We had friends some years ago who had a three-legged cat. A men’s group that I led met at their house so I actually saw the cat, doing his normal three-legged cat thing. I was always afraid to ask them too many questions about the poor animal, whether he was born this way or whether this fate fell upon him due to an unfortunate fit of rage by his owners. (I didn’t want to end up the same way as the cat, in case it was the latter; I’ve grown rather accustomed to my appendages and hope to keep them for quite some time.) And the funny thing was that he had adapted to his situation. He had learned to walk and run and get along with only three legs.

I had only seen this cat in the house, so for illustration’s sake, let’s say that he never goes outside and that he never interacts with normal, four-legged cats. Now let’s say the cat can talk (not really a stretch, given that he already has only three legs). And let’s say the cat and I were to have a conversation something like this:
Continue reading →