Jenna Bush Hager Adopts Kitten, After Months-Long Search for Missing Cat

Jenna Bush Hager shared both happy and sad news with Hoda Kotb and her audience, along with how it helped her connect with her 11-year-old daughter, Mila. First Jenna admitted her daughter’s rescue cat, Hollywood, went missing over the summer and the guilt she feels around it. And after several months of looking, she decided Mila could adopt a new kitten.

Jenna adopted Hollywood the cat as a Christmas present for Mila in 2022. Then at a kids birthday party at her house in the summer – Hollywood went missing. With many guests coming and going, the front door was left open, with the cat believed to have ran out to never return. Jenna shared she felt plenty of guilt about it, saying, “because I just felt like it was kind of my fault.” They prayed Hollywood would return, even leaving their door open some nights hoping he would come in. “I mean, doing everything trying to find the kitty. Everything you could possibly think of.”

Jenna also shared that while it was of course a tragic event, the extra time she spent close to her daughter became a powerful bonding experience, saying “For the first three nights that the cat was gone, she slept with me and we had these conversations around all of these really beautiful things about life, about love, about pain, about loss. And I could be there for her, and she could be there for me.”

Jenna also shared a photo of the yet-to-be-named kitten her daughter Mila will adopt! And Jenna also was clear there’s still room in the house for Hollywood to return, saying, “So we’re going to have a new member of our household, and hopefully Holly will smell that little kitty and be like, ‘Who’s getting in there with my parents.’ And come back.”

Back in January, Jenna adopted a kitten named Mr. Mango Mellow for her daughter Poppy (and yes, who also got to name her).