Original subtitles

Einstein wants to kill Lizzie.

He has no filter on who is being attacked, and he has attacked me.

If Einstein can't change, we're going to have to find another home.

He's not leaving because I know they can't let me leave. I won't go with that

cat.

Ben, no!

Ben pees everywhere.

Hey, really?

Ben tested positive for toxoplasmosis, which can harm me and the baby.

Tiffany got pregnant, and I can't have a baby in the same house with a bunch of

cat pee everywhere.

I can't imagine having to let him go.

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.

Are you all right? Sorry, I don't know.

Cats have nine lives, but humans only have one.

I'm in Austin. I'm on the Colorado River, and I'm on my way to go see Seth

Susan. They have two cats, Einstein and Izzy.

And one cat just wants to kill the other.

Now, I don't know whether these two cats should stay in the same home, but I

don't want to break up this family.

I'm going to head over there now, see if there's anything I can do about it.

I'm Susan.

And I'm Seth. And we've been married for 12 years.

We have two children, Ashton and McKenna.

We got Einstein when he was about eight months old.

Einstein is a Blue Point Berman, and he is six years old.

Einstein was the perfect kitten. He was very sweet and loving until we brought

home Izzy.

Izzy is a blue point vermin as well, and she's two years old.

Einstein wants to kill Izzy.

He wants her out of the house. He doesn't want anything to do with her. He

no filter on who is being attacked, and he has attacked me.

Everything that we could possibly think of. I went and got eight chicken

flavored medication.

To basically hype Izzy up.

The other thing I bought is this ball.

For stopping Einstein from biting.

You can see when you put it on, he just bangs his head.

We started having to separate the cats early on. One of the cats is always

locked up at any one time.

Einstein has infected my home and turned it into a prison.

I want to kill him. I work from home. I work long hours. I don't have time for

dealing with Einstein.

It's just a huge distraction that I don't need.

A year ago, right? Yeah, he told me to get rid of the cat. You got to pick one,

get rid of one of the cat.

I really have tried not to think about the fact that I might have to give...

Einstein away.

One of our greatest fears is that Ashton and McKenna get caught in the middle of

a cat fight.

If Einstein goes away, I'll cry really bad and I won't stop until the day's

over. If Einstein goes away, I go away.

So he's not leaving because I know they can't let me leave.

I won't go with that cat.

Hey. Hey.

How are you, man? Jackson, what's up?

Hey, this is McKenna. Hey, McKenna. Nice to meet you.

Hi.

How you guys doing? We're glad you're here.

Okay. Glad to be here.

Hello, guys.

Tell me, what's going on with your cat?

We got a big cat chasing a little cat.

You mean these two can't be in the same room together?

Mm -mm.

When Einstein is locked up and lets out, you know, he starts kind of hunting

around and looking for her. The minute he's out, yeah.

I'm actually the one who closes the doors and opens the door.

You're in charge of closing and opening doors? Yes. So you're in a constant

state of... Shuffling. How long have these two been together?

Two years. Yeah.

Well, it's not an environment that I want to live in. I don't like having

closed off and having to worry about what happens when you're not there. And

it's like the whole situation's insane.

I would, you know, take it out on Susan, right? She brought the cats in, you

know. If I hadn't come here, what would have happened?

We'd probably be looking for another home for Einstein.

I really don't want to give him away.

I do love him so much.

And I know he's got a good side because whenever he's by himself in a room, he's

just so sweet.

We've got a family divided. I mean, clearly you've got Seth saying that it's

fair to Izzy to keep Einstein around, but then you've got Susan saying, I am

parent of both of these cats, and I'm not going to fail these cats.

So I've got to get up, meet Izzy and Einstein, and see how bad the situation

really is.

So, who was that?

That was Einstein.

Well, no time like the present. You want to go grab Einstein?

I love Einstein because...

He was probably one of the first things I can remember.

And he's hard not to love.

Look at how beautiful you are, mister.

So this is our troublemaker? Wow.

It's so hard to think about cats like this tearing each other limb from limb.

Einstein is this archetypal Berman. He's just calm, collected, attracted to

humans, not in a threatening way whatsoever.

And it's just so hard to imagine him turning into this murder machine.

Talk about this array of stuff here. What is that? This is basically a cat

muzzle. Einstein, where is it? And then their head is in here, and then they

can't bite anything.

Oh, sure, yeah.

The helmet muzzle. Slide his head in. Slide his head in. And then we clamp it

back down.

Isn't that cruel?

I want to go home.

It was clearly one of the most ridiculous things I've ever experienced.

All right, why don't you go ahead and put Einstein back in the bedroom.

Okay. And speaking of which, let's get up and see what these two are like when

they're together.

In order for me to help them, I have to see what causes the bad blood between

Einstein and Izzy. So I asked Ashton McKenna to wait outside because the last

thing I want is for those two to be caught in the middle of this.

Izzy comes in and he's teeny.

Immediately, Einstein starts to come closer.

I was scared to death that this was not going to be a pretty cat.

Oh.

This is that look you're talking about, yeah?

Hold on to him. Okay, hold on to him.

Are they all right?

Hey, baby.

It's okay.

That ain't good.

There was a moment during the standoff between Izzy and Einstein that I

thought it was going to just end.

But then Einstein just went. And when he went, he went after her to kill her.

Now I know this isn't play aggression.

I got Einstein growling and ready to pounce at any moment. And to Einstein,

only one who exists in this room is Izzy. And he wants her dead.

Just get down to it.

I don't like what I thought at all.

And this is what I want to do.

What I have right here, it's one -way cat glass.

We're going to put Izzy on one side of it where she can see him, Einstein can't

see her. We're going to feed her right in front of that glass. We're going to

feed Einstein on the other side of that glass every day and with every meal.

This has to happen. So the first thing I brought in was the one -way cat glass.

I want Izzy to be able to see Einstein while she eats so she gets to learn that

not every encounter is a threatening one. At the same time, I want Einstein

to see Izzy while he eats, but to smell her so that he can associate her with

pleasant things like food.

The second thing I want you to do is play with her. We're going to play with

around this glass. She's going to learn she can play in front of that gate. She

can have fun, and she can do it in front of Einstein without bad consequences.

And finally, I want you to use this shelving and get Izzy up high off the

then play with Einstein on the floor. I want to build Izzy's confidence up by

keeping her elevated. At the same time, I want Einstein's aggression focused on

an appropriate target like play and not Izzy.

Does all this stuff make sense to you that I gave you?

Yes, I think this will work.

You think so?

I think so. Right on, man.

So, guys, I'm going to take off. Any questions? Thank you. You call me, okay?

We'll do that. All right, take care.

If we go through all the homework and it still doesn't work, I am going to be

extremely upset because I know what we have to do, and that is to rehome

Einstein.

I'm back in Austin. I'm outside of Steph and Susan's house for my second visit

with them and their kids and their cats, Einstein and Izzy. The last time I was

here, I met one cat who just wanted to kill the other.

The kids and Susan were so sad thinking that their cats were never going to get

along.

was convinced that rehoming was the only solution.

So I took a look at Susan and Seth's video homework. I got to see them using

shelves. I saw them playing with Einstein, and I also got to see them

feeding exercise on either side of the one -way cat glass.

The purpose of the one -way cat glass is for Izzy to be able to see Einstein in

a non -threatening way during mealtime so she can gain confidence, and for

Einstein to be on the other side and not see Izzy, but just smell her and

associate her with good things like food.

And from what I could see, Izzy didn't seem comfortable with being that close

Einstein yet. And I just hope she's gotten better since then. Otherwise,

in serious trouble.

Hello. Hey, how are you?

How you been?

Good to see you.

Come on in.

How you guys been?

Okay. How are you? I'm doing fantastic, thank you.

But more importantly, how are things in the land of Einstein and Izzy?

Give me good news.

Well...

We started feeding on either side of the mirror.

The first time, she bolted, and I just slowly coaxed her out, and we got her to

that 10 -foot mark.

From there, how far have you guys progressed?

We're at the 3 -foot mark. Wow.

Very good. Very good. That is actually amazing. She seems a lot more confident

to walk up there and eat and then just walk away. That is fantastic.

That's what we wanted, right?

Yes. That means she's gaining confidence around Einstein.

I'm still uncertain and unsure if we're going to have to find another home for

Einstein.

When we're playing now with him and Izzy up on the shelf, he's checking up less

but still keeping track of her. Let's talk about play with Einstein.

Do you guys play with the cats?

Yes. Can you poop out Einstein?

We can, but not most of the time.

I want to show you guys how to play a little bit. All right.

Play is the key. If Einstein is not fully invested and if he doesn't see the

with more of a payoff than he sees Izzy, none of this is going to work.

Okay, let's say this is the moth, okay?

I want to see your imitation of you being Einstein. Ready?

Now, you're waiting. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?

come down.

And... Exactly.

Good play is what? What did we just do? We did this, right?

That's good play, right?

This? That's good play, right?

Now, while we're doing this, and since we're in here, I'd like to do the

exercise. Okay. So you guys, if you don't mind...

We'll see you in a few minutes.

I sent Ashton and McKenna out of the room because we're at the halfway point

here, and I've got to see real progress. And if there isn't, then we've got to

be discussing rehoming, and that is not a conversation I want to have with the

kids in the room.

Here's all we want. We've gotten to about three feet on either side of the

right? So what we want to do is sneak it up just a little bit. So let's just get

Izzy interested in her food.

So we start the feeding exercise with the one -way cat glass. The idea is that

Izzy looks at the glass, she sees Einstein, and she sees him in a non

-threatening way.

How's she doing over there?

Back and away.

So now she's taking a look at Einstein and saying, not quite yet. Now we've got

Izzy on one side cowering, hiding, she wants nothing to do with eating, and

you've got Einstein on the other side totally fixated on Izzy.

Now, if we can't get these two to eat and not run or try to kill each other,

there's no hope they're ever going to cohabitate. I just need them to focus on

their food. Come on, Izzy. Eat from the bowl.

This is what we do. We just wait her out.

Susan, show Einstein the food.

If Einstein can't change, he's out.

Einstein is eating.

Very good, mister.

Very good.

And over there, you got Izzy? Yeah. How far is she away from the door? About two

feet. If Izzy can just eat out of the bowl, we have success.

Boom.

Good. Let them eat. Let them eat.

Absolute priceless.

Susan, did you ever think?

No, never.

And finally, she's eating and things are changing.

Right on.

A little high five there.

We have now got Einstein right at the gate. We have got Izzy on the other side

two feet from the gate. That tells me that Einstein, who can't see Izzy

of the one -way cat glass, is getting used to her scent and associating her

good things, and Izzy is gaining confidence around Einstein. That's

Seth, what about you? How are you feeling over there?

I'm very pleased that she's gotten this much closer. I feel great about the one

-way cat glass.

I was apprehensive at first, but today, having the cat...

feeding closer than they have ever before. There's a lot of hope now.

So we have Izzy a couple feet from the door.

So the homework is very simple. What I want you to do is just keep this routine

going closer and closer. I want them to keep going with the feeding exercise and

eventually remove the glass and just have the gate between them. If they can

both eat and see each other, that's a huge step, and that means that these two

can cohabitate peacefully.

Now, here's the big thing that I want.

I need Izzy to be out and open and just walking those shelves.

So a lot of her playtime is about working her up those shelves, okay? So

comes in the room, she's already feeling relaxed.

What I need to see is to see Izzy confident. And I got to see Einstein not

absolutely focused on her with every movement.

What I have for you here is your play kit. What I want you guys to do is I

you to make your own toys.

and you're going to make sure that they play every single day because this is

that important.

I'm hoping when I come back here the fighting is over and Izzy and Einstein

be in the same room together.

If you need anything, you give me a holler, okay?

It's insane that we have the happiness of my family all teetering on Einstein's

ability to not want to kill Izzy. If we can't get Einstein to change, he's going

to have to go.

Now it's time for a kiddie bit.

How many skeletal muscles does a cat have? Is it A, 450, B, 350, or C,

500? Find out after this break.

How many skeletal muscles does a cat have? The answer is 500.

Cats have 500 skeletal muscles, not far behind us humans.

We'll have 650.

So I'm here in Austin for my final visit with Seth and Susan, their kids, and

Einstein and Izzy.

The first time I was here, I made no bones about the fact that what I saw in

their footage was pretty horrible, and I didn't know whether these two cats

could live together, and we might have to talk about rehoming one of them. And

just the thought of that was devastating to the family.

Now, I saw in their video homework that they're continuing the feeding exercise

and they're still using the one -weight cat glass.

This is a bit closer than previously.

And I'm hoping that by today, we won't need that anymore and these two cats

be associating each other with good things.

I also saw Izzy up on her shelves. Being higher up will help boost her

confidence. And I saw the whole family playing with the cats and their homemade

toys. I made my dragon.

It's the best way to tire them out and to deter Einstein's focus from wanting

kill Izzy.

All I'm hoping is to see these two cats in action and that they can live long

and happy lives together under the same roof.

My fingers are crossed right now. Hey, guys.

Hey. How are you? Great. How are you? I'm doing fantastic. It's good to see

So, how are things going here?

Things are getting much better. There we go. Good news. You notice it, too? Mm

-hmm. Good, good.

So tell me what you're seeing.

Izzy just kind of casually ate, and Einstein didn't jump.

Yeah. The first time I was here, Einstein wanted to kill Izzy, and now

removed the one -way cat glass, and both cats are eating with no bloodshed.

That's pretty amazing.

Izzy is more confident, and Einstein doesn't see Izzy as prey anymore because

he's associating her with good things, like food. How's Izzy doing on her

I haven't seen her cowrope there.

That play thing, I mean, yeah, I thought it was a little bit hokey, honestly,

when you told me to do it, right? But it works. The kids were just so much more

comfortable, and the cats are getting more comfortable with each other in the

same room.

I'm feeling a lot better because I'm things not scratching, and Izzy's been

acting a lot more confident.

You know how these guys like to play now. You can be a part of the solution,

both of you guys.

Now, what I need to see today is the shelving exercise, is seeing Einstein on

the floor, seeing Izzy up on the shelf, knowing that these guys could be in the

same room. If you kids don't mind sticking around here, I'm going to take

parents, and we're going to go check this out, okay? All right, let's go.

Now, I'm hearing great things from Seth and Susan, and the video homework was

fantastic. But unless I can see these two cats existing in the same room, I've

still got it in my back pocket that I might want to rehome one of these cats.

But for Ashton and McKenna's sake, I just hope these two cats can coexist.

Okay.

Izzy just did us a big favor. She's on the tree.

Now all we need is Einstein.

So, Seth, if you don't mind going to get Einstein. Sure.

So I send Seth out to go get Einstein.

Susan, definitely, she's nervous.

And I hope that Einstein is going to prove that this has all been worth it.

What I really need to see, Seth, is Einstein having interest in something

than her. Right now, he's still doing a little bit of the fixating. I want to

see her calming down a little bit. You know what death is here? Death is the

lock. Einstein loses focus on the toy, and he looks up, and he sees Izzy.

And in that moment, he tensed up just a little bit, and I thought, now, she can

run, and she can hold still.

If she holds still, we're okay.

We keep him moving.

We keep this still.

There we go.

There we go. There we go. Great.

That's it.

Look at that. No eye contact.

No problems.

Einstein looks at Izzy. Now, Izzy shifts a little bit as if she's about to run,

and then she doesn't. As if she's saying, bring it on.

And that tells me that these two cats are on track to coexisting peacefully.

As long as Seth and Susan, Ashton and McKenna keep doing their homework and

associating the cats to one another with positive things like food and play,

we'll be able to take these baby gates down, and these two cats will be able to

share the same space without violence.

Let's end this on a high note.

Let's go join the kids. Okay. All right, come on, guys.

They're in the same room together, and Einstein is not trying to kill her, and

Izzy doesn't feel threatened that he's going to attack her. I mean, it's a

completely different set of cats, it seems like. Hey, guys, that was... Great

stuff. I love what we just saw.

I'm not really thinking about rehoming. I'm thinking about how do we continue

the momentum that we have. Wow.

That's not what I heard the first day I met you. We're in a much better place

now, and we've got to keep doing the homework and keep the things that

taught us in mind so that we don't lose them. All right, guys.

I'm out of here. It's been great. It's been wonderful. Thank you so much.

absolutely welcome. Bye, guys. I'll talk to you soon, okay?

So now though.

We've seen that Einstein is not hurting Izzy. I don't have to be worried.

The family's much happier now, and I'm very glad that we've gone through this.

Hey, no, really?

He cries.

No, no.

Ben.

I'm on my way to go see Tiffany and Scott for the first time and their cat,

Now, Ben was an outdoor cat. They brought him inside. He promptly started

all over the place.

That's what he just did.

Wonderful. To make matters worse, he's got toxoplasmosis, which is a parasite

potentially dangerous to pregnant women.

And Tiffany's pregnant.

Between those two things, they're ready to throw him back outside, and I'm going

to stop that from happening. But I'm going to go meet my friend, Dr. Raven,

first so that I'm armed with knowledge.

Hey. Hey, Jackson. How are you, man? Excellent. How are you doing? Good to

you, Dr. Raven.

I've got clients. They're expecting their first child. They have a cat who

toxoplasmosis. I want to make sure that when I go over there, I'm giving them

facts.

Toxoplasmosis is a very, very common parasite. The cat's going to pick it up

from hunting wild prey, and then when the cat defecates... It can get spread

other animals. It can get on the vegetables. It can get into the litter.

And that's how we can contract it. The worry is that when you get toxoplasmosis

during pregnancy, it can be devastating to the baby.

Fortunately, you do not have to get rid of your cat if you become pregnant.

It's very, very easy to prevent.

It's more common in outdoor cats because outdoor cats are going to get into the

dirt. They're going to continue to hunt for prey. They can certainly bring the

potentially infectious agents in.

Wow. Okay. Well, that's it.

Reaffirms a cat shouldn't be going outside.

Ben was treated for toxoplasmosis with antibiotics and now it's dormant. And

while it's rare to reactivate it, he can still bring toxoplasmosis and other

diseases inside the house if he steps in infected dirt or feces or brings in

prey that's carrying the parasite.

Getting to mom, how does she contract it? The direct exposure from the cat has

to do with their feces. Right. So the worry in pregnancy is who's going to

change the kitty litter?

Dad gets to scoop the litter box.

Absolutely.

Thank you so much for giving me all that information.

My pleasure. All right. Great to meet you. Take care. Bye -bye.

I am so stoked to have talked to Dr.

Raven because now I have all the facts I need about toxoplasmosis. As long as

Ben stays indoors and Scott changes the litter box, then Tiffany and her baby

should be safe.

My name is Tiffany.

My name is Scott. We've been married for three years and together for ten.

We're expecting our first baby in just a few weeks.

We have a cat named Ben, and... He used to be an outdoor cat.

But after we found out that we were pregnant, he tested positive for

toxoplasmosis, which can harm me and the baby. He's dormant now, so we keep him

indoors. Under doctors' and vets' advice.

And so now, Ben pees everywhere.

Ben, really?

On top of the stove.

That's what he just did.

All of the doors.

The bedroom and the bathroom.

Let's be all the wets.

And look what he decides to do.

And he cries.

Like, please let me out.

Ben.

It's 3 .30 in the morning.

If his behavior does not change, he can be a permanent outdoor cat. Right, but

putting him outside would be losing him.

It would be like throwing a kid out of the house. I mean, it would break my

heart.

I can't imagine having to let him go.

I just can't.

Oh, hey, man.

Hey, Jackson.

How you doing? Good. Come on in.

You must be Scott. Yes, I'm Scott. Hey, Scott.

Hi. This is my wife, Tiffany. Hi, Tiffany.

Who is this?

This is Ben.

Hi. Ben?

So, tell me, guys, what's going on here?

Peeing.

He pees on the door. He pees on our furniture. He pees everywhere.

I mean, as you can see, we're sitting here, and all I smell is spray.

Yeah. And then he does the crying, too. And then he cries.

He howls at night, and it's ear -piercing.

I mean, I get, like, three or four hours of sleep at night. What?

Oh, yeah.

Right away, I can feel Scott and Tiffany's desperation. I mean, Ben is

everywhere, and he's crying all night. Not only is this unlivable for a woman

who's pregnant, but they can't bring a baby into the situation.

He used to be an outdoor cat for the first few years of his life, and then

Tiffany got pregnant, and Ben was tested for... Toxoplasmosis. He tested

positive. It's dormant now.

So Ben's inside now.

Now, we know that Ben's toxoplasmosis is dormant, so as long as he stays inside,

it won't reactivate, and he won't risk bringing in infected dirt or feces or an

array of other diseases inside the house. So let's talk toxoplasmosis. I

in at a friend, Dr. Rabin's, and he gave me some facts.

First of all, the chances of Ben transmitting it to the unborn baby is

remote. The main ways that you catch toxoplasmosis are from handling dirt,

meat, or Ben's feces. So as long as you stay away from all those things, then

your chances of contracting it are really low.

Jackson's really put me at ease by talking to the OB and getting the

that he got, but obviously we still have to keep him in for my protection and

for his.

Wow, that's very helpful. I appreciate that. But I can't have a baby in the

house with a bunch of cat pee everywhere.

If his behavior does not change, we wouldn't allow him back in the house.

that's as per the vet and doctor's advice.

No, no, no. The advice is to keep him in, but... If we can't keep him in

of all the issues, then we'd have to make him a permanent outdoor cat. He has

be just outdoors.

I love him. I don't want him to be outside.

Ben's situation does cause disagreements between us because I don't want to have

to lose him in any way.

Maybe he's a part of our family.

I just can't imagine.

This couple is clearly divided. Scott is over the peeing. He wants Ben put

outside permanently. Of course, Tiffany doesn't want this because she knows that

once Ben is out there, he's out there for good. If he's out there hunting and

playing in the dirt, he can bring in any number of diseases, including

toxoplasmosis, and that's just not an acceptable risk for a pregnant woman or

her new baby.

Well, that didn't take long.

Okay.

We've got pee.

He likes this spot, too, because of the back door here.

He pees on the door. He pees next to the door. And boy, does he hit this. That's

right.

Ben is perimeter marking.

He was an outdoor cat.

He's marking all under windows, under the sink, wherever there's a door.

a lot of pee.

Hi.

You know what, guys?

I would love to spend a little bit of time with him just so I get to know him

little bit better.

Well, hello, my friend.

How about me and you play a little bit?

What is that?

What is... Oh, wow.

Yeah, you're good.

You're just like a little hunter, aren't you?

What is it? What is it?

So, I played with Ben, and let me tell you something. This cat was made to

No wonder he loves hanging out in the wild so much. I can tell you one thing.

are going to have to provide him with some of the things that he loves from

outdoors if we're going to keep this guy happy.

All right, then.

Bedroom. Now, tell me about the hollering noise. What does the hollering

sound like?

It's a really deep -chested cat howl. It's like a wolf howling. It sounds like

siren. Yeah, like a siren.

That's it.

No,

it's deeper, much deeper.

It sounds like a siren. Yeah.

If it's a slow -motion -y type of one, is it like... Yeah. Like that? Yeah.

Okay. Now we've hit it, right? Well, it's actually kind of cool because cats

have so many different vocalizations, over 100 different vocalizations. Like

meow is just for humans. But that roar, that is definitely the sound

of a warning thrown across the bow.

What about that tree behind you?

It's in a strange place.

Yeah. Why is it there?

Because he likes to look out.

This is his favorite, like, sleeping spot.

Hold on a second.

Just don't move.

I just want you to watch what he's doing right now. You watch his tail.

Then he comes up to you. Now he's going to scratch.

Okay. And there he goes.

He just created sort of this bend barrier around us to protect us.

Right? Isn't that cool?

Wow. Scent with cheek marking.

Scent in sight with scratching.

Now he's up here. He gets up here, rolls around, and now he can relax knowing he

did his job.

Kind of neat, right? That is cool. Yeah.

Our little guard cat.

How nice of you. Now just don't pee.

All right?

I've seen him mark appropriately. I've seen him be territorial in an

way. And I've seen the evidence of him being territorial in an inappropriate

way. But the thing is, he's just not getting enough outside time. He's not

allowed to be the cat that he was for all these years before 10 months ago. So

it's pretty simple.

Now, the solution, not so simple.

All of the information that Ben has been giving me today, especially that he

likes to be up high, man, that is something I will work with.

Come on, guys. Let's go do some homework.

All right.

Ben, he's still trying to defend his turf just like he was when he was out

there, but now he's got walls.

We have to start thinking about the things that defined outside for him and

bring that inside, but find things that are safe for a pregnant woman that you

can find at your local store, okay?

The idea is this. There's something outside that makes... Then feel at home.

Bring it inside in an appropriate place. Let him roll around. Let him play with

these things because that'll give us tools for things I've got plans for

Next piece of homework is called dash, dine, and doze. What that means is that

before you guys go to bed, you're going to have an intense play session with

him. Now, the point of this is to wear him out at the right time so he's ready

for bed when you are.

After you've run him around, he gets a nighttime meal before he goes to bed,

okay? Then there's the doze part.

He's got to sleep through the night. How does he sleep through the night?

You, Tiffany, ignore him.

I think it's going to be very hard for me to ignore him because it drives me

nuts, but I know the end result is going to be worth it. Your piece of homework

is you are now King Pooper Scooper. You are the only one who's going to be

picking up poops. Let's not even take chances.

That's your homework.

There is a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time. Thank you,

man. Nice to meet you. Great to meet you. And Ben, nice to meet you, buddy.

Talk to you soon.

Bye -bye.

If Jackson can't help Ben, we'd have to start looking at our options.

Offer him up to friends or family? Give him to the pound?

I can't handle talking about that.

Hi, I'm here for my second visit with Tiffany and Scott and their cat, Ben.

Now, ever since Ben got moved inside to protect Tiffany and her unborn child

from toxoplasmosis, he's been peeing nonstop.

So, I watched their video homework, and now I know that they're doing dash,

dine, and doze, and they've also brought elements from the outside in.

Are we getting some special treats for your room?

I saw that Scott's scooping the litter box, and I hope that means that Ben is

actually using the litter box, and I'm walking into a calmer, happier home.

Hey, man. How you been?

Good. Yourself? I've been great. Come on in.

Hello, Tiffany.

Hi, Jackson. How are you? I'm doing okay. Nice to see you.

Yeah, this is a first for me.

So, what do you do?

We might be inducing tomorrow, but I'm on bed rest for now.

I'm sitting there with Tiffany on bed rest. I mean, they tell me that she's

going to have a baby tomorrow.

The pressure's on.

What's up with Ben? How's he doing?

Initially, Ben was... A whole new cat.

There was no peeing, but we've had some recent setbacks.

The homework that he gave us was working, but... Unfortunately, as of

night, he had a major setback and did spray a few places throughout the house.

We thought, wow, he's really doing good, and then he peed.

He was... Crying a lot. Crying.

Obviously, something set him off. We don't know. I'm not crazy about the

that we had a setback, especially with clothes to delivery, which tells me that

it could be a response to, you know, that, you know, that energy of the

coming. Cats are not only energetic sponges, but they can also detect the

changes in women's hormones, so it's no wonder that Ben's been acting out. Now,

we have a baby that's literally due any minute, and we've got no room for error.

As of right now, I'm not confident that we can bring a baby.

home into this situation.

I know we can't bring a baby home to Ben peeing, but I'm hoping that you're

going to give us the right homework.

Okay. Got my work cut out for me then. Okay.

Now these guys are about to have a baby like any minute. And if Ben is still

peeing all over the house and keeping them up all night, he's going to be put

back outside. And if he were to go outside, he'd be outside forever because

Scott and Tiffany can't risk allowing him back inside for fear that he'll

toxoplasmosis or any other disease back into the house. I would really like to

bring the baby's co -sleeper in here, but I'm afraid because I don't want him

peeing on any of the baby stuff.

Do you have it?

Yes. Here, ready? Do you mind going to get that? I thought, let's alleviate

right now. Let's bring in homework right now and bring in the bed.

So we have to make it safe for the baby, and we have to make it inclusive for

the cat. So we're going to make this area into a little bit of a cat

superhighway, okay?

So you're going to connect this to the top of your bookshelf. I want him to be

able to go up to the top of the bookshelf and be able to look down here.

I really believe that babies should grow up with their animals, but you want to

do it safely, and you want to do it where the cat's not going to feel

because the cat sees the baby come in the house, and now the cat sees

as being an outsider again. And if they feel that way, the marking, the acting

out, all those things are going to come back. I'm not letting that happen.

What's the worst place that he's hit right now in terms of pee? On top of the

stove and the back door.

Are you okay to get up? Yeah.

Let's get moving. Come on, guys.

So he again peed on the stove top.

This has sort of been his favorite area, right? One of them.

That's another major spot. Right down there. Oh.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, we got pee.

That tells us that in the absence of being able to get out there, he's peeing

right here. He goes as far as he can.

Ben has gone back to marking his old spots, and that's not all that

Cats are incredibly sensitive to their guardian's emotions and hormones,

especially when there's a new baby on the way.

I've got to give these guys their homework so we can put a stop to this

away. All right, here's what we're going to do.

I want you guys, first of all, to refine Dash 9 and Doze so that it plays into

the changes I told you to make in the bedroom.

This toy right here is how you get him to get from point A to point B. These

guys have got to fine -tune their play with Ben so they can lead him into

appropriate places that belong to him and not the baby.

Now, I got a big, big surprise for you guys, okay?

I'm going to be right back.

You guys ready?

We're ready. Are you good?

This... is what we're doing for your boy. Wow.

Okay?

So. I've never even seen anything like this. Basically, this is going to attach

to a window in the house. He's going to be able to go outside absolutely safe,

right? Can't expose himself to any disease out there. You won't be exposed

either. Wow. And that's about as good as we could possibly get. That is

unbelievable.

This thing that we're building provides everything.

Ben can go outside, which he really wants. At the same time, they don't have

worry about toxoplasmosis anymore.

And now Ben comes into the home, not bringing anything back with him.

Everyone's happy. If you've got any questions, you always know where to find

Congratulations in advance, you two. The baby might come tomorrow afternoon, and

we can't bring the baby home to a house full of pee.

We can't come home to Ben crying.

This has to work.

All right, I'm here for my final visit with Scott and Tiffany, their cat Ben,

and their new baby. Yes, since the last time I was here, there's been a new

addition to this house. So I already got a chance to look at their video

homework. Oh, careful though, don't hurt yourself.

Not only did I see that Scott and Tiffany built an indoor cat superhighway

Ben, but I also got to see the folks from Cats on Deck building a fantastic

outdoor cat enclosure.

Hopefully I'm coming back to less peeing, less howling, and then I'll be a

guy.

Hey, man. How are you?

Good to see you. Great to see you. Come on in.

Hey. Hi, Dave. How are you? Good. Thank you. Oh, look at him. And this is?

William Nolan. Welcome to the world, buddy.

Hello. How are you guys doing?

Things are great. I mean, they couldn't be better. How is that?

He's great.

He loves the new catwalk and the shelf that's been put up. No more peeing at

all? No. No.

Cool. Okay. Very cool. That means that everything you've done worked. That's

pretty amazing, guys.

Ben has gone crazy with his new catwalk, and he's incorporated his cat condo

into his rounds of the house.

Now he pees outside.

And no more Ben going crazy at night. And howling. No howling at all? No

howling. Cool, man.

I'm so excited.

The dash, dine, and doze has been the most effective homework for us and for

Ben. Once he's exhausted and he's ate, he's coming into bed with us.

Ben is definitely not keeping me awake at night. If anything, Ben is being kept

up by William crying.

That's a change.

Payback. Payback, exactly.

All right, guys, I want to take a look at the enclosure outside. I can't wait

for that.

Now it's time for me to take a look at what I've been waiting for all day. I

want to see that cat's on deck enclosure outside in a big way.

Oh, my God.

Ben, wow.

You've got to remember that before, Ben was a part -time outdoor cat, exposed to

all the dangers that the big, bad world had to dish out.

But now he gets all the benefits of the great outdoors while remaining in total

safety. That enclosure is unbelievable.

It's a game changer. This is incredible.

This is exactly what we wanted for this boy. Oh, look at you. Look at you. I am

so happy with this.

I definitely think that we have a happy Ben, a happy cat.

He has the best of both worlds.

And most importantly, he can go out there and be safe, and that's the whole

idea. He's going to not come back with any disease.

All the negative effects of going outside have been eliminated.

The big concern that I had the day I came over here, which was Ben being the

outdoor cat, where is that right now? Where is it standing?

This is as much outdoors he's going to have.

And that's it. I get a hug for that.

I'm so happy about that. I really am. I am too.

To know that William's going to grow up with this cat, and we found a solution

that keeps him and Ben safe from toxoplasmosis, man, that's pretty

I think for me that's about all I can do for you guys, and hopefully it helped.

It did. Thank you so much. You're welcome. You're welcome.

Scott, it's been wonderful.

And you, buddy, behave yourself.

I can't even put into words how grateful I am.

I mean, we wouldn't be the family we are without Jackson having come because we

probably would have had to get rid of Ben.

And now putting Ben outside is completely off the table. He's same.

He's William's cat, and we're one big happy family now.