Taylor Swift’s album Midnights features the song Karma. Turns out, those words couldn’t be more accurate for Mariska Hargitay. She made it official soon after the album’s release and introduced her cat, Karma, to her followers on Instagram.

Last year, Mariska Hargitay posted a picture of Karma posing beside a collection of Taylor Swift memorabilia. (Photo Credit: Instagram)

Mariska Hargitay has officially embraced her Cat Lady status and she’s doing it most delightfully – with a feline named Karma. The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star introduced her fluffy new companion to the world and the name? A playful nod to Taylor Swift, the ultimate Olivia Benson fan. The connection between Hargitay and Swift reportedly goes back years. In 2014, Swift named her kitten Olivia Benson after Hargitay’s iconic SVU character. That same year, the actress appeared in Swift’s Bad Blood music video. Then, in 2022, Swift released her album Midnights, featuring the song Karma – which, fittingly, includes the lyrics, “Karma is a cat, purring in my lap ‘cuz it loves me.” Turns out, those words couldn’t be more accurate for Hargitay.

In November 2023, Hargitay made it official and introduced Karma – her striking blue-eyed Siamese – on social media. “Karma is a Cat Taylor Swift Meet Karma. My Cat,” she wrote on Instagram.

Swift’s reaction? Pure joy. “Are you serious?!!!! Nothing has ever come more full circle. Love this so much!!” she commented.

A month later, to celebrate Swift’s birthday in December, Hargitay posted a picture of Karma posing beside an impressive collection of Taylor Swift memorabilia. The tribute was complete.

For Hargitay, the name was inevitable. “It was only right. It was only fair. There was no other name that was even an option,” she told Entertainment Tonight.

Before Karma, Hargitay and her husband, Peter Hermann, already had a furry family member – Kaia, their rescue dog. Now, their household has doubled in pet love. “I’m so close with my animals. There’s just a deep connection that animals have. They know when you’re sick, they know when you’re upset, they are happy to see you in a way that nobody else is,” Hargitay told Today in 2024.

And what about Kaia and Karma? Besties. “They get along so well. They live for each other. My cat will be like, ‘I’m done with you,’ and she’ll walk away, and then the dog will be like, ‘Can we play more? Can we play more?’ It’s just a beautiful relationship to watch,” Hargitay shared with Woman’s World.

But as any cat owner knows, love from a feline isn’t freely given – it’s earned. And that’s exactly what makes it special.

“I feel like cats make people so insecure. It’s like, why won’t you come into the room when I come home? Why do you walk the other way? It’s almost like she’s doing it on purpose. And it’s always up to her mood when she feels like coming over and rubbing against my leg or letting me pet her. She makes me needy – it’s so funny,” Hargitay told People.

Still, Karma isn’t always playing hard to get. “She’s starting to cosy up in the bed with me and let me pet her and purring more. And just starting to give it up a little more… She’s so slinky and elegant. Just the way she moves always leaves me a little in awe,” Hargitay told the magazine.