Eva Longoria loves cats

Eva Longoria thinks she has a lot in common with cats.

The former 'Desperate Housewives' star - who recently admitted she hasn't given up on finding love - has revealed she is a ''pretty passionate'' cat lover and thinks they are very similar to women.

The 37-year-old actress told People.com: ''I always found that I identified with them. Cats are feminine and independent and playful, much like a woman.''

The actress - who has partnered with Sheba cat food in the US to kick off the Feed Your Passion campaign, which encourages cat lovers to visit the brand's website and share a photo of themselves and their pet, or a video of their greatest passion in a bid to win $5,000 - revealed she grew up with a huge amount of cats and her mother hid the death of her favourite feline from her to protect her.

She said: ''I grew up with a lot of cats, but one in particular, her name was Cindy. She was like a member of our family. I swear she lived for 20, 25 years because every childhood photo, she's in it with all my sisters and me.

''My mom didn't even tell me she died. She told me she ran away ... I believed her in college.''

Eva has recently been spotted spending time with her ex-boyfriend Eduardo Cruz but previously revealed she doesn't think she only has one soul mate.

She said: ''I'm hopelessly romantic and I think there are a lot of people who could be a good match. I don't have to find a soul mate.''

Eva and Eduardo split in June last year after which she enjoyed a brief relationship with Mark Sanchez, before going their separate ways in October.