Taylor Swift’s cats could be getting a new feline friend, but Jason Kelce needs to “be on board” before it happens. The NFL star’s wife, Kylie Kelce, tells PEOPLE that she “would like a cat” but doesn’t expect to get the pet “soon” because she wants Jason, 36, to warm up to the decision. “I really want Jason to be on board when we decide to get one,” Kylie, 31, says.
There has been chatter about Jason and Kylie adding a cat to the family since December, when Kylie appeared on a bonus episode of the podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce and said she was interested in a pet feline. Kylie mentioned the potential pet to Jason’s brother, Travis Kelce, on the podcast.
“I told Jason that I want to get a cat,” Kylie said on the episode before telling Travis, “And he told me no. And I feel like you might like cats now,” seemingly referencing Travis’ relationship with Swift, who is a doting mom to three cats — Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button.
In January, the idea of Jason becoming a cat dad came up again when Kylie wrote under a clip on the podcast’s Instagram account: “‘I’m not asking for permission, I’m doing this.’ – the exact quote I will say when I’m grabbing the keys to go get a cat.”
In response, Jason said on a follow-up episode of the podcast that he Googled “How to lose a cat.” Publically, Jason has not been enthusiastic about getting a pet cat, but Kylie says she believes these feelings could change based on a pet from her husband’s past.
“As much as he likes to pretend that he is like a hundred thousand percent against it, he grew up with a cat that really gave him some positive fond memories. Her name was Flash,” the mom of three shares. Donna Kelce, Jason and Travis’ mom, shared some insight into Jason’s time with Flash in a Feb. 7 interview with PEOPLE.
“They loved Flash because Flash was an athlete. Let me tell you, that cat was amazing,” Donna said when discussing the bond her boys had with the pet. Kylie says she is hopeful that finding a cat similar to Jason’s childhood feline will help convince her husband to welcome a cat to the family.
“If we can find a cat similar to Flash — I think it’s going to need to be a mostly outdoor cat just because he’s also allergic — I think that we can get them on board,” she says.