A woman who has identified as a cat since her teenage years says it has helped her become her ‘true self’ and brought her closer to her partner.
Kat Lyons, 31, from Colorado, has been into kitten role-play her entire adult life and said she ‘first realized she was a cat’ in high school.
The model, who works at Cat Girl Manor – a residence in Colorado Springs which hosts animal role-play at BDSM events, met her partner Robrecht Berg, 52, an aerospace engineer, at a local Comic Con eight months ago.
Both say they are in a loving relationship despite the constant judgement they face over being in an age-gap, role-playing relationship.
Kat Lyons, seen above, 31, from Colorado, has identified as a cat since her teenage years
Kat says it has helped her become her ‘true self’ and brought her closer to her partner Robrecht Berg (pictured together), 52, an aerospace engineer
Kat said: ‘I have always been different. I just always had a fascination with cats and I felt myself, I’m a cat. I go through life being a cat – it’s just who I am.’
She added: ‘I’ve always worn cat ears. ‘It started when I was in high school, I don’t remember exactly what age I was but it [came from] an anime.
‘I was like, “Oh, that’s cool. I want to be that in real life”. So I just started applying that to my real life. I don’t think I started the ears, tail, the collar and all that stuff until later on.
The model, who works at Cat Girl Manor – a residence in Colorado Springs which hosts animal role-play at BDSM events, met Rob (pictured together) at a local Comic Con eight months ago
Both, seen above, say they are in a loving relationship despite the constant judgement they face over being in an age-gap, role-playing relationship
‘I was bullied a lot for wearing the ears and just being a nerd. So I kind of kept it a little bit hidden.’
Kat decided to embrace her kitten identity publicly when she came across the Cat Girl Manor and eventually discovered others who saw themselves as felines.
She recalled: ‘I just saw other girls doing it, so I felt more comfortable doing it myself.’
Speaking about the first time he met Kat, Rob said: ‘She might have been wearing ears at the time but I didn’t notice that.
Kat, above, decided to embrace her kitten identity publicly when she came across the Cat Girl Manor and eventually discovered others who saw themselves as felines
Rob, who works as an artist and organizes annual cosplay events, said that he wasn’t shocked about Kat’s (pictured together) role-play and has been very supportive of his partner’s choice
Speaking about the first time he met Kat, Rob, pictured left, and right with Kat, said: ‘She might have been wearing ears at the time but I didn’t notice that’
‘It wasn’t until talking to her on Messenger later that I found out that she was more into the kitten side of things and did that regularly since she was a teenager.’
Rob, who works as an artist and organizes annual cosplay events, said that he wasn’t shocked about Kat’s role-play and has been very supportive of his partner’s lifestyle choice.
He said: ‘Everyone has something different that they do. I see it as another outlet for a person to enjoy, relax, be themselves and be creative.’
In their relationship, Kat mostly takes a submissive role and considers Rob as her ‘master’.
In their relationship, Kat mostly takes a submissive role and she views Rob as her ‘master’
Kat, pictured with Rob, admitted that not everyone has been supportive of her kitten role-play
But she admitted that not everyone has been supportive of her kitten play, adding: ‘My family and certain people are not accepting and they don’t want to know anything about it.
‘It’s hard but I’m going to be who I am no matter if people are going to be accepting of this lifestyle or not. I’m just going to be who I am.’
She added: ‘I’ve always felt like I was a cat. When I’m in my kitten mode I’m happy. It’s my space.
‘Growing up I had to pretend to be normal and not be the cat person but now I get to be myself, I get to express myself, I get to climb, if I want to climb, I can if I want to drink out of a bowl, I can if I want to wear a collar, if I want to wear my ears, I can do it.
‘I don’t have anybody stopping me saying: “Okay, well, you need to be normal”. Now I can just be myself.’