Taylor Swift is many things. An 11-time Grammy Award-winning artist, a breaker of glass ceilings, a devoted thrower of shade. But above all else, the country singer-turned-pop-superstar is undeniably, unequivocally, indisputably a lover of all things cat.
Those who’ve followed Swift throughout her career know very well the full extent of her devotion, but things are different now from how they were back in 2013. Swift has grown her family. It’s not just Meredith anymore. Taylor Swift is now, by her own words, a cat lady. But are we talking a few cats here, or does she need to calm down?
How many cats does Taylor Swift have?
As we said, it’s not just Meredith anymore, although Meredith is by and large the most well known. Swift has added two more cats to her family, both of which have very different personalities to each other and most definitely differing personalities to Meredith. Let’s see what we can find out about each.
Meredith
For years it was just Meredith, and Swift’s fandom grew to know her as one of their own. Named after Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith the cat is just as feisty and just as famous as the character Ellen Pompeo plays. Named one of 2013’s most noteworthy celebrity pets by Ok Magazine, Meredith was practically internet famous before it was cool to create a social media account for your pets. Like the famous Grumpy Cat of the 2012 era, Meredith doesn’t always show her feelings on her face, and she is notorious for her saucey side eye, but she’s a softy at heart and wishes Swift would never stop petting her.
Meredith is of Scottish fold descent, which explains the fold in her ears and her owl-like appearance. Truly, there’s only one way to sum up Meredith Grey the cat, and it’s with a line from SpongeBob Squarepants: “She was number one!”
Olivia
In 2014, Swift added the newest addition to her family: Olivia. Like her sister Meredith, Olivia is of Scottish fold descent, although she is much less feisty and goes by the name Dibbles at home (don’t ask us, ask Taylor). Oliva, too, earned her name from a famous television character, the one and only Detective Olivia Benson from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Whereas Meredith can’t get away from the camera fast enough, Oliva can’t get enough of it. Usually because she’s falling asleep or toppling over (she has terrible balance apparently). For a solid seven years it was just Olivia and Meredith, two sister-cats taking over the world. Then came along Benjamin…
Benjamin Button
It’s doesn’t get more adorable than love at first sight, and it was very much that for Swift and Benjamin Button, who is named after – well, you know. Swift met Benjamin on the set of her music video for “ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)” She and Urie played husband and wife in the music video, parents to their “daughters”, Meredith and Olivia (the cats, not the characters). Then, while on set, along came Benjamin, an itty-bitty kitten who loved tummy rubs and couldn’t stop purring. After swooping him up in her arms, Swift decided she couldn’t go home without him. The rest is purr-story.
As of this writing, Benjamin is the sole brother to Meredith and Olivia, and according to her TikTok he is also king of everything the light touches. However, now that she has embraced her reputation as a true-blue cat lady, we know all too well Benjamin Button won’t be the last. Wait, we just had an epiphany – she should name her next cat Macavity! This is us trying, folks…