Original subtitles

Buddy won't let us touch him.

She refers to Buddy as her child.

This is what he did.

He's a stray that gets fed.

He's a stray cat.

After every attack, there's always a bloody cat.

She was out to kill.

At the end of the road, for Colleen, she'll be...

I'm Jackson Galaxy.

I'm a musician by night and a cat behaviorist by day.

I've met cats with all kinds of problems.

But I've never met one I couldn't help.

Oh, hello. In my career, I've worked with thousands of cats one -on -one,

analyzing their behaviors and retraining them and their guardians.

When relationships are at an end... I don't have many more options than to

leave. ...and cat guardians have reached their emotional limit... Just get rid

of her. ...I'm their last hope.

You all right?

Harry, I don't know. Cats have nine lives, but humans only have one.

Whoa!

Come on.

Buddy. No.

No.

Today I'm going to go see Bob and Stephanie. They've got a cat named Buddy

a Scottish Fold, a rare breed who just wandered into their yard one day pretty

well feral. That means he can't be touched, handled. He doesn't want

do with people.

They're heartbroken about this because they just want a pet.

I'm going in there today to see if there's any way I can help. I don't

Turn back the clock.

I'm Bob. I'm Stephanie.

We've been together about 15 years.

Bob and I met at a grocery store when I worked there. I used to bag his

groceries, and then I bagged him.

Bob and I do not have any children, but we have Buddy, who is our Scottish Fold

cat.

She refers to Buddy as her child. He's a stray that gets fed.

But not a stray cat.

One day I was looking out in the backyard and I see this great cat. He

leave. What are you doing?

I think he's got, you know, his doubts about humans for whatever reason.

When we do reach out for him, that's his instant reaction is to lash out at us

to protect himself.

He goes ballistic. He swipes at us.

He's not very happy about this.

And me, I'm scared to death.

He won't let us touch him. He won't let us pet him. I think he thinks that we're

really going to...

I don't think with Buddy that's ever been an option to pet him or hold him or

anything like that.

We're hooked.

Okay.

Let's go.

Buddy? When I reach out, he lashes out at me.

Stephanie would wish he could become a pet.

I don't believe there can be any further relationship other than him hanging

here to eat and then taking off.

I disagree. See, I believe that there is hope for him, and I'm not going to give

up on him.

Hey. Hey. How are you?

Oh, I get a hug.

Amazing. Good to know you.

Me too. Thanks for having me over, guys.

Thank you for coming.

Yeah. So what's happening?

Buddy, he is our Scottish fold that adopted us about two and a half, almost

three years now. He showed up at our back door one day.

I broke down and went and got him chicken from the grocery store, and he's

with us ever since.

Scottish Folds are a rare breed, but they're also known as being typically

affectionate and outgoing, so it really saddens me to know that this guy is just

wandering the community feral for the most part.

If you move any hand movement, he'll go like that to you. So he's hand shy.

He's just defending himself, we assume.

The fact is he spent enough time outside, right, that he started to

to almost a feral nature, which a feral cat is one that doesn't trust human

beings. So what was it about Buddy specifically that made you go, let's

a step further?

When I first met Stephanie, she had no hope.

I know how it feels to... need help stephanie is this cat buddy that's all

and she wants to pay forward the vibe that bob paid to her all those years ago

i'll tell you i i love a challenge my job is constantly giving me a challenge

yeah he's been a challenge for me what do you do i'm an architect When someone

tells me that their job is an architect, I know that that's something I can work

with. Bob and Stephanie, they're not in the mindset of their client, their

architectural client buddy, and they're going to have to get there in order to

invite him into this house.

So I want to see the whole territory, what he considers safe and what he

considers not safe, all that. So if you guys want to guide me around, it would

be great.

I buy Buddy a whole chicken once a week. Yeah, show me the feeding routine that

you do with him. He loves his chicken, but he only eats the breast.

Get out of here.

I'm not kidding.

I love when great things are presented to me on a silver platter, so to speak.

This time it's chicken. If he will come to it, regardless of if he doesn't trust

you, that chicken is gold.

That we can work with. All right, let's keep going. Let me see what else you

guys got for me. All right.

So this is the backyard.

Okay, so now this is his world part two. This is where he comes from and up

through in here.

This is a really nice yard. And I'm starting to think, look, I've got an

architect inside, and I've got a cat that really needs to be part of this

so this could really be part of it. You've got a great yard here.

This is wonderful.

And so where does he tend to come from? Where does he hang out? Show me. I'd see

him cross the street to the yard where there's a lot of stuff in it. And then

jump over into the other yard or go over there and watch the other cats. Yeah.

That's Buddy's favorite spot. Yeah.

Why, if you have this, why do you need all that?

We have to make him feel that this whole thing is enough. That's correct.

Because honestly, this is enough.

There's a lot of good stuff here, you know what I mean?

So here's what I want to do.

I want to see where his, quote, safe spot is across the street. So if you

want to, you want to put on a jacket, let's go take a walk. Great.

I can't imagine why he would choose to run off across the street to a junkyard

as opposed to being in this beautiful house with these people every day. This

his world, huh? This is his world.

What an interesting world back here, man. Let's keep walking back here a

bit. There's an amazing amount of stuff here. I mean, ancient torture devices to

all kinds of things. But, and it, I don't even know if that's like a

or something. I think it was an incinerator, wasn't it? That or a kiln.

Yeah, it is a mess. The house is abandoned.

There's just wind blowing through all the windows and everything.

Just junk.

There's just stuff everywhere.

And I could imagine suddenly why a cat like Buddy loved this space.

All I'm seeing when I look around here.

Is places to hide.

Exactly. Exactly. Thank you. You're welcome. Thinking like a cat. There you

I think he's found safety in this.

in this spot.

Here is the nature of what I would call a cave dweller. He goes into spaces in

order to feel secure.

It's not that he feels confident in those spaces.

He feels safe. It's the only place he feels safe. I love the fact that you

are so in tune with him that you go, yes, this is his safe place.

As sad as that seems.

This is his safe place. It's not like I'm going to make you guys recreate the

junkyard in your backyard so you can breathe, Bob.

It's not that. But as an architect, it's so important to know your client.

Design a house around this is what I'm saying, but in a constructive,

aesthetically appealing way for the architect. But this is great

But let's make this the past.

Let's move forward into the present.

Let's do it. Sounds great. Let's go back. All right. The architect's got to

on the same page as the cave dweller.

I got some work to do to get these guys together.

See you in the yard.

Let's go see Buddy.

All right, let's do it. All right, let me grab my cage here.

Bob and Steph knew I was coming over, so last night after they fed Buddy...

They closed that door and wouldn't let him out of the house. Now, of course, he

hasn't been happy about it for the past 24 hours, but they were really smart.

I need to meet my client.

So it was time to go into the room where I knew Buddy was and get to meet him

one -on -one.

You have to excuse me.

Okay.

I think he's under here.

I saw where Buddy was. He was pretty much lodged underneath this movable

hamper, really caved well to the nth degree. I thought right away this was

to upset Bob and Steph if I kind of meet him the way I want to meet him with

them in the room, so I sent them away. I need to see you, man.

You're going to hate me.

All right, Buddy.

There you are.

Hi, Bucko.

Hi.

Well, look at your little foldy self.

I got treats for you, buddy. Look what I got for you.

Come here, bud.

It's okay.

All right, buddy.

You don't have to be in the corner if you don't want to.

Oh, God, you smell.

What's going on with your jaw?

What is that?

I got to see what's going on with your jaw.

Hi.

Okay.

Damn it.

Man.

There is something going on in your mouth, man.

Are you going to swipe me or what?

I got this close and bam, he got me.

Then he hissed at me and man, that hiss just about knocked me off my feet. It's

not just normal cat bad breath.

Something in there smells like it died and we got to take care of it.

What is that?

You don't like my hands very much, right?

It's okay.

It's okay.

Just checking to see if there's actually something in there.

I'll be putting some hydrogen peroxide on this wound to make sure I don't get

any kind of an infection.

You can never be too careful with a wound inflicted by a feral cat.

Clearly, toys are not something you want.

No toys, no food.

Just big gaping holes in Jackson's body.

All right, buddy.

That's enough for you right now.

I got about as much information as I was going to get out of this petrified cat.

I really didn't want to stress him out any further. And now we can decompress

for a second because I'm going to give Bob and Stephanie a whole bunch of

homework. Let's get to the work here because you guys got work to do. The

thing that I wanted to bring up was you guys got to get into the vet.

There's something going on.

When he hissed at me, it was like death.

There must be an abscessed tooth in there, a bad wound.

something in his mouth is completely wrong. It smells awful. We've got to get

him to the vet ASAP. Not only does he have to get to the vet, but here's the

catch, getting him into the carrier.

I think the best way for you to do that is just use the chicken to lead him into

the carrier, okay?

All right.

Now, the second thing that I wanted to bring up was the whole concept of you

being an architect.

and him being your client. So I'm going to have you as the architect build the

house around the client in here. Now, let's all get up, go to the kitchen for

second. I've got something else for you.

Typically, I'm all about getting cat guardians to get their cats out of

and moving around the house as quickly as possible. But because Buddy's

basically reverted to a feral state, I have to treat this case differently.

What I want Bob to do is start thinking like an architect and create safe spaces

for Buddy around the home where he can cave dwell and feel safe in their home.

Having Buddy feel safe is our first step.

All right, guys.

First of all, indulge me.

Here you go. Please pass this down.

Seriously. All right. Yeah?

I love this.

Okay. Now, here's the thing.

Ever since this morning, when you told me what was going on, I started

marinating these gloves in the chicken. I want you to keep doing that. This is

ridiculous. This is not our normal attire. Because here's the thing, this

going to sound really weird, but I want to start desensitizing the hands by

presenting them as something that is always good to him.

Buddy definitely has an issue with hands. Every time Steph goes to pet him

anything like that, he scratches.

And that is concerning because that means the feral part of Buddy is strong.

From now on, these meat gloves are going to be this tool for reassociating the

presence of hands and the movement of hands with the best thing in the world,

which is the chicken. All right, guys.

If you need me this week, you know where to find me. Keep your aprons. I'll keep

mine. Thank you. We are praying that this works.

I guess I'm one of those practical guys, so I'm not very confident.

Whether you're going to be changed, I don't know.

I'm heading in right now to see Bob and Stephanie and their cat Buddy for the

second visit. What I'm really hoping for is that Buddy is just beginning to

trust a little bit more because the last time I was here, I was getting my butt

literally kicked by this cat.

Damn it. As long as he's making his way closer to the home, they've made some

significant gains.

So, fill me in. What's happening with Buddy and with you guys?

Well, we got Buddy to the vet.

She gave him a thorough exam. She was concerned about his chin. She cleaned it

out. She wanted to do a biopsy, so she did a biopsy, and the results were that

it's cancer.

I am sorry.

Not good.

I was thinking that maybe he had an abscess wound from a fight, but he has

cancer?

Really didn't see that one coming at all.

Trying to get my arms around this one.

Prognosis?

The vet said that she spoke to the oncologist and that time is crucial.

But the procedure is $2 ,600.

We talked together earlier was that we were going to put it in Jackson's hands.

We want your honest opinion as far as what you think. What to do.

As soon as Bob and Stephanie put the decision about Buddy's life or death in

hands, first of all, the only thing that we're here to care about is Buddy's

well -being. If that cat is as wild as he was the first time I met him, and

going to get this surgery...

No life for him. He's going to have to be in a cage. He's going to have to have

recovery while he's completely freaked out, in pain, and still not accepting

touch. It's no way to live.

And at that point, you've got to start looking at what's the kindest thing for

him. That's not kind. I will, of course, give you my input. I'm going to do my

due diligence on this one as well. And I'll come back to you with what I think.

But in the meantime, let's talk about possible gains that you might have made

with him over the past couple weeks.

We've made some great gains.

Really? Yeah. Oh, good. Okay. You guys shot some video for me. I've got it

so here we go.

What are you doing?

Last time I was here, I asked Bob and Stephanie to build out Buddy's safe area

because he's a cave dweller. He needs to have surroundings in order to feel

safe. I want to create a whole maze of areas for him to come and hide.

Bob had big plans, and I can't wait to see those plans.

Come on, Buddy. You can do it.

You ready to eat?

We got to see Buddy coming in from outside.

Hey. Stephanie hand -feeding this cat while she's wearing the gloves and

reassociating the presence of hands with chicken. I don't even know if Stephanie

realizes how massive this is. Two weeks ago, impossible.

It wouldn't have happened. His only experience with hands is really

to be able to be fed with a hand is bigger than you'll ever know. Yeah.

Oh, that was amazing.

After seeing all this great progress on the video homework, I had to see what

they had done with the expansion of Buddy's safe zone. This is so cool right

here. I put a cloth here so we could open and close that and look in as

Bed, carpet, boxes, tunnels.

You've gotten into the mind of a quote -unquote feral cat.

Bob's job as an architect is to get people feeling safe and cozy in their

and that's what he's done for Buddy. And basically, you've got to remember that

Buddy has reverted to an almost feral state, and he's not going to trust

The only way he's going to be able to confidently walk around this home is if

feels safe first. Where is the boy right now?

He's actually behind the firewood. Okay, then.

We got him down here.

All right, mister.

Oh, good morning.

Hi, buddy.

Stephanie, while I'm doing this, what I'd like you to do, go get some chicken.

With your gloves on, please.

Are you going to get some chicken?

Good boy. Hi.

I'm going to pull myself to the side.

What's out here?

I got chicken.

Good boy.

Good boy.

Come on, buddy.

Good boy.

What?

Look it, I got chicken.

Are you kidding me?

What?

Are you kidding me?

When Buddy did come out of the woodpile, he didn't take the chicken.

What he did take was much more important. He took the room.

Yeah, he's acting a little scared, but he's a scared companion cat, not a caged

-in wild cat anymore.

When I go away for two weeks and I come back and you see this, it blows you away

because he's not feral trapped inside a house.

He's just sort of a scaredy cat indoors.

He just needed his own little cave, his nook, his cranny. I knew at that moment

that Buddy was coming around.

I was ready to tell you that it wasn't fair to him to keep him around.

But I completely changed my mind, and I recommend that you go forward with the

surgery. I wouldn't be so sure about saying that if it weren't for what I saw

today. What we're facing here is a new hurdle that's added to this whole

project.

It's terrible, though, so it's not like it's going to... Well, the hurdle here

is the $2 ,600 price tag.

But he will live if he has this procedure.

I don't know what else to say. I mean, I'm going to start crying.

Long story short, I recommend that you go forward with the surgery.

I do too.

The cancer itself can be managed, but Bob's in control of all the finances in

this home. So if they're going to cough up nearly $3 ,000 for this surgery, it's

going to come from him, and I've got to get his buy -in.

Bob, are you on board on this?

Can I get your commitment that this is going to happen?

I was waiting for your assurance that you felt the right thing.

I'll commit to it.

Right on, man.

Thank you.

Every cat deserves this, man. Every cat

deserves this.

And Buddy gets this today, man. And that is a privilege to watch.

It's been a long process with him, and to know that there's hope still for him,

that means everything to me.

You are already giving him a new lease on life, so thank you. Stephanie is

somebody who was rescued. She was a stray 20 years ago. Bob took her in, and

has desperately wanted to pay it forward. Buddy was that case where she

pay it forward, and she knows it.

Knowing that we're going forward with the surgery, There's a few things I want

you to take care of, okay?

First of all, I want you to build up a backyard.

This belongs to a company that I've worked with before. They're called

Fence, and it includes that kind of 45 -degree angle protrusion that comes out

so heat won't go out and nobody else comes in.

Once he's inside, we're going to take the caves that you've made in there with

tunnels, get more, bring them out here.

A lot going on in the next couple of weeks. I'll check in with you after

so we know where we're standing, okay?

All right, guys.

Hang in there. Thank you.

Now it's time for a kitty bit.

In which country are black cats considered lucky?

A, Japan, B, Italy, or C, Germany?

The answer after this break.

Now it's time for a kitty bit.

In which country are black cats considered lucky?

The answer is A, Japan. While many Americans and Europeans believe black

be unlucky, the opposite is true in many Asian countries.

I'm going in for my last visit with Bob and Stephanie and their cat, Buddy. Now,

this one's been a real roller coaster. I mean, Buddy was pretty much feral the

first time I met him.

Now, he's just come out of cancer surgery. I can just hope walking in

that he's that much closer to being a companion and that much further away

being a feral cat. How's the boy?

The boy is doing good. Is he really?

They got all the cancer out from his surgery. Really?

How long was he in the hospital? He was in overnight. I picked him up the next

day, and she called me with the results three days later, and she said that they

got it all. He's cancer -free.

Oh, yay.

But he wandered this neighborhood for years until somebody who also was thrown

away at some point in their life said, nah, this is not going to happen to

another being on my watch.

The next thing I want to do is go over your video homework.

Okay. So let's take a look at what you've done this time.

I got to see the guys from Perfect Fence putting up this amazing system in the

backyard, which will keep Buddy safe.

Amazing. Really?

Bob and Stephanie told me that they had continued to expand the safe zone for

Buddy, making him feel like this was really his home.

Are you becoming a cat again?

Hi, Buddy.

I can tell you one thing right now. The feral has left the building. We got to

see Buddy busting out of his shell, walking around with confidence, proving

he had trust, proving that this cat who was living out here wild and cold and

scared and without family had one.

Hello?

That's incredible.

Congratulations. Thank you.

Because he's coming around now.

Now, speaking of going around, I really want to go around.

Come on. I wanted to go into the room where I knew Buddy was because on top of

everything else, I wanted to check on his mouth since his cancer surgery.

Hi. How are you doing?

I cannot even tell he's had surgery. And that horrible smell coming from his

mouth? Gone.

It is. Look at how that's healing.

When this whole process started, Buddy was back into a feral state, and now he

wants to be out here with us and hang out. Come on, let's go, buddy.

Buddy.

Come on.

There we go. Good boy.

Come on, baby.

Good boy, buddy. Come back in, Stephanie.

Good boy. Come on, baby.

There we go. Come on, baby.

Let's go.

Oh,

look at how he moved.

This cat was pretty much feral just a few weeks ago. He wouldn't come near

guys. So the fact that Stephanie can call this cat and that he responds to

that means to me that Buddy has left his feral days behind.

Man, you have paid it forward, you know? You were trying to show him that love

for two -plus years, and now...

My belief is he knows that love. He does? He gets it. When we first started

feeding him, he didn't want anything to do with human beings. But where he is

today is so much further down the road than where he was. I wasn't a 100 %

believer that it could be done.

I am now. I expect you guys to send me some footage of eating out of the hand,

petting. So let me know. Keep me in the loop. I am telling you, you're going to

get it. Once I see them petting Buddy, a cat who was basically feral, once I see

that, then I'll be able to say this has an even happier ending.

Thank you, Jackson.

You're totally welcome.

This journey with Jackson and the whole process has been amazing. The rewards

have been unexplainable, and the outcome is just... Unbelievable.

This is Mama petting you, huh?

It's all right.

You're such a good boy.

I just pet him. Thank you very much.

Don't you do it, Tully.

I'm heading over right now to see Gloria and Angela.

They have two cats, Tokyo and Godzilla.

They added a third, Callie, who's a big troublemaker beating up the other cats

in the home. As a matter of fact, the trouble is so bad that she's about to

rehomed. I'm going over there right now to make sure that that doesn't happen.

I'm Angela. And I'm Gloria.

And we've been together for ten years. And we've been married four years.

I knew right away that I wanted to be with her. I think what I like the most

about her is she's so funny. She makes me laugh.

And we've been together ever since. We've been happy.

Well, until recently.

Don't you do it, Kali.

Get her, get her, get her, get her.

When we just had the two cats, everything was pretty mellow. This is

Tokyo. Godzilla's on the right.

Tokyo's on the left.

I've been wanting a third cat for a long time.

So I ran off to the pound and I brought Kali home.

Kali's first real interaction with Godzilla in Tokyo was a full -out war.

was out to kill.

After every attack, there's always a bloody cat.

When Kali can't get to because they're in Tokyo, she'll attack me.

Why are you so mean, Kali?

It's tough on our relationship in general. It's tough to even be in that

I don't want to come home at night.

If we have to take Kali back to the pound, it's basically like giving her a

death sentence.

So to take her back to where I know she'll be is pretty rough to think

we were to send Callie back to the shelter, I wouldn't be able to forgive

myself.

Hey, Jackson. How are you? I'm good. All right.

Tell me what's happening.

We have three cats, Godzilla, Tokyo, and Callie. And Callie is absolutely

horrendous. She wants to kill them.

And, you know, she'll attack us as well if we try to interfere. We've both been

to urgent care and stuff.

You've both been to urgent care?

Both Angela and Gloria have been sent to urgent care with cat bites before.

That's not that unusual.

Eighty percent of all cat bites get infected.

But I'm glad they called me in because in a household this violent, the odds

that one or both of them will wind up with more infected cat bites, and that's

pretty dangerous.

How did you get Kali?

From the panel. She's probably about 15 months now. She was a stray.

Kali has been doing this nonstop since when?

Since we got here.

How long ago was that?

So almost six months.

Why do the fights keep happening? How is it allowed that they keep happening?

It's not allowed.

They're totally separate. They are completely separate.

Tokyo, you ready for bed?

Godzilla in Tokyo. Sleeping with us and Kali's two rooms away.

About two months ago, I think we hit our limit. I got in touch with this local

no -kill shelter, and they agreed to put her up for adoption for us.

So we drop her off on Saturday mornings and pick her up again Thursday night.

What happens if she doesn't get adopted?

She might end up going back to the shelter.

Mistakes just went through the roof on this one. I've got a cat living half her

time at home and half her time in a shelter. It doesn't make any sense

the cat is territorially neither here nor there. This is pressure like I've

never felt before.

Now listen, I want to take a look at the place. I want to meet the cats. Okay.

All right, let's do it.

It's time to just see what I can do to maybe minimize the effects of these

attacks.

Hi, my baby.

Wow.

So in terms of being carried around, she's pretty cool, isn't she?

I really believe that she could just be saying, you know, I don't own what I

want to own, meaning this territory, so I'm going to grab it from these guys.

Kali did spend her early years as a street cat, fending for herself,

food at any cost, which leads me to believe that it's not people that rile

up, it's other cats.

And we've got to get her to that point where she feels like she can coexist and

share territory.

Who's in here right now?

Godzilla in Tokyo.

Let's see what we see down here.

Hi.

Hi, guys.

You see that look right now? That look is like... I'm completely trapped.

These two boys are being so terrorized by this 15 -month -old female kitten

they have absolutely no confidence left.

We're going to have a controlled meet.

When I say controlled, we're just going to bring them towards each other. I just

want to see Colleen's response to these guys. When Jackson told us we're going

to have all three cats in the room together, I was thinking, oh, God,

going to kill each other.

This is crazy. This is not going to work. This is going to go bad.

We are going to bring Collie out to the mix and see what happens.

Wish us luck.

It's really important for me to see the natural behavior patterns that are going

to emerge when these three cats have to deal with each other without walls,

doors, or anything else.

Okay, good. We got everybody.

Now we're going to stay completely calm.

Right? Angela? How you doing over there? I'm good. Come on.

Come on, sit down again.

Sit down for a second.

And let's see what transpires at this point.

What are we hissing about?

She's totally locked on to these guys right now.

It's okay.

You being scared stiff does not help anybody.

They're both, like, waiting for her to make a move.

Let's let her wander around a little bit. I knew what was going to happen

all three of them in the room. It was just a matter of time. I was terrified.

I'm with Angela and Gloria and their cat, Collie.

Collie's been terrorizing their other two cats, Godzilla and Tokyo, so I had

them bring all three cats into the same room to see how they interact.

Now we're just waiting to see what happens. They're both, like, waiting for

to make a move.

Let's let her wander around a little bit.

It's really important for me to see the natural behavior patterns that are going

to emerge when these three cats have to deal with each other without walls,

doors, or anything else.

Okay, I've seen enough. Let's separate these guys.

That was a pretty ugly fight, but there's a silver lining. Godzilla stood

Kali. That's huge.

These boys still have some confidence left in them, and that's something I can

work with.

So now, play is something that's going to be hugely important.

It's not just a matter of draining the prey behavior out of the 15 -month -old.

It's also about raising up the self -esteem of the cats that have been

on. And Gloria, I want you to be the one to play with Kali.

Now, I love using play. It provides a great increased bond between Guardian

Kat. And Kali's attacks on Gloria have been so bad that Gloria's been sent to

the hospital. Now, if Kali and Gloria can bond, the attack should end. Gloria

should be safe. We're going to get these guys back together again as if they've

never met before by starting a feeding ritual.

I'd like you to install a screen door right here.

Your bedroom door. I'd also like you to start by hanging something on it all the

way to the floor, okay? And over time, what you're going to do as you introduce

them is raise it up a little bit so that we introduce visual stimulation, okay?

I'm going to reintroduce these guys using a screen door and a feeding ritual

that will really help acclimate them towards one another.

Now, I've used this ritual many times before, and it's a surefire way of

if two cats can ever truly get along.

In order to really commit to this thing, we can't have her go into the shelter

during the week and having her come back at the end of the week. Because she

won't understand territory if you keep taking it away.

You guys good with that? Yep.

All right, guys.

There's a lot of work to be done. Thank you so much.

We really want to keep our family together, all of it.

But this is really the last option for us and for Colleen. It has to work.

Or, you know, it's the end of the road for her.

I'm going to see Angela, Gloria, and their cat, Collie. The last time I was

here, I saw one cat trying to kill two others.

Things had gotten so bad that Gloria was getting attacked constantly, and they

were considering rehoming Collie or even sending her back to the kill shelter. I

could be walking into mayhem. I have no idea.

Hey, Jackson.

So, guys, how's it going?

Um, we're making a lot of progress with some things.

We've been doing all the homework.

You still bringing her to adoption? No. No.

Okay, you're not.

Tell me what's happening right now that you're excited about.

Kali hasn't attacked either of us in I don't know how long. Amazing. I think

playing with her at regular times and all that good stuff has brought energy

with us. And we haven't taken Kali to the shelter at all. So she's a lot more

loving. You realize how huge that is, right? Yeah, that's big. But Kali's

behavior towards the other cats really hasn't improved at all.

Huh. She's still a little crazy. Yeah, she's awful.

Some challenges that we have to work on. But what I want to do now is take a

look at your homework, huh? Okay.

Today's a good day for Tokyo.

Here's planes.

The boys are doing much better.

Because of the play and feeding time happening consistently, Godzilla and

their confidence is increasing. They're no longer the terrified boys hiding

under the bed that I met the first time I was here. Next, it was time for the

feeding ritual, where Angela and Gloria have Kali on one side of the visual

barrier. And they slowly acclimate Tokyo and Godzilla to her on the other side.

This is how it's been going every night.

Oh.

She goes nuts.

The only mistake they made was that they had the boys a little bit too close to

the door. We need to reintroduce them slowly, and they need to follow my

to a T to ensure success.

All right, let's walk around a little bit. Show me the things that you've

what's worked and what hasn't. Okay.

Well, this is pretty outstanding right here.

We've got a great visual barrier here.

What's missing right now is the action, the ritual.

I want to see the feeding on either side of this door. I want to do the feeding

exercise properly by not pushing Tokyo and Godzilla too hard. All I want is for

them to eat at the same time they smell Kali and vice versa. This way we can

build a positive association between all the cats.

Ready?

Here we go.

Really, Tokyo?

Tokyo and Godzilla scattered.

They didn't want anything to do with that door because they knew who was on

other side.

It's okay.

Kali was happy, but I got to do something to increase Tokyo and

confidence or else they're never going to eat. I'm going to go get the toys. We

got the centipede thing.

Let's try that one.

I use toys to boost their confidence levels. If I can get them to hunt,

and kill something, then they'll get more confident. If they get more

then they'll eat at that screen door.

Good boy, Godzilla.

Fat boys got to eat, you know.

It's true.

Good. Nice.

Nice, nice, nice.

Not bad.

So right now, we've got the boys eating.

Good dinner.

Gloria, is Kali paying any attention to the door whatsoever?

No, she's not. This is gold.

This is great stuff.

Hey, man, I am completely impressed by Tokyo and Godzilla, but I was so proud

Kali. She's not puffed up. She's not hissing, no growling, no charging the

She's choosing to just eat. Talk about a winning situation.

This is what it feels like.

Okay. I want to start normalizing the experience of the food ritual. And that

means bringing toys into it. Having that movement around the play into the eat.

I want them to continue working with the feeding ritual. And that means getting

them to the point where they're a foot away from the door again. Back it up.

Raise the blind.

If we can get them close again.

No attacks.

No nothing.

Just getting through the meals.

Big, big step forward.

I don't think it's...

In the long run, cool to lock her up every night. So you got to switch it up.

Kali gets your bedroom and the boys will sleep in Kali's room. It's what I call

sight swapping.

Sight swapping is important for several reasons. First of all, it'll give Kali

more bonding time with Angela and Gloria.

Secondly, it'll get the cats more familiar with each other's scent.

And third, it'll give Kali more of a sense of ownership of the space. Once

feels like this is her home, she won't lash out so much at the other cats.

going to get someplace.

At least I have faith. Okay. Are you guys down with that faith, though? Yeah.

think so.

She's like, yeah. You're like, I think so. We haven't had a good history with

Kali, and so I'm predicting future outcomes based on that history and not

on hopes.

So that's probably why it's hard for me to have faith.

I'm going in right now for my final visit with Gloria and Angela and their

Kali. I watched their homework and I saw they were using play to help boost self

-confidence.

They're sight -swapping and Kali is spending some nights with Gloria and

The beast is sleeping with us tonight.

This is all great, but what I didn't see on video was the feeding exercise and

all three cats in the same room. That's the real test to see if they can finally

all live together in peace.

Hey, how are you? Good.

So, tell me what's going on.

Hit me with it. What is it?

Well, we were both in shock.

That went pretty well.

Really? Yeah. Now instead of Kali biting me, she'll come in and just lay and

just hang out. She's snuggling up. I mean, she's really nice to me. She just

hangs out with me.

Why do you think it's happening?

Probably playing with her a lot more, so she's probably more relaxed.

Yeah, Kali's been sleeping with us off and on. Off and on, yeah. And she seems

to love it.

Isn't that amazing, though? Yeah.

A little different. It means a lot.

When I first met Gloria, Kali was spending half her time in the shelter,

and Gloria never bonded. And now she's coming to Gloria for affection and love,

and it's really wonderful to see Gloria be happy about this relationship.

Good stuff.

What else?

Well, actually, a couple of nights ago, we started feeding without the sight

blocker at all. Wow.

Wow.

Oh, my God.

That's amazing.

Now, what I want to do is get all three of these guys into the same room.

This isn't going to work at all because she would probably then start going

nuts. I'm telling you she won't do it because they've been reintroduced with

screen door.

We're going to lead her out here on a leash.

And if she gets a little frisky about it, we break it up. I was very skeptical

and very pessimistic about it. I just knew something horrible was going to

happen, and chaos was about to ensue.

How's it going in there, Gloria?

Good. I have the harness on. Whenever you're ready, we're good to go. Good.

Hi, Collie.

Collie settles down, and she makes that Collie noise, that growl,

right in this spot.

Just a few short weeks ago, they were trying to kill each other. There was a

huge fight here, one of the worst I've seen between three cats, and I was

nervous.

She's looking at the boys, for sure.

Now let me try something.

Let's see what I can do here.

What is that?

Make that move.

Make that move, girlfriend.

There you go.

Good girl.

Good girl.

And then magically, Collie was back.

She stopped fixating on the boys and turned her attention to play.

We got all three cats in the same space.

One cat, two cats, three cats, no violence, no screen, no nothing.

I don't know what to say.

You don't have to say anything.

Now, these guys still have a ways to go before Kali can be around Tokyo and

Godzilla without the vest and the leash. But based on what I've seen today, I

think that Angela and Gloria can feel confident that they're on the right

and that in time these safeguards can be a thing of the past.

Well, well, guys.

Let's just put it out on the table. Are you going to keep Kali or not?

Yes, you are going to keep her.

Absolutely. Yes, there we go.

Oh, that's fantastic.

The homework that Jackson gave us to work on with the cats, it's really shown

Kali that she can be a normal cat, and it's brought our family back together.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Oh, absolutely.

It's going to be a happy ending, that's all.

Yeah.