I get the sense that Taylor Swift relates to her three domestic cat companions as babies. She’s just acquired a new cat. She has called him Benjamin Button and he is totally adorable. He looks like a Ragdoll and they are a very, very placid breed and probably ideal for her because she travels a lot and you need a cat who is laid-back under these circumstances – if she’s going to travel with him.
I don’t want to be critical and I don’t want to be a party pooper or anything else negative but I am a little concerned about the way she is holding her Benjamin Button, while looking adoringly into his eyes. She is cradling him as if she is cradling a baby. To all intents and purposes, she is behaving just like a mother holding her baby who has been born about three weeks ago.
I’m sure that Taylor Swift is a very good mother! I’m sure she loves cats a hell of a lot and will do anything for them and that they have a great life but it is not wise to relate to a domestic cat as a baby. I know it is easy to do this because they have baby-like faces particularly when they’re kittens (the Persian is breed like this for that purpose). It’s a reason why women like cats. In fact, women often refer to cats as their “fur babies”. It is the mothering instinct and I totally accept understand it. It’s alright as long as you remember that you are living with a domestic cat who is not that well domesticated and who has inherited all their ancestral wildcat traits and instincts.
It’s far better to carry a cat with the belly facing down and supporting the cat properly. And not all cats like to be carried. Clearly Benjamin Button is perfectly okay with it which is great. One of the great problems in the human-cat relationship is the failure of many cat owners to relate to their cat properly. Many of them relate to the cats as dogs because they expect their cat to respond like a dog or a little human. It’s not that bad to do this but you are living dangerously because you are not using the relationship properly and you are not supporting the relationship in a way which helps to generate a wonderful bond. It can lead to disappointment because expectations are not met. If a person expects their cat to behave like a dog, they will have failed expectations. These failures can lead to the relinquishment of a domestic cat to a shelter.
And also when you relate to a domestic cat is a little human you might not like her claws because humans don’t have claws which in turn can lead to declawing the cat. Declawing cats is barbaric, inhumane and totally wrong and we all know that. You see, when you relate to a domestic cat as a baby, is not the right thing to do. Sorry Taylor, I think you’re a great performer and I admire you tremendously but you might think about rectifying that idea you have.
