Animal Charity Begs People to Stop Buying Taylor Swift’s Cat Breed for a Pet

Taylor Swift may be the TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world, but like an ordinary human, she too has her own bunch of likes and dislikes. From collecting antiques to savoring appetizers like cheeseburgers, chocolate shakes, fries, and heart-shaped sugar cookies, the Love Story singer has managed to influence millions of her fans around the world. Above and beyond these likes, the rock star is “obsessed with cats.” However, just before Swift’s Eras tour was about to land in the UK this summer, animal welfare experts urged Swifties not to copy her by buying the same breed of cat as hers, reported The Guardian.

Swift’s three cats, Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button, have been one of the most comforting companions during her journey of life. They have regularly made public appearances, often cuddling the singer-songwriter. Not to mention Taylor’s postings on TikTok, which she calls “pretty much just a cat account.” In the 2023 TIME Person of the Year cover, which features Swift, what looks like a furry neckpiece on her dazzling black outfit, is actually Benjamin. The Blank Space singer even used one of the photo shoot images to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Speaking to TIME magazine, she even revealed that she loves cats so much that when she was approached for the role of musical film Cats, she agreed to play the role. “They’re very dignified. They’re independent. They’re very capable of dealing with their own life,” she told TIME. However, as The Guardian reports, two of Swift’s cats, Olivia and Meredith, belong to the breed of Scottish Fold cats.

Scottish Folds are born with a genetic disorder. What makes them super cute is the same characteristic that makes their life utterly painful. The same gene that endows them with their characteristic round faces and “folded ears,” also causes floppy cartilage in their ears leading to osteochondrodysplasia, which results in abnormal bone growth, arthritis, and severe pain. As a result, the fuzzy canines stay “in pain for life.”

In recent years, Cats Protection, a UK cat welfare charity, surveyed several cat owners across the UK. The survey suggested that about 100,000 out of 10.6 million cats in the UK are Scottish Folds. And since these cats are good at hiding their pain, the pet parents don’t grasp the seriousness of the situation. Sarah Elliott, the organization’s central veterinary officer, told The Guardian, “We are not saying that Taylor herself is at fault for owning them.”

“The breeders are not really giving them the information that they need. This is something owners find out later, and often it’s quite devastating to find out that your cat has this condition that can’t be cured, and that they’re going to be in pain for life,” Elliott added. The reason why celebrities like Swift and Ed Sheeran love Scottish Folds is because these doll-like cats are docile and love cuddles. But the British Veterinary Association has strictly warned people against breeding these cats because for them ultimately, breeding leads to a lifetime of pain. And experts are urging people to prioritize the cats’ quality of life more than fulfilling their desire for a furry companion.