Original subtitles

We have been taking care of a feral cat colony and it has become a lot of work.

They're not going to make it through this winter.

It's trapping time, baby.

We don't want all those witnesses.

Exactly.

We're fostering a cat named Sweetie who is not so sweet.

He is ferocious.

Easy. He's acting like he's on the bomb squad.

I don't want to freak you out too bad. I just want to be able to see you.

Damn.

I'm Jackson Galaxy.

I am Cat.

The animal behavior that guardians call when they're dealing with a difficult

cat.

Wow, he really got you.

I'm out to prove that there is no such thing as a bad cat.

Just a cat that needs my help. You did it.

My name is Scott Truman.

My name is Terry Truman. I just retired. I've taught for 45 years.

Both my son and I are cat people.

And we have been taking care of a feral cat colony now for over four years, and

it has become a lot of work.

Years ago, we saw a cat outside, which we named Puff Puff. It meowed at us.

I said to my son, let's put out a bowl of food, and now we have a feral cat

coming. Come on, Blackie.

There's 10 right now.

One of the hardest things that I've had to see since we started taking care of

the cats was last winter. I came outside, and I found two of them in the

house, and they were frozen, and they had died over the night.

It's not easy.

We were both in tears.

Yeah, that was bad. It was hard on us.

We've done everything we can to try and keep these guys safe, but it's hard. You

can't always, you know, you don't always get a win.

The cats have, in my opinion, brought more to us than we've given to them.

I have high blood pressure and with the cats, I think it calms me down. I think

it has decreased my blood pressure.

I've never seen my dad dedicate.

so much of his free time because he really loves them and he likes to spend

with them and they like to spend time with us. We realized that they can't

survive in the winter without help from us. So my son and I created these boxes,

but in snow they can't survive in there. I think the ideal thing would be if

Jackson could help to take the cats off the street and spay or neuter them. I

just can't take care of this number of cats.

We have the heart. We need some help.

Hey, Jackson.

How you doing? Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

So, now I know you guys have been dealing with quite the problem for a

now. Why don't you tell me about it?

Basically, we saw cats that were in need. They were feral cats.

And we started feeding them because we didn't want to see them go hungry. And

eventually, we're taking care of a pretty sizable colony.

At one point, we had, I think, 14.

14, okay. And it's become a lot more than we could really handle.

Feral is defined as born on the street. They miss that window where they can be

imprinted with humans. The only behavior they can model is one where they

consider humans dangerous.

Basically, that instinct to hide and to be small and to be in the shadows is not

genetic, but it may as well be, you know what I mean, because it's all they

learn. Feral cats are not just stray cats.

They're not cats who are free -roaming. They're meant to be out here, not in

your house.

See, here's what's confusing to me, though.

None of them are neutered or spayed. You should have had 40, 50 cats by now.

Well, the thing is, we've had previous litters. They haven't survived.

Two of the cats I actually found frozen solid in the backyard.

To be honest, it brings me to tears, like, often, because you want what's

for the cat. You want it to have a long, happy life. And I'm completely, like,

powerless to do it.

Well, we're going to have to do something, and we'll do something

You can really tell how much he actually cares about the cat.

It's painful to hear that you guys have had to live through.

You know, these guys breathing, I could tell there's a lot of heartbreak there.

The feral cat problem that we see in L .A., it's plentiful, except here you

the one big difference, the weather.

Cold weather states are unique when it comes to feral cats and their breeding

habits because the cats only go into heat during the warmer months of the

which makes it even more crucial that we take action right now before the warm

weather hits and we're into kitten season again.

Have you ever been able to trap them, anything?

We have tried, but we don't really know what we're doing, and our best attempts

were thwarted. I believe in TNR, that it's our job to go out there, trap these

guys, neuter them, put them back out there with their vaccinations, give them

the best shot they can have.

TNR, trap, neuter, return.

TNR is not just about preventing population explosions. If cats are

they're not going to fight for territory. They're not going to spread

That's another important benefit.

So I don't think we should waste any time. You guys can take me around so I

to meet some of them so that I know how many we got and where they're coming

from. I know this is going to be a tough job to try to find the ferals today. It

is cold out here, but these cats are dying out here because of exposure to

element. There is literally no time to waste here.

It's dinner time.

One of the cats, Puff Puff, lives underneath that deck. I think he

lot of the female cats.

Puff Puff is a really important cat to catch, since Scott is telling me that

he's a huge contributor to this colony's population.

Give me a little bit of a lay of the land here in terms of the human

How much do you guys all talk to each other about the cats?

We try to do the opposite, actually. I try to keep the cats in the back rather

than the front, because at some points we had 10 cats in front of the house,

that gets under the neighbor's skin. So are you guys the only people in the

neighborhood who feed these guys?

Yeah. Scott and Terry are the only ones caring for the cats in this

neighborhood. Now, I'm happy they're doing it, because without them, there'd

a lot more starving cats. They definitely need some guidance.

Oh, Dad, Dad, Dad, she's here.

She's here. That's the mother and two of the other kittens.

Well, hi, guys.

We've been waiting for the cats. Suddenly, there's cats.

One by one, out they come.

And here comes everybody.

Look at all these fuzzy kitties. They're all the same age. They're all about

four and a half months. I really think these guys can't be four and a half

months old. They're too big.

In most cases, when a feral cat gets past three or four months old, it makes

exceedingly hard for them to get adopted out. They've missed the prime window of

socialization, and their trust for humans is pretty well non -existent.

Unfortunately, this is the case for all of the cats in Scott and Terry's feral

colony, which means their home is out here. What have we got?

Come here, baby.

Come here, my love. Come on.

Good baby.

Yes. Hello and hello. What do you say?

Oh, it's okay.

The cats coming out, eating in front of me, I mean, just not even paying that

much attention to me is great.

It makes trapping them that much easier because it's not like they distrust

everything that has to do with humans. It's great stuff.

And dinner is over.

My heart breaks for these cats, but I got no time for pity right now. We got

time for nothing but action.

Did you check inside the box? Is nobody there? No, you know, I can't really

bend.

Did anybody check inside the box?

There's one. That box is so soaked. Because your housing is getting soaking

wet and collapsing, that is our biggest issue.

Conditions here are bad.

There was a blizzard here a couple of weeks ago. The houses were made

of cardboard.

They're just disintegrating. We've got cats in those cardboard houses sitting

the ground on wet covering. They are going to die.

There is no two ways about it. They're not going to make it through this

That box is...

So soaked. Because your housing is getting soaking wet and collapsing, that

our biggest issue. They're not going to make it through this winter.

Cats have the perfect amount of body fat and fur to keep them well insulated

against these cold climates. However, if that fur gets wet from rain or snow,

then it's all bets off, and they could be in serious jeopardy.

All right, guys, I've gotten about all the information out here. I'm going to

get what's going on inside. Sounds good. Lead the way.

Terry and Scott have the hearts of the rescuers. Unfortunately, they don't have

the resources or the knowledge of rescuers. They're not plugged into any

community here in New York. They're completely on an island.

So here's what I'm seeing that we need to get done. We need to start setting up

a TNR protocol around here. Everybody trapped, everybody neutered.

Vaccinations have to be done. They get to be defleed all nine yards and get

back over here so that at least we're not making more cats.

And then finally, of course, the housing situation. It is cold outside.

It has snowed.

Every piece of cardboard housing that you guys had is decimated by the

So I have something for you. I think it's going to make you very excited.

on one second. Those cat houses are not houses. There is no way that Scott can

go one more winter picking up frozen, dead kittens off the ground.

That is not an option anymore. That ends today.

Look at that.

I want you to see.

How simple this is.

Regular old container. Get it at any hardware store.

Styrofoam. We cut the sides here. And that gives insulation.

Then you rest this on the 2x4s. Off the ground. So it's not on the wet ground.

There you go. And that's it. That's all it takes. You now have a feral cat

house. I'm going to leave you with some supplies so that you guys can make a

bunch more of these.

Kaboom. What I'm offering Scott and Terry is a quick do -it -yourself

And, hey, it's a lot better than the wet cardboard boxes they got out there

right now. All right, you guys. You've got some concrete tools, and we're going

to make sure there are no more dead kittens. That's something that nobody

have to deal with, okay? I will see you very, very, very soon.

Fantastic to meet you, man. Jackson, thank you so much. I really appreciate

I've asked Scott and Terry to hold up on feeding the cats for 24 hours before my

next visit, and we're going to be trapping. That way they're hungry enough

actually be lured into the trap.

I'm also going to call upon the resource. that I know of here in New

have dealt with feral cats in this kind of weather. And I've got to be able to

know when I go back to L .A. that I'm leaving this problem in capable hands.

Hi, I'm Mike.

I'm Darcy. We're fostering a cat named Sweet Pea who is not so sweet.

I'm a social worker and I had a client who was getting evicted from her

apartment. We found out about the cat, and we went in to rescue her.

We thought that we were getting an adoptable cat, but it didn't turn out

way.

Ow!

We have fostered probably a dozen cats just for like a week or so until they

could be adopted.

When I saw the condition of Sweet Pea, I realized this is going to be a problem.

She lashes out at people, she hisses, and when she hisses, she's thick.

She jumps. She's terrified of everybody.

For the first couple of weeks, all she did was just hide under a blanket and

jump whenever you made a noise.

Oh, my God!

To help Sweet Pea get better, we moved her into our guest bedroom, where she

been now for several months. And we can't let Sweet Pea out of the bedroom

because we have grandkids, and we're afraid that if they corner Sweet Pea,

could lash out at them.

We have a dog and two other cats. They're all rescues. When any of our

pets go near the door, she usually hisses and swats from underneath the

Our goal is to get her adopted.

We have seen potential with Sweet Pea, and we do think that she could be a

cat. We really do want her to be happy. But she is blacklisted now as totally

unadoptable.

She seems like she's just a lost cause.

You need Jackson's help now because we have not been able to rehabilitate Sweet

Pea yet.

How are you? I'm Darcy. Darcy. I'm Mike.

How long have you been fostering Sweet Pea? About seven months.

A long foster.

Tell me her story.

Well, we rescued her from a hoarding situation, and I became involved through

social services.

She had been neglected, possibly abused. We don't know.

She was definitely not well fed. We decided that maybe she would progress a

little better if she was in a room where she could hear us, and maybe it would

just help a little bit. Right. But that's kind of where we are. So she's in

room? She is. And does she ever come out? No. No. I'm really definitely

to go in the room.

Oh, my God!

When she hisses, she fits.

Oh!

Oh, that's odd, actually. A cat like Sweet Pea hissing and spitting in this

of environment?

That's unusual, but the message that she's sending is not. It's Sweet Pea's

distinct way of saying that she is not happy with us encroaching on her

territory.

She comes up on the bed, and I can pet her, but after a couple minutes,

she gets annoyed, and then she swats and hisses. Oh, dear.

Maybe not.

But we're optimistic. We see some characteristic in her that shows that

good cat.

Talking to Darcy and Mike, first of all, I can figure out who they are. These

are animal people. They are experienced. I know that they care about the well

-being of Sweet Pea over everything.

She was living the life, basically, of a feral cat within the walls of someone's

house.

So now she just continues to perpetuate that. Pretty much. Okay. So there is no

exposure that she has with anybody or anything.

She can't go to a shelter because she'd just be, I can't even handle thinking

about her being in a cage in a shelter situation.

I get it.

Okay, so I'd like to meet her one -on -one first.

If you guys just want to take me to where she is, that'd be great. Sure.

I'll show you the room.

So Mike and Darcy are leading me into the Sweet Pea room. I'm hoping for

but a glimmer. Just give me a glimmer of hope. I want them to know that they

don't have a feral cat on their hands, even though everything in my body is

telling me that that's who I'm going to deal with.

Cata loca.

Hello, Sweet Pea.

First look at Sweet Pea, and she's underneath the sheets. As soon as I

approach... Damn.

How about some feral cat food?

So I go for food. I pull out my spoon, which I can extend to a place where my

hands are nowhere in sight, and I put some tuna on the end. I allow the smell

travel towards her. Perhaps the desire for food will overcome her extreme fear

of me.

You can eat some food.

You know, the thing that you don't want to do is give them absolutely no

protection. I don't want to move the covers because it's her only refuge.

And for a feral cat to have no place to run and no place to hide, 100 % bad

things will happen. Tuna?

Wow. What about this?

Here.

It's right there. Look, it's food, it's food, it's food.

Yeah, I'm striking out. I'm striking out completely with Sweet Pea. And I decide

I'm going to crouch down to her level and go for eye contact in the form of a

slow blink.

I don't want to freak you out too bad. I just want to be able to see you here.

Hi.

What is that?

I know.

It's a camera.

There's a bunch of things I'm not doing. I'm not presenting my hands because I

know that's too much for her. And then I start to blink toward her. The idea is

if you close your eyes to an animal who's aggressive, you're showing a lot

trust. This is my last chance.

Oh, no.

No, no, no.

What am I going to do with you?

I don't want to freak you out too bad. I just want to be able to see you here. I

go down to her face level to show her that I'm vulnerable to her. I position

body in a way that I'm showing her that she has escape routes. And then I start

to blink toward her.

The idea is to get her to blink back to me to show that mutually we have some

trust. This is my last chance.

Oh, no.

No, no, no.

Good girl.

Good girl.

Oh, I got it. I got the blink.

It's not just one blink. We're talking now. We're having a conversation. She is

feeling trusting of me.

That's a moment where I can finally say, okay, you could live in a home. That's

all it took was a blink.

Oh, hello.

So here's where I want to start. When I hang out with her, I'm hanging out with

a feral cat.

So I want to treat her in that way, and then let's do sort of a concerted effort

to tame a feral cat and see how far we get. It's a very complicated case. I

think that foster parents have a lot of cats to socialize, and you will spend an

inordinate amount of time getting a feral cat to be able to get to the point

where they can be with a family. But I'm going to work this plan of action

because Darcy and Mike need to be able to hold on to something. So let's at

least try.

What I want you to do is we're going to use the basics of operant conditioning

with her.

Treat Sweet Pea, but only when she earns it. Touch, treat.

That's it.

I want to just start desensitizing her a little bit so she knows that as you're

talking to her that you're going to touch and then you're going to present a

treat. So Darcy, from what you're telling me, you're the most afraid of

And that explains why you're having a rough time trying to get the same kind

connection with Sweet Pea that Mike has been able to get.

So what you would do, Darcy, is you go in there and you just start reading out

loud. The idea is you're keeping hands away from her. In the meantime, I want

her to be able to take you in and know that you're of no threat because she was

not treated as a family member. She's never lived as a companion. So we've got

to figure out if she can or not. Cool? Great. Yeah. Right on. Jackson seems

optimistic. Maybe there is a silver lining. All we can do is hope.

I'll be back in a few weeks. The stakes are very high, and Mike and Darcy

understand that. They know if this can't be Sweet Pea's home and someone else's

home can't be Sweet Pea's home, then there is no home.

Today is trapping day here on Staten Island.

I need all the help that I can get. So today I brought Mike and Kathleen with

from the New York City Feral Cat Initiative, and we're going to help

Terry start controlling the population of cats they have in their area. So

today, these cats have got to be caught.

So, guys, obviously we've got to catch all the cats here, but you told me that

Puff Puff is the one who's populating this colony, so of course Puff Puff now

becomes, I think, our primary target here. Mike and Kathleen are coming here

today not just to spay and neuter these eight cats.

We are giving these guys the tools that they need to take care of the feral cat

problem here. Like, hey, you want to stop picking up dead kittens off the

ground? This is the way to do it.

Okay, so we want to put some bait that goes in this end of the trap. We're

to put a little trail of food. One other thing to kind of hedge our bets, we've

got one of these instant toe warmers. Amazing. To make sure that this is not

going to freeze out there, that it'll still be nice and stinky.

That's a fantastic idea. So the concept now is that by keeping that plate warm,

that we're going to be attracting the cats when normally we wouldn't. So we

to get them to step on that trip plate so that the door closes behind them and

it clears their tail and they don't get hurt. Can a small cat like a kitten

provide enough weight on the trip plate to shut the door?

Yeah. Scott has been a really amazing student. He really watched everything.

watched the way Kathleen set up the trap. He wants to make sure he

which I love.

Okay, now we've got this one trap ready. You guys know how to do it. Let's get

outside.

Once we've placed all the traps, then we're all going to get out of the yard

watch from a monitor inside.

Hopefully, because these cats haven't eaten in 24 hours, they're going to

coming for the food.

Apparently, Puff Puff is really close. So just stand by for a second.

Puff Puff.

That's great. Look at him. Puff Puff, who is, by all accounts, really just a

linchpin of this cat community, makes his presence known. He's coming towards

the traps.

He got a whiff of something.

That is a hungry boy.

Oh, he's right there.

He's right there.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

There he goes.

Oh, boy.

And now he's up.

Puff Puff doesn't go in the trap. The hardest core cat in this group, he's not

going to go down that easy.

Okay, now we've got a cat in the backyard again.

That is Alamode. It's Alamode. Alamode, okay.

There's Puff Puff. Man, Puff Puff is smart. Puff Puff basically sent a scout.

I'd like to send out Scott. It's really crucial in this moment that Scott mirror

a calm, everyday experience. We've got to trick the cats into saying this is

normal.

Hi, Scooby.

Come on. Our plan to send Scott out worked because all of a sudden the cats

coming out too.

All right. He's got a whole bunch of cats right now.

That's a good boy. Here you go.

There you go. You see how I put it in there? That's the way you got to do it.

We're about to get somebody here. That's right. That's a good boy.

It makes me nervous that Puff Puff is watching all of this.

We don't want all those witnesses.

Exactly.

I kind of don't want this to happen.

Yeah. That's a good boy.

Uh, my special little guy.

Oh, he's on his way.

We don't want all those witnesses.

Exactly.

I kind of don't want this to happen. Yeah.

That's a good boy.

Uh, my special little guy.

Oh, he's on his way.

There's Puff Puff right next to him. Right there. He's just sitting there

staring. Oh my God, please don't let the cat... Oh, bad timing.

Okay, but we got him. We got him.

Oh, there's Puff Puff running.

We trapped Alamode, but it came at a cost because Puff Puff saw the whole

going down and he took off.

The good news is, though, all the other cats are out and about.

All right, so now Scooby is all about the eating.

And one trap goes down.

And I hear another one. And a third.

Oh, I got him. We just got somebody.

They're just going down. You can hear them echoing.

It's happening. We're getting cats.

We got someone?

That's two out of the three main ones.

Yeah, well, Puff Puff has seen a lot tonight.

Yeah, also. He can hold my breath.

Smarter than all of us combined.

Puff probably ran back to the highway.

I was concerned that the cats wouldn't come back, but not feeding them for 24

hours worked really well because their hunger is outweighing their fear and the

food is luring them back in.

We only have left... Scooby and Puff Puff are outside.

Okay. Hey, man. Yeah. Great freaking work.

Okay.

Scooby. We have Scooby.

Scooby was just caught.

We got Scooby? Yeah.

Just now?

Yeah.

With Scooby and Toe, we're only missing one cat, Puff Puff, who unfortunately we

haven't seen in a few hours, so we're going to call it a night.

You now have the tools, and we're leaving you some cages, so it's going to

to you, Scott and Terry, to catch Puff Puff.

All right, guys, the cats are going to be neutered and spayed. They'll be back

here in just a few days. I'm really encouraged by our success tonight, but

and Terry still have a lot of work to do because Puff Puff, the cat that has

largely been populating this colony, is still out there. So hopefully by the

time I get back here next time, they will have caught him.

Thank you very much. All right, good, good, good work today.

So I'm here for my second visit with Mike and Darcy and their cat, Sweet Pea.

There's some more questions and answers when it comes to Sweet Pea, and

hopefully I'll get those answers today.

How have things been going with you guys? Sweet Pea has good days and bad

but with the homework, I think she's starting to come around. I've seen some

positive things.

All right, well, listen, I've got your homework on video, so let's see what

progress looks like.

That's a wonderful, good girl.

Good girl.

Touch and treat.

I'm gonna read to her.

Wow. Oh my God.

You look really scared.

Yeah.

Probably senses that, huh?

Uh -huh. I'm watching the homework on video and I wish there was more progress

to report.

These guys can get farther than they could before with Sweet Pea, but just

far enough for me.

There were things in there that I found a little concerning.

Dorothy, your body language is, you're petrified. Are you afraid that she's

gonna just...

maul you? I just don't trust her. Okay. And that's really important because that

means she doesn't trust you either.

Dorothy is living in fear. I want her to emotionally walk through the trauma

that she feels with Sweet Pea because the bottom line is here, if she can't

through that fear, how does she expect Sweet Pea to walk through her fear of

humans? I want to try it differently today.

So what I'd like to do is send you guys in there. I'm going to stay out here

with a monitor and I'm going to watch your interactions with her. Okay? Okay.

Good, let's get to it. I would like Darcy to go in there and just be a

journalist. It'll get her more in line with observing body language and it will

emotionally divorce her from the fear that she's clearly feeling.

Mike, on the other side, I want him to do what he normally does with Sweet Pea

and be able to translate that experience to his wife because if he doesn't let

her know how to approach this cat with ease and no fear, we're never going to

get anywhere.

I think it's interesting that she's letting you do that without seeing you.

Right.

Come on, Mike, you're being a little tentative here.

Easy.

Mike is acting like he's on the bomb squad here.

What are you doing?

We're having a little bit of a standoff.

Come on.

Come on.

I think it's interesting that she's letting you do that without seeing you.

Easy.

Mike is acting like he's on the bomb squad here.

Good girl. There we go.

Well, to my surprise, watching Darcy and Mike work with Sweet Pea, I think Sweet

Pea come out. Remember the last time I was here, not only could I not get this

cat out from under that blanket. Damn.

Every time that blanket was moved, she was like a banshee. This time around,

she's taking treats from Mike. That's big progress.

Good. She's looking around. That's good, eh?

Not what we wanted.

All right.

Let's give her a break. Let her calm down.

And there is a lot of good and bad, but I'm seeing a whole lot better than last

time I was here. I would hope that we were a little further along than we are,

so we've got to push it, okay? So I'm going to start giving you guys a plan

forward and give you guys some homework.

Dorothy, I'd like you to abandon ship on anything but story time. Once you feel

comfortable crossing your next challenge line, which is to say you've gone in

there, you know that you're going to do feral cat story time, and she's just

going to hang out, reward a behavior.

Okay? I just want you to get so natural doing this that you can trust her so she

can trust you. By breaking the cycle of fear between Darcy and Sweet Pea, the

idea is that Sweet Pea for the first time in her life can actually have a

relationship with a human. That's really important if we ever want to make Sweet

Pea into a companion cat.

As far as I'm concerned, it's either you guys or we find an appropriate

environment for her. Together, we will either decide if she's yours or she's

not. Now, the last exercise, and this is the most important thing we're going to

do. We've got to get her out of the room because that is where we make our big

decision the next time I'm back here.

So what I want you guys to do, we're going to find a way to block off the

hallway at the end of the hallway here so that we can open up a new chunk of

territory. And the goal is to lead her down that hallway in a confident way. I

want them to block off that hallway because Sweet Pea is not in any way

for another cat.

I want them to make her feel like it's safe to come out, and then we've got to

see what happens.

If we can't get her to leave that room by the time I come back here, we have to

make a decision.

This is one of the toughest calls I've ever had to make.

Sweet Pea's got one paw in the house cat world and one paw in the feral cat

world, and she's got to get her whole body in one place or the other.

In my years of working with cats, I've seen them contribute to our well -being

in multiple, unexpected, inspirational ways. And now you can too.

It's my pleasure to share some of their stories with you. Welcome to A Little

Slice of My Cat from Heaven.

I'm here at Isabella Geriatric Center. This time around, I'm going to introduce

you to Buzz the Fuzz. Buzz was rescued from a world of chaos.

Humane Society and the Sheriff's Office removed 39 German shepherds and a cat

from two homes in Durham yesterday.

Living in such horrible conditions, the stench, investigators say, made their

eyes water.

Now, Buzz the Fuzz is an ambassador for compassion and comfort as a therapy cat.

It's an amazing benefit to the humans and to Buzz the Fuzz himself.

My name is Sandra, and my cat is Buzz the Fuzz.

I saw Buzz's picture.

He had to be shaved because he was full of mess.

He was starving. He was dehydrated. He has a small break in his tail, which is

still crooked.

There was just something about his eyes. There was a connection.

He was my cat. I knew it right away.

Hey, Santa.

How are you? I'm good. How are you doing? Good. Good to meet you. Hello.

This must be Buzz the Fuzz. Yes, it is.

striking looking boy you are. This cat sitting here, so serene, so peaceful,

he came from such horrific conditions.

Have you noticed anything in terms of post -traumatic stress?

The second or third day when I got him home, he started crying.

And every once in a while, if I leave for work, he still does that, and it'll

for hours on end. You're one of the first stable humans in his life.

Separation anxiety, we can only address the way we play into it. So if, for

instance, you're leaving the house, and you start doing this very set pattern

that you would do before you leave the house, he will catch on to that pattern

from the time you pick up your car keys. Mix up your morning routine the best

you can. So one morning it could be... Feed him, then shower. The next day,

shower, then feed, then take out a toy.

How long was it after you had Buzz that you were like, you know, I think I want

to be a therapy cat?

Well, I had a friend pass away from brain cancer, and he had a cat visit him

while he was in hospice.

So I was like, why can't I do that for people?

And off I went. I am really psyched to do what we're going to do now. We're

going to meet some of the residents here, bring him in there, and just watch

some faces light up. You ready to go?

Absolutely.

Hi, everybody.

How are you? This is Buzz.

Buzz is super chill.

He's got the right kind of temperament to be a therapy cat.

There was about a week wait from the time that I put in the application for

And I've been bringing Buzz to nursing homes since about August of 2015.

He's been doing great.

Look at those pretty eyes.

Yeah. That's the spot.

I swear to God, I'm a born poor cat.

Meeting Buzz and Sandra is just invigorating.

To just have that presence of mind to bring him out to the community the way

does is just fantastic.

When you bring an animal like Buzz into anyone's world who doesn't get exposure

to animals often, all of a sudden blood pressure goes down, pulse rate goes

down, and optimism goes up. It is a fried and true formula with therapy

It's a really good day coming here to Isabella, having Buzz the Fuzz just

up everyone's day here. And I feel really great just to be a small part of

bringing that to them. Thanks for spending time with us, okay?

Thank you. All right, take care, guys.

Adopt, build the CAD.

Exactly.

I'm in New York City, and I'm going to go meet up with Mike and Darcy, two

fantastic foster parents who a few months ago took in a cat named Sweet

came from a really extreme hoarding situation.

And, of course, that trauma has informed all of her behaviors, which tend to be

pretty antisocial and oftentimes violent.

So I'm going to go over there right now and just figure out, does Sweet Pea have

a future with Mike or Darcy or really anyone?

So the last time I was here, we were pretty definitive about the choices that

needed to be made for Sweet Pea.

Let's take a look at your video homework.

But look at her. Yeah, look at that. Look at Sweet Pea acting like a cat.

Oh, this is great. So far, everything I'm seeing is the body language of a

cat. Look at you. Darcy, that's amazing.

I'm seeing Sweet Pea act like a normal house cat, and I say that in the most

glowing way. She is coming out of the bedroom, into the hallway, and is

confident. Sweet Pea has shown this incredible drive to walk through

and that's really important. That's what I needed to see.

Your relationship with her has, in some way, changed, deepened something?

Yes. Okay. I'm a little less guarded.

I can't pet her, but she pets me. So she comes up to you, headbutts you, rubs...

That's fantastic.

All right, well, your homework really went well. Everything you're saying

positive, and this video is great evidence, but I think I need to see her

you guys, not on video, but in the flesh.

Okay. Now, watching the video homework, I'm greatly encouraged, but of course

I'm not convinced because I want to see Sweet Pea come out of the bedroom into

the hallway, take that space a little bit with me there.

What I'd like to do is have you go on in there, and I'm going to just sit down

in the hallway. And then the goal really is to try to lead her out into the

hallway. And if we can get her out into this hallway, I'll feel 100 % about

where we are right now. Okay.

Sweet Pea. Come on, baby.

Hey. Hey. Hi.

Here we go.

Come on, baby. Come on, girl.

Here we go.

Here, I'm just going to do this real quick. Come on.

It's okay, girl. Come on.

Hey. Come on, sweet pea.

Mike and Darcy are using toys. They're using treats. They're trying to lure

sweet pea to the door, but she's not coming out.

Oh, she laid down.

Like she knows what's up. Yeah.

And that's not great.

Sweet Pea. Come on, baby. Come on, girl.

Here you go.

It's like she knows what's up.

Mike and Darcy are using toys, they're using treats, they're trying to lure

Sweet Pea to the door, and she's not coming out.

The second she rounds that corner, she's going to see me.

The fact that she trusts Mike and Darcy now is so encouraging. But there is a

long way to go with this cat.

So I have to ask Mike and Darcy what they want to do, what their decision is.

Guys, let's make our call, okay?

Okay. Now, she didn't come out. That was kind of important to me, to be able to

see her level of sociability. And it's not there yet. I see a cat who, in

is making incredible strides. But is it enough to say that she can be happy

here? So that's what I want you guys to tell me. There are a lot of challenges.

There are times that I'm still afraid of her. And there are other times where

she just makes me fall in love with her because she's just so super sweet.

We have come a long way.

You've got some work left to do. So it means that this level of commitment that

you've shown in a really focused way over a couple of weeks, you have to

out over months.

What do you want to do?

I think we've talked about it, and we are going to keep sweeping.

Good, good.

Making that decision was huge, and that makes us all feel better. With the

progress that we've seen, I think it's possible to get her to where she's a

normal, healthy, happy cat.

I know it's going to take a lot of work, and we're on board with it, so we'll

see how it goes. I'm excited, and I think you should be too. You've saved a

life, and now you're going to make that life so much better than it's ever been

before. All right, guys, I'm going to leave you, but it's been fantastic.

you. You're welcome. What a journey. I met a cat.

who had lived an incredibly traumatized life.

She acted feral when I first met her. And for the first time in her life,

learned how to trust. If Sweet Pea had to land in any home, I'm so glad it was

this one.

So I'm back here to visit Scott and Terry for our last visit. Last time we

here, we caught a good amount of cats, but... Puff Puff was still at large, so

hopefully they've trapped him. Hopefully the rest of these guys have been

released and they're healthy. That's what I want to know. How you been?

Good.

Very good.

Oh, man.

It was a heck of a day we had the last time we were here.

We still had not caught the infamous Puff Puff, and that was the big thing

I left with. So, tell me.

Well, great news. I set the trap, and within...

Two minutes, Puff Puff started eating the little bits that I had left. The

shut, we ran out with the blanket, covered the trap, brought him inside.

And then I assume you sent them off to Humane Society of New York? And they

brought back two or three at a time. This is amazing!

You've actually trapped a cat by yourself now, man. Scott trapped Puff

hardest cat in this group, to catch on his own.

That's amazing.

Man, I'm psyched. All 10 cats are now neutered or spayed. They're healthy and

they're back out here. And that's all I wanted. You know, one of the unique

things about New York and about the Mayor's Alliance of New York and the

Cat Project is that they certify people in TNR. And then you can teach other

people. You're certified to get food and other supplies.

I'm further than you would think. You're getting certified.

Yep, I already have my spot set. Get out of here!

The Scott that I first met was absolutely helpless.

Now, I can't even tell you the pride that I feel to see Scott take the reins

way he has.

You guys, you've done wonderful things. Thank you very much for everything

you've done. Thank you.

He is going to save so many lives and makes this trip out here so much more

worth it. We have just planted the seed for saving thousands of them. And Scott

is the reason I've got...

a good -sized present for you. So I've got to go outside.

Listen for the door, okay? I'll be right back.

Okay, I think you're going to be hungry.

Well,

hello. Look what I got for you guys.

What? I got a little bit of food for you.

A little bit? Just a little bit of food.

The Jackson Galaxy Foundation and the Mayor's Alliance present you because you

guys have done such an amazing job trapping these guys, neutering them,

them back out here. And a company called HTX has provided you guys with some

killer houses here.

Originally, I was expecting for Jackson to come and help us. Not only did he

come and help us.

But he left us in a position where we can help others.

And that's the most important thing to me. And it means that I know for sure

that nobody's ever going to have to go through the kind of things that we went

through.

Dude, so proud of you, man.

Thank you so much, brother. You really have helped us more than I could ever

describe. Thank you. My pleasure.

The hell isn't over yet. Go to the My Cap From Hell Facebook page for

gifts and much more.