"Make me the person my dog thinks I am," goes the famous entreaty. And for those living under the constant scrutiny of the public eye, that plea is likely invoked with an extra grain of truth. Dogs -- and for that matter cats, pigs, and the occasional kinkajou -- prove loyal companions to the famous and infamous in a sometimes less-than-friendly world.

1. Martha Stewart

 The woman who twice landed on Forbes magazine's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women may be a tough cookie in business, but she's a softie about her pets. Her brood includes four chow chows: Zu-Zu, Paw-Paw, Cin-Cin, and Empress Woo; and seven Himalayan cats: Teeny, Weeny, Mozart, Vivaldi, Verdi, Berlioz, and Bartok.

2. Edgar Allan Poe

 Edgar Allan Poe wrote essays, short stories, and long poems, most of them more than a little macabre. Poe's short story, "The Black Cat," was inspired by his own tortoiseshell cat, Catarina, who curled up in bed with the writer's wife to keep her warm while she was dying of tuberculosis.

Celebrity Pets
Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Black Cat"
was inspired by his own pet cat, Catarina.

3. Bill Clinton

 Famous for his foreign diplomacy, former president Bill Clinton was even able to persuade a cat and dog to peacefully coexist in the White House. Socks the cat came with Clinton when he moved into the executive mansion in 1993. Buddy, a chocolate Labrador retriever, arrived in 1997 as a gift. Socks and Buddy achieved national fame with the publishing of Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets, by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Upon leaving office, Clinton gave Socks to secretary Betty Currie and took Buddy with him to New York. Sadly, Buddy was struck and killed by a car in 2002 near the Clintons' New York home.

4. John Lennon

John Lennon's mother, Julia, had a cat named Elvis (after Elvis Presley), which fostered John's own fascination with felines. Growing up in Liverpool, the Beatle-to-be had three cats: Tich, Tim, and Sam. With wife Cynthia, he had a tabby named Mimi. With May Pang, he had a white cat and a black cat -- Major and Minor. John and Yoko Ono shared their New York home with another black and white pair -- Salt and Pepper. You can check out his sketches of his cats at play in the books A Spaniard in the Works and Real Love: The Drawings for Sean.

On the next page you will find the continuation of our list of celebrity pet owners from Oprah to Britney Spears.

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