40 Cat-Obsessed Celebrities Who Are Head Over Heels For Their Furry Friends

Cleo the kitten had a pretty unusual start in life - she was found in a car engine, after all! Luckily, she made a perfect recovery from her less-than-glam beginnings. And things have certainly taken a step up now that she’s found her forever home with supermodel Gigi Hadid. Cleo even gets to play with Hadid’s smartphone – what a life.

You might have heard an adoption story like Nyjer Morgan’s before, but you’ve probably never met a cat with a name quite like it! The retired Milwaukee Brewers player decided to rescue a pet in need while in Wisconsin city. And sure enough, his adorable pet, Slick Willie, became one of his best pals. The sportsman told PETA, “[I] figured, why not go to the pound and get myself a little kitten?” And as for the name, it’s probably a safe bet not to get copied.

In a 1972 interview with the Sarasota Journal, Ann-Margret couldn’t contain herself when she found out that the interviewer also liked cats. The Bye Bye Birdie actress gushed, “I’ve always loved cats ever since I was a little girl.” And, as a grown-up, the passion hadn’t waned. The actress said that she and her husband Roger Smith had multiple cats at the time. We’re guessing that she still has a feline companion nearly 50 years later.

Macklemore made a snap decision to bring home a kitten named Cairo. The rapper and his wife Tricia were having problems, so it might not have seemed the best time to throw a pet into the mix. Though he told People that the opposite was true. The “Thrift Shop” singer explained, “She came along at a difficult time in my relationship with my wife. My life was falling apart and Cairo gave me and Tricia something to bond over. She gives us unconditional love.”

Olivia de Havilland could embody just about any role on screen, which explains why she earned five Oscar nominations over the course of her career. But the Gone With the Wind star couldn’t handle everything. See the above picture for reference: she could only hold two of her three Siamese cats!

The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus has to act tough on-screen but, at home, he seems to be quite the softie with his cat named Eye in the Dark. He has gushed about their relationship in interviews, too. In a 2014 interview with Us Weekly, he referred to the feline as his “best friend.”

Hailey Bieber and her husband Justin must really love cats. Ahead of their 2019 nuptials, he brought home a pair of very expensive kittens for him and his soon-to-be-wife. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they cost $35,000 in total because the felines are part African Serval. These intelligent and powerful exotic cats can apparently jump up to 9 feet into the air!

You know Betty White is hilarious, as evidenced by the star’s signature roles on Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. But there are a few other things you might not know about her. For one thing, she blazed trails in Hollywood and became the first woman to ever produce a sitcom. White has also been a cat person for her entire life – a love that traces back to her childhood orange tabby named Toby.

Actress, singer and director Bella Thorne can understandably get overwhelmed with her busy schedule, and her cats Louis and Lola know how to act accordingly! She told Us Weekly in 2016, “If I’m, like, crying or something, they’ll come up to me and they’ll just, like, snuggle me cause they know I’m having a bad day. That makes me feel so much better because then for a second I’m just thinking about them... and not me and what I’m going through.”

Hollywood heavyweight and Shawshank Redemption star Morgan Freeman really love cats. The actor grew up surrounded by pets of all kinds, and he thinks all kids should have the same kind of companionship. Freeman told People, “I think that it’s more than important for kids to grow up with pets. A loving pet is the most loving you’re ever going to get.”

WandaVision star Kat Dennings makes no secret how much she loves her pet. And the actress told Nylon in 2019 that hanging with the feline is her favorite thing to do. She said, “I am the person who just does not want to go out. I just want to stay home and like, play with my cat.”

James Franco told People in 2011 that he “was raised a cat person.” As such, the actor still counts felines as pets – and continues to deal with their shedding. That same year, he arrived at the amfAR Inspiration Gala with a bit of pet dander on his black tie getup. But Franco happily pointed out the strands, which makes us think he doesn’t care about this cat-ownership side effect whatsoever.

One scroll through Jenna Fischer’s Instagram and you’ll notice a prominent sidekick on all of her adventures: her orange cat Sonny. In fact, The Office star often posts photos of herself with tabby in-tow and captions them with the hashtag, “Caturday.” In her feline-friendly house, it appears that every day would earn that designation.

You probably recognize Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates from the iconic Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho. The actor had tons of other acting credits to his name, though. And the star revealed in 1958 that he didn’t even have time to make friends. But Perkins always had room in his schedule to hang with his pet cat Banjo.

Mayim Bialik – star of the beloved series The Big Bang Theory – has a clear favorite thing to talk about, learn about and do with her spare time. She told Parade in 2015, “I’m a huge cat lover. I read books on cats. I spend time with my cats. I post a lot on social media about my cats.”

Tom Hardy has made it clear throughout his time in the spotlight that he cares about the welfare of abandoned animals. The British actor has volunteered for the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in London, England, and he’s even saved felines from the street. According to PETE, the Mad Max: Fury Road star once brought a stray kitten into his hotel room until he found the gray tabby a home.

Did you know that The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg has saved abandoned kittens in the past? Yep, while in Shanghai for the city’s International Film Festival, the actor found a trio of tabbies in a box and made a plea to find them homes via social media. He said they looked similar to his own pet cat who, of course, hadn’t traveled to China with him for the getaway.

This 1945 photo shows Ava Gardner atop a diving board snuggling with a pair of Siamese cats. It’s an odd setup, to be sure. But it also shows us that the actress was ahead of the curve in choosing her pets’ breed. Interestingly, Siamese cats became extra popular in the 1950s and ’60s.

Ian Somerhalder has had his cat Moke for 15 years, so it’s no wonder the two are comfortable enough to snuggle together. In an Instagram post, the Vampire Diaries actor said that he had to “literally sleep on [his] face” because “this little orange dude decided he wanted to sleep on the back of my head.” Now, that’s true love.

Hop onto Kesha’s Instagram, and you’ll find yourself scrolling through a slew of animal-centric photos. Among the “Tick Tock” singer’s menagerie are plenty of cats, which she refers to as her “babies.” In a 2016 caption on the platform she wrote, “Animals literally make everything better.”

Kate Beckinsale likes dogs, but when it comes to pets, she prefers cats for one major reason. The actress told People in 2019, “Cats are easier than dogs. You don’t have to walk around with a bag of poo like you do with a dog, which I hate to walk around with a bag of poo.” Of course, the Van Helsing star loves her feline friends for more than that. She posts tons of hilarious cat videos on her Instagram – proving they have fun together, too.

Freddie Mercury’s girlfriend Mary Austin sparked his love of cats by buying him a pair of kittens in the 1970s. From then on, the Queen singer surrounded himself with moggies and eventually ended up with a pack of ten! Also, to make all of his guys and girls feel special, Bored Panda notes that he treated them to their own Christmas stockings packed with toys and cat-friendly nibbles.

Katy Perry didn’t choose Kitty Purry – the feline picked her! According to an Instagram post, she came through a window “fully pregnant and seeking shelter.” From then on, Kitty Purry was the “California Gurls” singer’s go-to for “cuddles and companionship,” and they spent 15 years together before the cat sadly died in April 2020.

Robert Downey Jr. had no intention of becoming a dad to rescue animals, but once it happened things were never the same again. He told Men’s Fitness in 2011, “I was adamantly opposed to the whole idea. And now I couldn’t imagine living without them.” His feelings for the animals had skyrocketed by the time of the interview, too. The Iron Man star promised, “I would kill for these young, sweet little feline souls, these two boys. I would protect them with my life.”

Elizabeth Taylor told Rolling Stone in 1987 that she felt “ fascinated by cats.” And that sentiment didn’t just apply to the feline companions she kept at home. In the same interview, Taylor recounted a time when she went on safari and looked directly into the eyes of a wild lion despite protestations from her guide. She recalled telling the expert she was sorry, but “I can’t take my eyes away from this.” Meow.

Ricky Gervais and his partner – TV writer Jane Fallon – decided to do something noble during lockdown: they took in a foster cat named Pickle. And, while the couple had planned to have the feline until it found its forever home elsewhere, they ended up falling in love with the tabby and adopting it themselves. A happy ending for everyone!

Mandy Moore and her husband Taylor Goldsmith had a cat named Addison, whose inexplicably uncalm behavior pushed them to call in a pet psychic. Her verdict? They needed to change the feline’s name to Figaro. Ever since then, the This Is Us star told People that the moggie sings along with Moore and her beau. Regardless of how true that is, it’s clear this woman loves her pets – she took one to a psychic, for crying out loud.

Lea Michele skyrocketed to fame when she starred in the hit series Glee. Along with all of the critical acclaim and awards that came with that role, she got another prize: a stray cat named Sheila that she found while on set. According to Us Weekly, the actress went on to call her feline companion “the love of my life.”

The year was 1940 and Vivien Leigh’s new husband Laurence Olivier had to leave home to take flying lessons. Rather than wallow in loneliness, the actress decided to pick up a new companion: a stray black-and-white kitty who she named Tissy. One feline companion had her hooked, though. According to the Gone With the Wind star’s daughter, she kept as many as 16 cats at one time!

Turns out that Drew Barrymore isn’t the only cat lady in her family! Apparently, daughters Frankie and Olive have an affinity for felines, too. According to the Scream actress’ Instagram, the trio went to a shelter to rescue a pet cat “and came home with three kittens in need.” She then wondered if the event was “Christmas miracle” or if she had “just became the crazy cat lady?” We’ll let you decide on that one.

In February 2021 Nicole Kidman took to Instagram to celebrate National Love Your Pet Day because, as she put it, she hadn’t given her animals “much air time.” In the photos, the Oscar winner revealed that she had three cats – cuddling up to one of them in the slideshow of snapshots.

Martha Stewart loves cats so much that her repertoire of housekeeping advice sometimes includes advice for feline care. The homemaker extraordinaire has plenty of experience to draw on – she once had a whopping nine of them in her care, according to Today. Nowadays, Stewart has only a pair of Persians and a greenhouse cat who keeps vermin away from her prized plantings.

Ed Sheeran took to Twitter in 2014 to share some shocking news – he had saved a one-month kitten from being euthanized. Instead, he wrote, “I adopted [the cat] and called him Graham.” Not only that, but the “Shape of You” singer “bought Graham a bed and snacks” and, based on this picture, he quickly felt at home with his musician dad.

Paul McCartney has made one thing clear throughout his life and career: he loves animals. Not only has the former Beatle followed a meat-free diet since the 1970s, he has penned animal rights-centric songs including “Wildlife,” too. So, it should come as no surprise that McCartney keeps kitties at home – here, the star holds a pair of them on the stoop of his London home.

Taylor Swift is one of the greatest singer-songwriters of her generation. But you might be surprised at what inspires the “Cardigan” singer behind the scenes. She told Time, “Number one for me, most influential factor in my life is cats. I have cats. I’m obsessed with them.” Take that, everyone who thinks her songs are about ex-boyfriends!

Someone gave Karl Lagerfeld a cat in 2012 – that person couldn’t have had any idea of just how important that feline would become to the fashion designer. When the Chanel and Fendi boss died in 2019, it came to light that he had named his kitty as one of the heirs to his massive estate.

Burlesque star Dita Von Teese may take the cake when it comes to cat-loving parents. Here, the talent is showing off a new pair of kitties that, as she wrote in her Instagram caption, “the stork dropped off.” And like any matriarch, she’s pushing her new babies around in a carriage.

In what was arguably the most iconic role of her career, Audrey Hepburn played Holly Golihgtly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. And one of her co-stars was Orangey – a pumpkin-colored tabby called, well, “Cat.” Off-screen, the Oscar-winning starlet loved having one around, as well.

Jayne Mansfield’s career saw her become one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars and sought-after sex symbols. As such, paparazzi chased and photographed the star, and soon enough the world discovered just how much this woman loved her pets. Mansfield would travel everywhere with at least a few four-legged friends in-tow. In this picture, though, she’s just relaxing at home with two of her beloved felines and a pooch.

Marlon Brando had a subpar reputation in Hollywood. Some considered him a bad boy, and many found him difficult to work with. At home, though, the actor seemed to be a completely different person – cozying up to his pet cat and letting it rule the roost. As Brando once put it, he lived in his feline friend’s house, and every single cat owner out there can understand that sentiment!