Never does she suggest mal-intent with her claws or teeth, even when frightened. I often ponder the age-old question of whether we are born with innate evil and good. But when I see my "lovey" after a long day of work waiting for me at the door, I know the answer to that question.
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