Everyone knows that Taylor Swift is a huge animal lover. She has so many furry friends it’s almost hard to think she has a favorite type of animal.
Taylor Swift’s favorite animal is cats. She is a self-proclaimed cat lady and loves her three cats named Meredith Gray, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button. She also played a cat in the musical Cats. While she loves cats, Swift has said her spirit animal is a fox.
You can read more below about Taylor Swift’s cats, her role as a cat, and why a fox is her spirit animal.
Swift’s Three Cats
As we mentioned above, cats aren’t only her favorite animal, Taylor Swift owns three of them. Each cat has a unique name and breed. Here’s what we know about each one.
The first of Swift’s feline friends is Meredith Grey. Meredith is a Scottish Fold and has a grey and white coat that is in a marbled tabby pattern. As you may have guessed, this cat is named after the titular character from Grey’s Anatomy.
Taylor Swift has another Scottish Fold that is named Olivia Benson. She named this cat after the main character of the same name in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that is played by Mariska Hargitay. This cat is mostly white with some grey markings on her face and light grey striping.
Finally, Swift’s last cat is Benjamin Button who is named after the character played by Brad Pitt in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Benjamin is a ragdoll cat that has raccoon-like patterns around his eyes and with the patterning similar to a Siamese or Himalayan cat.
Interestingly, the Scottish Fold cats are considered very controversial to own. This is because the folded ears that they are known for are actually due to a mutation in their body called feline osteochondrodysplasia that makes it difficult for them to produce cartilage. Because of this, they are highly susceptible to arthritis, eating disorders, hearing problems, and heart disease.
The Governing Council of Cat Fancy stopped allowing breeders to register Scottish Folds in the 1970s because the results of the genetic mutation were seen as inhumane. They did this to discourage breeders from continuing to breed this cat. However, many people love the look of the cats and continue to breed them because of demand.
There is not as much controversy surrounding Ragdoll cats, however, you cannot take them outside because they are too trusting. They do not have the natural instincts to look for danger and run away that all other breeds have.
You can watch Taylor Swift talking about cats on The Graham Norton Show with John Cleese and Kevin Pietersen in the below video.
Taylor Swift in Cats
Not only does Taylor Swift absolutely love her kitties, but she also had the opportunity to dress up as one and partake in the 2019 film version of the Broadway musical Cats. In it, she plays the orange Bengal cat named Bombalurina.
Swift had one line and also sang the song ‘Macavity: The Mystery Cat.’ While the film was a massive flop and credited with being one of the worst films of 2019, Taylor has said that she has no regrets about taking part in the making of it.
In an interview with Variety, Swift said that “I had a really great time working on that weird-a** movie. I’m not gonna retroactively decide that it wasn’t the best experience. I never would have met Andrew Lloyd Webber or gotten to see how he works, and now he’s my buddy. I got to work with the sickest dancers and performers. No complaints.”
What self-proclaimed “cat lady” wouldn’t love dressing up as a cat and getting to sing and dance broadway-style?
Taylor Swift’s Spirit Animal
Even though cats are Taylor Swift’s favorite animal, she has a different animal that she thinks is her spirit animal. That animal is a fox.
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Swift said that her spirit animal was a fox because they have to run and hide a lot and she has to run and hide a lot. This is probably in reference to living life as an A-list celebrity who is always having to run and hide from the paparazzi.
While in most traditional cultures a spirit animal is supposed to be a guide that helps and protects a person, Swift means it in the sense that she shares personality traits with foxes.