TOM CRUISE's new girlfriend Penélope Cruz is looking forward to having children - but until her life settles down, she's going to make do with her family of cats. The actress admits she takes in homeless animals at times in her life when she's feeling lonely, and now that she travels around so much her mother has had to become a surrogate for some of her feline companions.

She says, "I take in cats from the streets. I find them in situations in which they are alone, with no food, and I can't ignore them. I spend so much time living by myself, mostly in hotels, and I pick up cats when I'm feeling particularly lonely.

They all end up living with me, although some are now in Madrid with my mother. Cats are my substitute for the children I can't have yet because my life is so crazy right now. I'd love to have children one day, but I don't think you can plan those things. " (SVD/MC/NFA)

Source: WENN