The last time we covered a profile of former Disney actress Bella Thorne, which was in April of this year, she had 12 cats. Vogue did an 18 minute interview and documentary of her life. Her house is full of bizarre art projects, strange objects that wouldn’t be out of place in a commercial haunted house, and of course cats. She does have at least one dog as well, maybe two. We also learned that Bella makes a whopping $65,000 for just one sponsored Instagram post, which makes sense because she has over 18 million followers. Since that time Bella has been on essentially the same track except she acquired seven more cats. That’s because she doesn’t spay or neuter them. Bella, now 21, told the LA Times that she was broke at 18 despite having a Disney show (Shake It Up) and multiple films at that point. She heavily insinuates that her mom took all her money. (In this LA Times profile she also talks about the sexual abuse she endured from an unnamed male when she was a child so trigger warning for that if you follow the link. She opened up about that earlier this year.)
On outlets pointing out her acne
“The Daily Mail will be like, ‘Bella must have been out partying last night’ because they got a photo of me not wearing makeup with acne,” she says. “They’re like, ‘She looks really tired out. Maybe the drugs are really wearing on her skin.’ … I get so mad. So are you telling every kid with cystic acne that they must be a heroin addict? I think they think I take serious drugs, and I’m just smoking weed.”On smoking weed
“I used to be super, super against weed. When I was 16, my boyfriend smoked weed and I would get so upset. I thought it was the devil’s lettuce. I was always the really good two-shoes — the one that was the teacher’s pet in that annoying sense.”Why she has 19 cats
Thorne’s home appears to be her canvas — the medium she uses to express herself, be it through her hand-painted 12-foot unicorn statue, the hundreds of felt roses she’s glued to the wall or the castle she created for her 19 cats. (She didn’t want her first cat, Lola, to be spayed because she thought it was barbaric, and now there are four generations of cats living here: Nuzzling against your knee, crawling up the screen windows, tearing down metallic streamers.)On being broke at 18
Despite working on “Shake It Up” for three years, she says that when she turned 18, she had $200 to her name. When I ask her where the money went, her voice turns serious: “You know where it went.” I reply I do not, but she declines to elaborate.She knows what people say about her
“I mean, OK, this girl, she’s showing off her body. She’s got armpit hair,” she says, taking my phone in her hands. “That’s just my boobs looking huge. And that’s a photo I like because I have no makeup on. But people say, ‘She’s crazy. She’s probably giving it up all the time. That girl’s a ho.’ ”On her friendship with Mae Whitman after they were in The Duff
“My first moment of seeing a female in power was her on that set. That was my first time ever experiencing the right and the wrongs of feminism. That’s just not the way things were growing up in my household. I just never really learned ‘Be a woman,’ and ‘Be a boss,’ and all these things and what the feminist movement is about. I never learned that until I got on that set with Mae.”She says the awful things that happened to her made her who she is
“All of the things that are awful — especially all of the things that happened growing up — I’ve always looked at it as: ‘Why me?’ Because I am strong enough. Because it has gotten me here. I don’t even know what Bella Thorne would look like if she hadn’t been molested growing up, or her father hadn’t died. I don’t know that I like that girl.”
Some outlets are focusing on Bella making freckles on her face to distract from her acne scars. (I didn’t include that part above. She also gets microneedling at the dermatologist, which is using small needles to help generate new skin.) Somehow that scene captures Bella’s whole social media personality, which is to entertain us while not trying to hide her vulnerability. As hard as it is to relate to her, there’s something endearing about her. It’s massively irresponsible for her not to get her cats fixed though. They’re inbred so they can have so health problems from that as well. (Although breeders do that to preserve traits and lines, etc.) Vulture points out that Bella barely Instagrams photos of her cats either, but often features her dog on social media. She does put her cats on Snapchat occasionally. Maybe she should offer some of them up for adoption if she’s not willing to spay or neuter them. I hope that they’re well taken care of.
photos credit: WENN.com
God, how irresponsible. Ugh.
This reminds me of Paris Hilton. She has as many dogs as Bella has cats. Also not spayed or neutered. This is irresponsible. I hope at least their basic needs are taken care off and there is hired help. No one can do this on their own. At least Paris claims that she has help. I hope it’s true. It’s mind boggling and worrisome either way.
I’m surprised she hasn’t lost any to breast cancer. The risk for cats and dogs goes up astronomically if they even just go into heat once. Dogs are more easily treatable, but it’s very aggressive in cats. I lost a cat to breast cancer – she had been pregnant at least once before she arrived at my house. She was only seven years old when she died (probably at least 1.5 years after it began, we tried surgery three times to eliminate it) and it wasn’t a fun experience for her or me. That may be a full lifespan for a feral cat, but it was too early for her.
I’ve never noticed a difference in general behavior of male or female cats after neutering or spaying other than they aren’t stressed out by hormone-driven pursuit of a mate. Nine days with a chirping, crying cat in heat should convince anybody that spaying is a good idea… I don’t think they miss what they lose in the operation at all, they are still definitely themselves afterward.
I worry about spaying being a major surgery, but for the male neutering is just an outpatient procedure. With all the millions of cats killed regularly for lack of pet humans, it’s not hard for me to decide for my friends that they don’t need to be parents. I can always find a homeless kitten for them to nurture if they want the experience.
Idiot!
I don’t know who she is but sounds like she’s terrible and an irresponsible pet owner. No excuse for that.
That’s so irresponsible and kind of gross. How could someone keep track of so many animals? Pets need to be given love, attention and taken care of. Does she feed, play,clean, and keep them healthy herself, or does she have hired cat help?
She might have been broke at 18 even though she’d been working for 3 years, but she’s definitely not the only one
I have 14 senior dogs and 5 cats. I do everything myself. Since I work from home and rarely travel they get more attention than a lot of single pets do. They all go to the vet at least twice a year, get their teeth cleaned yearly, and the ones who weren’t too old when I got them are neutered. I spend about $2,500 a month on food and vet bills. Just becuse someone has a bunch doesn’t mean it’s a bad situation. This situation is probably bad though.
I cant imagine what her house smells like with 19 cats. How many litter boxes does 19 cats require? How often are they cleaned?
My thoughts exactly. We just adopted our kitten this summer. Lots of work. Poor cats. Someone should step in. This is not healthy mentally or physically. Usually animal hoarding is a cry for help.
Mine smelled terribly with 4. If I had 19 the smell would be forever attached to me.
You “should” have one for every cat, plus one then scoop daily or every other day, and then deep change weekly. Somehow I doubt she has like 20 litter boxes kicking around though.
I have 4 cats and I’m in the process of taming another. My 4 share a litter box that is 3′ x 2′ x 1′ deep. I clean it twice a day, and my house has never stunk. I have friends that marvel over the fact that my house has never smelled of litter, urine, or spray, ever. I got new landlords 2 months ago and they didn’t believe I had any cats in my house, nevermind four of them. I had to show them the cats. What kills me is people who cheerfully admit they fully expected my house to stink when they walked in it. They insult me and then insult me again by congratulating me because I don’t live in filth. There is no excuse for a house that stinks because of a litter box. None. If you have cats clean the damn litter box. My stray has her own litter box and it doesn’t stink either. All you have to do is clean them daily, it’s easy and takes less than 2 minutes. It’s also a lot healthier for you cats, a dirty litter box spreads worms, can cause kidney infections, or cause your cats to eat it, to get rid of the smell. Clean your litter box, or find your cats a home with someone who cares.
Here here 🙂
I do the same. Having cats with litter boxes does not equal a smelly home. I mean in her case I am sure it is a mess as she doesn’t even spay or neuter( yikes) but you are absolutely correct. Clean it twice a day, deep clean every week and there will be no smell what so ever.
You really shouldn’t take it personally. It’s not a judgment about your cleanliness – – I think people expect the smell (even without actual filth) because (1) it’s fairly common; and (2) cat owners can become immune to the smell. I have a dear friend with great hygiene and an otherwise spotless home, but she truly does not smell what the rest of us can when we step into her basement: the smell of cat urine that burns our noses. I’m not sure if it’s an issue of how often she changes the litter, the type of litter, the size of the box for her two cats… But whoa!!
Where did you find a 1′ deep box? We have two and one is a HIGH urinator, lol. Currently we take a giant tote and cut an opening in it, but I’d love something a little more polished!
I use plastic totes designed for blankets or sweaters, which fit under the bed. Get the ones without wheels (obviously, lol) they have slightly higher sides than the wheeled ones. Mine holds 40 lbs of litter which I clean twice a day, and replace once a week.
Forty pounds of litter is not as much as it sounds like. It puts about 4-5 inches of litter across the pan.
I kinda feel bad for her. Because she had no money at 18, she had to resort to posting so many revealing Instagram photos just to stay relevant. Her body was all she had.
I don’t. I’d say good for her for finding something that works for her and that she doesn’t mind doing. I don’t feel bad that Colton Hynes does that either. She most likely would have been wearing revealing outfits and taking revealing photos anyway, since Hollywood is full of people who weren’t broke at 18 but who did that anyway (some even from the same network she’s from). Every day in this country there are also plenty people who turn 18 with only a few hundred dollars to their names and go get jobs, go to college, etc. What I do feel sorry for the fact that somebody stole money she worked hard for.
Nineteen really is too many cats for one person though. She really should give away at least 10 of them.
irresponsible arsehole. I used to volunteer with a cat rescue and people like her were always awful to deal with.
No idea who she is other than stupid.
Ignorant flipping cow. She should be banned from having animals for life.
Sigh…
I can’t with this…or her!
that’s animal hoarding and its not ok
I never knew this until recently but getting a female cat spayed is like giving a full hysterectomy so yeah I think it is something to consider. These cats are not outdoors, she is able to take care of them, it is her decision. How would cats live if in the ‘wild’? Should we be making these type decisions for other species? It is a little different if the cats are outdoors, but even then, at least there should be thought given to it…
p.s. I feel for whatever she has been through… I know very little about her, I hope she has a good/decent support system now.
I feel for her, too. But I don’t think we know if she’s able to take care of that many cats. It is irresponsible and they will continue to reproduce. I can’t even imagine.
If these cats were in the wild they would have predators. Natural population control. Also, these are domestic cats, so there is no ‘wild’ for them. She’s being incredibly irresponsible.
Getting the cat spayed might be like a full hysterectomy, but if it’s not fixed, and is in a house with male cats who haven’t been neutered, the female will keep getting pregnant. Giving birth over and over, for years and years to a bunch of kittens at a time would probably be a little harder on the cat than a hysterectomy. If she wants multiple cats, but doesn’t want to have them fixed, the much more responsible thing to do would’ve been to have just male, or just female
I was crushed when I had to put my very large 75lb 6 month old puppy through a spay (basically a full hysterectomy). I laid on the floor with her for two weeks of recovery and we slept on the floor every night and cried together literally.
But I had an unneutured male dog at her daycare and her becoming a doggy teen mom (not healthy for dogs to get pregnant too young also) was NOT happening on my watch. She is fine now. It is not easy on your pet or the owner but it is the responsible thing to do for society and your pet. Being a mother to anything living thing requires making difficult decisions. Be prepared to make them or do not become a mother of a living breathing anything.
They need to be spayed for other reasons, and these reasons will increase where 19 cats are using latrine facilities in one house. There’s a big risk of a life-threatening infection of the uterus, which becomes vulnerable after repeated cycles of non-mating. Some hormonal imbalance develops and leaves it extremely likely that the infection will follow….and then the cat is severely at risk.
Thorne is being very irresponsible all round.
Yes, we should be making these decisions for domesticated species. I’d rather have my pet recover from a hysterectomy than contribute to the hundreds of millions of feral cats that are at risk of starving, freezing to death, being tortured by abusive humans, or attacked by predators.
And I say this as someone who is about to adopt two feral kittens. We already have two cats in a small house — but we’re making space for them.
A cat showed up on my sister’s porch a few months ago. Half-grown herself and starving, she was desperate enough to try to get food from a human even though she is a feral. She was also pregnant and just had 8 kittens. The mom cat has been spayed and if she is not able to socialize, she will be released. If she had not been spayed, she would likely be having another litter or two every year — assuming she didn’t starve to death or freeze in a Chicago winter.
Every kitten that is born into a home means that another homeless kitten isn’t going to be adopted.
“I’d rather have my pet recover from a hysterectomy than contribute to the hundreds of millions of feral cats that are at risk of starving, freezing to death, being tortured by abusive humans, or attacked by predators.”
THIS. I have one rescue kitty who was feral and would love to adopt another but the rest of my family is not (yet) on board. Just this morning one of the fostering accounts I follow on IG posted a story about a man who rescued a kitten from the middle of a busy road — some sick person had glued her to the road. I’m crying again just typing this. Spaying/neutering is critical.
Yes, it’s a serious surgery. But there are precautions that can be taken (thorough blood work) beforehand to make sure there is the least amount of risk possible.
A male cat neuter can be done in 2-5 minutes. If you’re getting your female cat spayed before they ever go into heat, it’s a lot easier, faster, and safer. Every pet I’ve ever owned has been female expect for one cat. The surgery has gone well every single time, and we will be booking an appointment for the kitten to get spayed in a month or two. Of course you worry – surgery is scary – but they bounce back pretty quickly. Honestly – we had to dope our dog up a bit the day following her surgery because she was already trying to go full tilt and we were afraid she would pull her stitches. All surgeries are different – some pets take longer to get back into the swing of things – some bounce back terrifyingly quick.
Beyond that – it can reduce the risk of cancer in the pets. It usually gives them a longer life. When an animal is in heat that’s ALL they can focus on – and escaping from the house and getting out and impregnated by someone else’s cat certainly isn’t uncommon during this time. It can be a lot of stress on the pet, over and over and over again as opposed to the stress of one surgery. On top of all that – over population is a horrible problem, and there’s a reason there are so many animals in shelters. I’d feel less ‘judgey’ about it if her argument was that it’s major surgery for the female cats, and then went on to neuter all the males. But that’s not what she’s doing.
you’re kidding right @cat1? A spay may be a serious surgery but the consequences of not getting a cat spayed are many. And it’s not just because of babies (which is a VERY important reason to spay) it’s also for the cat’s health. unspayed cats have a pretty high chance of getting breast cancer (especially if they have litters, which they always do), the more litters they have the higher their chances of getting pyometra which can very easily be deadly, uterine prolapses..the list goes on. So yes, if you don’t spay your cat(s) if you are an irresponsible cat caretaker.
That’s the disease I had in mind, Originallala thanks. Pyometra…..my god it’s atrocious. It makes no difference if the cat is 100% indoors and free of male attention….it’s hormonal in origin. And insidious……it can creep up for a long time and then Wham!! the poor cat is litetally only hours from death. (Thank god for really helpful vets)
Another teen without responsible adults in her life… Hard to hate.
Well Bella and I have one thing in common — we both love Mae Whitman.
I work at a vet and cat owners like this drive me mad. Even if you don’t keep male and female cats together you should neuter your female cats. They get in heat and if you don’t neuter them it can happen that they never leave this state again, which is extremly stressful.
And cats get pregnant again pretty fast after they had their babies. A cat we treat, which is only two years old, was pregnant two times in half a year, because her owner doesn’t want to neuter her. I feel so bad for this kitty cause having seven babies is just too much for her.
A female cat can have three or even four cycles (litters) per year. My vet said that if I had not had my young female cat spayed, she could have 20 kittens in a single year. Who would want to put your cat through that?
At least have the male cats fixed and keep the females indoors! This is very irresponsible and she’s trying to mask it as love for animals.
Cats have been domesticated for at least 10,000 years. That means humans are responsible for their care and management. ASPCA recommends spaying and neutering of pets, and I figure they know more than Bella Thorne. See their FAQ here:
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/general-pet-care/spayneuter-your-pet
She is not well. Where is her family?
My guess is her parents put her pre-adult earnings into a trust because her mental illness and possibly addiction issues were clear then. And she was likely precocious from an early age and so Mom knew she had to do something. I truly feel for this girl. She needs help.
One of the biggest problems is that people keep anthropomorphizing animals such as cats and dogs. Yes, they can feel some emotions, but they aren’t emotionally attached to their genitals like humans seem to be. They do not care if they get spayed or neutered. People need to stop projecting their insecurities onto their pets.
Oh I fully believe that my cat, Spike, is still pissed at me for de-nutting him. But I DGAF lol. It was in his best interest, my best interest, and everyone else’s. He’ll get over it.
I’m getting my rescue doggie spayed this week, and I am a ball of nerves! I love her so much, and after the surgery we will be able to adopt her FINALLY. We’ll also get to start taking her to the doggie park, which I know will be the best experience ever for her (she loves other dogs).
It is a big surgery, but I absolutely think it is in her best interest for her health. I’ve ordered an inflatable “cone” for her and also a surgical body recovery suit. Most importantly, I’m taking time off just to be with her while she heals.
I feel bad for bella i can’t believe her mother stole her money I know people don’t like bella around here but she support her whole family after her father passed away. She worked hard and for her mother to steal her money is just wrong its she probably had a decent amount of money too that would have lasted her a while she was in a bunch of Disney Channel stuff beside shake it up .
I’m torn. On the one hand she’s irresponsible as f*ck and on the other seems like her parents/guardians were irresponsible prior to reaching adulthood. I feel like “you know where it went” hints at the age old tale of show biz parents basically pimping their kids out and living on their dime without saving for the kids future.
Bella always look like she is in need of a shower, BAD. I can only imagine what her house smells like with 19 cats that aren’t spayed or neutered. I’m sure her cats are spraying in her house too. Yuck.
THIS^^^. I’m really really sympathetic to all she went through, but as a responsible pet owner (one gigantic black furry neutered male Catzilla and one puppy soon to get his neutering), I just have to say GROSS. I can’t *imagine* what her house must smell like, and the poor kitties!! This is disgusting and irresponsible beyond belief.