Dennis Quaid adopts cat named Dennis Quaid from Virginia pet shelter

'We all thought it was a prank'

Dennis Quaid adopts Dennis Quaid (the cat) in Lynchburg, Virginia

LYNCHBURG, Virginia – A Virginia pet shelter announced last week that one of its furry friends is getting a few belly rubs from a familiar face on the big screen.

The Lynchburg Humane Society said that Jimmy Jellinek, Quaid’s co-host on the Pet Show podcast, which discusses emerging topics in pet culture, came to the center on Aug. 15 to officially adopt Dennis Quaid the cat.

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According to the shelter, local TV station WSLS, a KSAT sister station, ran a story highlighting the cat as part of the station’s “Clear the Shelters” series and eventually made its way to Jellinek and Quaid, who played Texas legend Sam Houston in the feature film “The Alamo.”

However, it wasn’t always a star-studded affair for the feline.

The Lynchburg Humane Society said that Dennis Quaid the cat had been at the shelter for 60 days. Before that, he was at a different shelter where he was at risk of being euthanized, which is when the humane society stepped in to care for him.

The local humane society’s Adoption Manager Danielle Ulmer told KSAT that the cat will keep his name once he gets to his forever home.

“Jimmy will be quarantining with Dennis the cat for a week or two since he had to travel, but after that Dennis and Dennis will finally meet in person!” Ulmer said in an email interview. “As far as I am aware they are keeping his name.”

Ulmer said she was stunned by the actor’s gesture.

“We all thought it was a prank,” Ulmer said. “We were like there is NO way Dennis Quaid heard about a cat from a little town in Virginia. I immediately started Googling all the information about their podcast to see if it was legit or not and when everything seemed to check out I was like well if it is real this will be the coolest thing to ever happen and if not we can at least laugh about it. We have been naming pets after celebrities and characters for a while and this is the first time one of their namesakes has ever reached out to us.”


About the Author:

Jakob Rodriguez is a digital journalist at KSAT 12. He's a graduate of Texas State University, where he served as the editor-in-chief of the student-run newspaper, The University Star.