All language subtitles for My.Cat.from.Hell.S10E06

Miles peed by the front door, on the
front door. He just peed.

He peed on the wall. He peed under the
window.

Lena's at that age where she is walking
and getting into everything.

We worry that she will stick her hands
in a newly formed pee puddle. What if I

couldn't come over here? We've put out
the feelers to find him a new home.

My name is Molly, and together with my
hero, Tobacco, we help rescue cats.

The kittens!

Yay! My little babies!

I'm here at the Allendale Correctional
Institution, which used to be one of the

roughest prisons in the system. But it
has transformed into something beyond

anybody's wildest dreams.

Cats! Everywhere!

This is therapy.

It's given many of these men a purpose.

We're not just saving four -legged lives
here.

We're saving two -legged lives.

Whoa!

Holy! I'm Jackson Galaxy.

What the hell, man?

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

cat. Sometimes I wish that I didn't have
her.

Damn.

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

my help. This is fun.

I'm Kristen. And I'm Alyssa. We have a
16 -month -old daughter, Lena, and three

cats, Max, Maury, and Miles.

We adopted Max and Maury when they were
about three months old, about a year and

a half before we brought Miles in. We
just had the intention of fostering him

and finding him a new home. But over the
time that it took us to find somebody

to take him, Max, Maury, and Miles all
bonded. We just couldn't separate them.

Hi, pretty boy.

There's just a special place in my heart
for Miles. Hi.

He's just such a little sweetie. He's a
great cat, but he's been peeing in our

house for the last three years.

And there it is. He just peed.

Can you see it? Yeah.

That's Miles' pee.

Miles has peed by the front door, on the
front door.

Looks like he emptied his entire
bladder.

He pees on the wall.

He pees under the window.

This is a brand new pee spot.

There's literally not a spot in this
house he hasn't peed. This is an area

he peed often.

Lena's at that age where she is getting
into everything, and we worry that she

will stick her hands in a newly formed
pee puddle. We don't know if he would

on her toys. Every time he gets near
that window, I get nervous.

There's just no way to ensure that we
can be on top of it when Miles pees

somewhere.

So we decided to confine Miles to our
bedroom. So he's been confined in our

bedroom for almost a year, and it has
taken a toll on him. He hears us out

and he wants to be a part of the family,
but we can't let him out because we

can't risk having Pete around the house.

Pretty quickly after Miles being left in
the bedroom, there was an immediate

difference in his relationship with the
other cats.

Nope. Oh, my God.

Lena!

Miles is back in his safe zone.

There was fur everywhere.

Maury and Max will come to the door and
hiss at Miles, and Miles will just paw

at the door and meow.

Can you ruin the door?

They don't feel like a group anymore. It
feels like Max and Maury and Miles.

Whoa!

Anytime we think he's getting better, we
take him out.

And so then there's a flare -up, and
then it just becomes worse.

We feel like failures, and we feel like
we've failed Miles.

I love you a lot, little man.

We would love it if Jackson could bring
our family back together, including

Miles. Oh, my pretty little man.

We really feel like Jackson's our only
hope.

Hello. Hello.

Hello. How are you? I'm good. I'm
Jackson. Alyssa. Alyssa. Kristen.

Hey, Kristen. Good to meet you guys.
This is Lena.

Hey, Lena.

So, tell me what's up. So, we have three
cats.

Max and Maury are brothers.

Miles was brought in later. Okay.
Everything is great for the first year.

day, Miles just started peeing on walls.

Yeah. He pees outside of the box at
least four to five times a day. A day?

Yes. Does he ever pee in the box? Yeah.
Yeah. He could sometimes go in the

litter box, pee a little, come out and
pee on the wall. It's very strange.

Wow, man. How old was Miles when we
started?

Probably a year. He was about a year
old, yeah. Really? So, everything's

fine. And then a year into it. We were
like, let's take him to the vet just to

be sure everything's going on there. And
he was getting bladder crystals. Some

cats are just predisposed to getting
crystals in their bladder, just like

humans are predisposed to.

Kidney stones. When a cat has their
urethra blocked by crystals, they can

septic and die. It's not a small thing.

And they believe it was brought on by
stress, because he is kind of a high

-stress cat. He always has, like, the
big eyes, and he's always rubbing up on

everything. He seems very territorial.

Okay. So the crystals kept forming.

Yeah, he had to be catheterized twice.

Wow. And they said, why don't we have
the, what's the surgery called? The

perineal urethra. Oh, the PU surgery?

We decided, you know, it's probably the
best course of action, and the vet

agreed. Wow, it got that bad that he had
to have the surgery. The PU surgery

makes their urethra larger so that
crystals don't lead to blockages. It's a

pretty severe surgery, but in cases like
Miles, it usually helps. Did it resolve

anything? No.

He doesn't have any crystals.

Right. He's healthy.

He's healthy, but he's still peeing.

Yes, the surgery worked, but Miles
didn't stop peeing, so something else

going on here.

So he lives in our room, and the other
cats have the rest of the house. We have

left him in that room for a year. It's
been a year. The only other thing is it

now has created a tension in the
household.

We're worried that it increases his
stress level and that he'll continue to

Yeah. And also, Lena came into the
picture. We can't let him out because we

can't risk having pee around the house
where Lena could potentially get into

There she goes.

It's hard to imagine that you can keep
him in a room 24 -7 and he doesn't act

out to some degree.

He does scratch at the door to get out
of the room. So we'll put him in the

bathroom in our bedroom at night
sometimes because we can't sleep. Wait,

let me back up. So now he's going from
being in the bedroom to being in the

bathroom in the bedroom.

Right.

Man, so we just keep making it smaller
and smaller.

They're putting Miles in the bathroom
because he stresses them out. They can't

sleep at night, but by putting him in
the bathroom, they are causing his

to skyrocket. It's not a win.

What if I couldn't come over here? Where
are you guys at?

We've put out the feelers to find him a
new home because we feel like maybe he'd

be happier in a single cat home.

Okay. These guys are talking about
rehoming.

And they're serious about it. But it is
the worst idea because nobody's going to

adopt a cat who pees around the house
five times a day, morning, noon, and

night. I would love to meet Miles, but I
also want to see what his world looks

like, okay?

All right, let's go take a look. A lot
of times just seeing where a cat pees

will tell me what he might be responding
to environmentally, and hopefully

that's the case right now.

Where's our boy?

I think we lost him. I think he's under
the bed.

Okay, that's cool. We can...

Wow. This room's a lot smaller than I
thought it was going to be, man. This is

small room.

I can't believe that Miles has been
living in this small bedroom for over a

year, and I can't believe that these
people, who I know are good people, felt

like they had to lock him in this room
for over a year. It's not a solution.

It's far from a solution.

And that's the bathroom where he'll wind
up. Yep. Wow.

That's an incredibly small bathroom.
That's an incredibly small bathroom,

Damn. Well, you guys got to live with it
because it smells in here.

You can smell the pee in here. Yes, we
can. So I'm just a little, I'm more than

a little concerned.

To think he goes into this bathroom,
which is an eighth of the size of the

bedroom, is unbelievable.

And it's got to stop.

This is a bad situation.

I mean, really, this is a bad situation.

This is a bad situation.

And we recognize that it's not a good
situation. Well, you guys got to live

it because it smells in here. You can
smell the pee in here. I mean, there's

way that that boy can pee four or five
times a day outside the box and he's in

here that it's not going to smell. I
don't even know how these guys sleep

let alone Miles live here.

This room.

Not good.

What does he pee on in here? So right
here.

Oh, yeah, you can't see it. So he pees
right along this wall here. And then

along the window.

Underneath the window.

So he basically confines himself to
these two spots.

Yeah. Lena has been growing up for 16
months while he's been in here.

It's almost like he hasn't been here. He
lives like a completely separate life

from the rest of the house. Yeah, it's
just like he's not really part of the

family, which is sad.

Yeah.

Right now, with the information I have,
I don't know what Miles is responding

to. I don't know if it's the environment
itself, if it's the other cats, if it's

Lena, if it's something outside the
house, because it could be out there, it

could be in here. I don't know, but
we've got to find out.

So the bottom line is, you've got a very
stressed cat who is occupying an eighth

of the territory that he needs to.

He reacts to stress by peeing. But I
don't know what's causing his stress.

got to find out what's causing it.

So the first thing that we're going to
do is we're going to deal with some

surveillance. I'm going to leave you
with some cameras. We're going to find

what's happening when we can't see him.
Being able to see his stressy behavior I

think is going to really help us to get
a better, fuller picture of how we can

address this. So now we're going to move
into the world of getting him out of

that room. So I'd like you guys to start
doing some supervised access with him.

So that means that he's going to have
access to out here only when you guys

be with him enough so that he doesn't
set himself up for failure.

Also, the only way to see if he gets
along with the other cats is to get him

with them.

And then over the course of a couple
weeks, try to expand that time out a

bit. Just let it happen for the length
of time that you guys feel comfortable.

Maybe push it this much more. By
expanding Miles' territory, we're going

if his anxiety actually decreases
because he's got access.

Or it increases because he can't defend
all that territory.

Now the next one is nighttime playtime.
Before you guys go to bed, we're going

to play.

I want them to really play him out so
that he's tired enough to go to bed when

they go to bed and stay asleep while
they're asleep.

You can't expect him to be chill when he
can't move around. Which leads us to no

more shutting him in the bathroom.

Period. You have to completely ignore
him. You don't yell at him. You don't...

do anything because the attention that
he gets from that will say oh this works

i don't want miles in that bathroom
period it's too small it's going to

his anxiety tenfold he doesn't like
being behind closed doors he doesn't

being separated from the rest of the
family we're doing both of them at the

time and you can't breathe in there All
right, guys, take care, hang in there,

and I'll see you soon. I'm concerned
about Miles coming out into the living

and peeing and Lena getting into it, and
that's not a good situation.

I'm here in Dallas to meet up with
Molly, who, with her cat Tabasco, has

balanced a thriving business.

with the business of rescuing and
fostering hundreds of cats here in the

community. I cannot wait to meet her.
Hello, buddy.

Hi. How are you? You're acting good. I'm
Molly.

Good to meet you, Molly. Good to meet
you. And this must be Tabasco. I see

you've already met Tabasco. My name is
Molly, and I have a marketing company.

do marketing, branding, website.

And together with my hero, Tabasco, we
help rescue cats.

Now, you got Tabasco as a kitten?

I did. I adopted him 13 years ago.

The office cat.

Tabasco is a cat basseter, we call him.
He greets people that come in the front

door in the business and helps debunk
that myth that cats are aloof and mean.

also helps with fosters, gives them a
sense of companionship while we're here.

Who's that?

That's Nyla.

Hi, Nyla. Nyla came into the shelter
with a giant laceration on her rear leg.

Jeez. Pretty confident.

Not only the human interaction helps
make her feel confident and learn

but she follows Tabasco around. So she
kind of learns what's appropriate and

appropriate. It's nice to have that sort
of social bridge, that he is sort of a

little behavior teacher, huh? He is.

How did it start for you? About 10 years
ago, I started working at the Dallas

Animal Services.

I volunteer there every weekend. We get
over 30 ,000 animals a year brought in,

underage litters of kittens, adult cats
with behavioral issues, of course. I'm

sure because it's a municipal shelter
that you saw your fair share of tragic

stories. You can't turn anybody away.
We'll take whatever you have, no matter

how old or injured or broken.

I mean, you're faced with a lot of
euthanasia in a shelter of that

We are.

A shelter system where you're always
this close to being completely

and you have a cat that comes in that
needs to have a leg amputated or is

paralyzed. You don't have the time, the
resources, the space, nothing.

In many cities, those cats don't make it
out of the shelter.

Such a huge need.

Paralyzed amputees, those seem to be the
ones that I gravitate towards.

Wow. It started with rescue kitty.
Here's this cat that's completely

from the waist down. She climbed right
up my jacket and just put her arms

me and buried her head in my chest. I
was like, oh, please. It's all over.

I knew the shelter certainly wouldn't
have the resources to support for long

-term care, but I knew I couldn't leave
her there. I brought her here, and it

took about eight weeks from start to
finish, and she was walking.

Unbelievable. I thought, somebody has to
do something here.

So I decided because I had a 4 ,000
-square -foot building that we weren't

all the space in. We dedicated one of
the offices to a foster room where cats

are either too young or they're injured.

In a foster home, not only are they
safer from disease, but they also get

exposed to social interactions that help
to make them better cats.

So Rescue Kitty, by basically picking
you, yeah completely threw you into a

different world it did yeah so we have
the for -profit business that supports

our non -profit efforts which is doing
as much as we possibly can to support

cats in our community any proceeds we
get out of all the work that we do

my business goes to pay for pet food pet
supplies things we donate feels good to

be able to do something so right now in
your care

Who else we got? We have Barney, Boots,
Buster, and Bandit.

For some reason, that sounds like
kittens to me. Of course it is. You have

litter of kittens. We have a litter of
kittens.

Can I meet the kittens?

Absolutely. Yay. Yay.

Kittens. The kittens.

Hi, little babies.

This is our kitten foster room.

And who do I have here?

You have Barney.

Hi, Barney.

They were at the shelter and they only
weighed a pound.

They need a place to hang and learn
about life and get lots of loving. And

once they reach two pounds, we'll take
them back to the adoption room.

They were pretty feral when they first
came in.

Really? Yeah. And so this is the kind of
thing that you have people do. Exactly.

Just hold and play with. And love on.

Kiss, of course. The more we can expose
them to, the better adult cats they

make. So we try to have as many people
in the building handle them as possible,

and so when they go back, they'll be
great cats.

You've got nobody here who's hiding in a
tube, who's hiding in the litter box.

These guys will all go home in a
heartbeat.

Molly has managed to create a beautiful,
nurturing space where these kittens can

come in here and very rapidly get
socialized, get the right start in life,

go off to home.

where they probably won't get returned
because they've got their mojo on and

they're going to adapt well.

Molly, thank you so much. I think the
work you're doing is amazing.

Keep it up. Thank you.

I love stories like this. I mean, Molly
decided to throw herself into the

solution here to make sure that all of
Dallas knows every cat counts.

Every night he still pees.

One night, it happened at 3 a .m., he
peed on the wall. 4 a .m., he peed on

wall. 5 a .m., he peed on the wall. Wow.

No!

I'm back from my second visit with
Alyssa and Kristen and their cat, Miles.

Now, Miles had been peeing around the
house so much for so long that he got

locked away in the back bedroom for over
a year.

Now, I've had them grant him access to
the house.

Hopefully, that hasn't backfired.

Hey, Jackson.

Hey. Hi. How are you doing? Good. How
are you? I'm good.

I can't help but notice I see an open
door. Is this like supervised out time

happening right now? Yeah.

Great.

So clearly, things have to be going
okay.

How are you guys feeling?

We're a little tired.

Why? The nights have been rough.

With Miles having to sleep with us all
night long, that's been a little

exhausting. Well, you know what? Let's
just get to it. I want to check out your

video homework and see exactly where
we're at.

All right, here we go.

He's just still a very vocal cat. So
from three to five.

He's meowing, scratching at the door. Oh
my gosh, he's like a prairie dog.

How many times have you cleaned up pee
in the past couple weeks?

Every night he still peed in our
bedroom.

One night it happened at 3 a .m. he peed
on the wall, we cleaned it. 4 a .m. he

peed on the wall, we cleaned it. 5 a .m.
he peed on the wall. Wow. In the same

area. What area was that?

Under the window. Under the window.

Okay, what I'm thinking right now is
that this cat has no territory

Being cordoned into a room or out of a
room is causing him a lot of anxiety.

Having free passage, I think, would
solve part of the problem.

I keep on walking away to go take care
of Lena. And when I come back, they're

like, fine, no drama, just eating.

That was great. This is them getting to
know each other again.

And I love the fact that we get to see
what this normal body language is. Sort

of a reintroduction dance.

I've been giving these guys these salmon
treats, and they go so crazy for them

that they don't even mind being an inch
from each other.

That's our good boy.

Let's just dispel any myths that these
three cats are in any way enemies.

Now that Miles has access to the rest of
the house, we get to see behavior like

eating out of the same bowl at the same
time. That's game over in terms of the

competition. Let's just call them
friends.

Great shot. You guys are getting all of
it.

There we go.

He really likes the laser pointer.

Lean again into the egg.

Whoa.

Love it. I was playing with the boys,
and Miles got scared. Even though none

the cats were bothering him, he ran down
the hall and peed right there.

He got scared. Do you know of what?

No. It seemed like when we first took
him out to play with him, when he'd get

really into it and do a big jump, he'd
get embarrassed or scared and run. So

he's scaring himself, really. He gets up
into that really crazed place, and he

scares himself, and that leads him to
pee. A little bit. But the play was

to drain his energy, not stress him out.
You want to talk about an irrational

response. You're playing, your energy
gets piqued, you jump in the air, and

own jump scares you enough that you run
down the hall and pee. That lets you

know that Miles' responses are just not
all there.

Now I'll probably check out the litter
box.

And then go pee on the wall.

Here we go.

No! Don't let it happen.

I agree!

Because the only reason I said
supervised access was so that you

stop him. I don't always let him, but in
that case... Okay, well, okay. Let's

say you weren't filming it for me. You
wouldn't let him do it. I probably would

have brought him into our room. Okay.
What you're doing is you're taking the

neuroses that he has, which is I don't
own this spot, and I have to over -own

it. And he feels like every time I leave
this room... I better leave my mark

because it's temporary.

You guys captured a lot of great stuff
on here. Yeah, we took our homework very

seriously. You did take your homework
seriously, which goes back to where I

you. I mean, when we first met, rehoming
was very much on the table.

What I want to know is, are you guys
still considering it? Are you still at

place right now?

Yeah, it's still on the table because we
can't continue to live like this. We're

still worried about Miles peeing
somewhere that we don't notice and Lena

it. That being said, we're not going to
drop him off at a shelter no matter how

hard it gets.

Because he matters to us. We love him
and we want him to be happy.

Right. If we can make him regulated and
better, then obviously he's staying with

us. Right. I get it.

I guess this is really intolerable.
Normally, if a couple says something

rehoming their cat if we can't solve the
problem, I'll come down pretty hard on

them. But nobody wants to wake up in the
middle of the night to have a cat

peeing inches from your face, let alone
having it happen on the hour, every

hour. That's a lot to ask of anybody.

I am absolutely determined to stay on
the bright side of this whole thing. Mm

-hmm. So I'm... Hey, baby boy.

Hello, baby boy.

Miles.

Hi, Miles, my friend.

Now he's going into Lena's room. That
does make us nervous.

Why? When Lena was not here, that was
actually his favorite room to pee in.

I am just hoping that this cat has not
peed in Lena's room somewhere because if

that happens, doors are going to close
again, trust is gone, we're back to

square one, and this family can't take
that.

He was just in the corner.

Uh -oh. The bad news is I smell pee.

You know, I'm looking around, and
there's no pee where Miles was, so

news, but I still smell something. I
just don't know where it came from.

Oh, there's also a diaper pail right in
front of me. I'm happy to report back to

the Guardian. Miles had access. He went
into Lena's room, sniffed around, and

decided, I don't need to do anything.
I'm good right now. That's something to

celebrate. Okay, so, I don't think he
peed in there, but I smell...

But that's also because my nose was
right by the diaper pail. Yeah. So I

that that's kind of what I was smelling.
I think so. Yeah. So it wasn't a bad

experience, and there's no pee in there,
and yay.

Yeah. I think we're in a good place
right now. I think process -wise, we're

where I would hope to be, with the
exception of four or five pees in a room

during the night.

But I have a plan to minimize that as
well.

From what I'm seeing, the peeing is not
based on competition with the other cats

for resources.

They eat out of the same dish. They play
with the same toy. They hang out in the

same area. So what it's about is his
inability to regulate his anxious

to normal energetic spikes.

His energy starts to peak.

And he's like, I only know to do one
thing to regulate my own anxiety in this

moment, and that's pee. Which leads me
to conclude that we need to medicate

Miles. If Miles were my cat, I would...
put him the medication because the

peeing is not just a response to his
environment to some degree or another

an irrational response to his
environment not just putting medication

as a cure -all you have the ability to
predict half the time when he's going to

do it knowing that that's happening
means that we can prevent part of

and prevention is redirection so instead
of removing him which from now

on that's done your laser pointer is on
Guard. Out it comes. Guide him right

here. Redirect that energy onto
something positive so that he can

himself. Also, I want you to continue
with your surveillance work because

now we know that your room is one of the
prime spots.

Let's get surveillance outside the
window as well.

Now, that being said, I have one other
thing for you guys.

Uh -oh. He's going to say open the
doors.

Yeah.

You're like laughing and crying at the
same time. But here's the thing. I want

you to do it as an experiment.

Okay? Open that door. But do it after
you've done your routines, and I don't

think that he's going to pee four times
in a night out here.

I don't know any other way that I can
control Miles' energy except for to give

him what he wants, which is getting his
energy out in the rest of the house with

the other cats.

I know that I'm asking for a lot between
this time and the next time we see each

other, but I kind of got a feeling that
with all these things in place, we're

going to be okay.

Okay. All right, guys. I will see you in
just a few weeks' time.

Hang in there. Thank you. Thank you. All
right. I still feel like we have a very

long way to go. We're still worried
about pee behavior because of Lena, and

rehoming will be on the table as long as
the peeing continues.

I am so pumped right now.

I'm with a whole bunch of men who
clearly have done something in their

wind up in a prison, but they are proud
of their cat, their dog, their role in

things. Immediately I know that I'm in
for something good here.

My name is Vicki Scott.

I'm the president of the Animal Advocate
Organization, a rescue group in

Barnwell, South Carolina, where we have
a rescue adoption foster center.

We're here today at Allendale
Correctional Institution.

where we have a fostering program that
we call Meow Mate and Mutt Mate.

This is a new one for me. I'm here to
meet up with Vicki Scott, whose program,

Meow Mates, has saved the lives of over
300 animals and, in the process, has

transformed what was one of the roughest
prisons in the system.

For all of us coming in here, I mean,
this is not easy.

You get all of our stuff in, the whole
crew, and there's a lot of checks and

doors and locks.

Once you get in here, however, it is
peaceful.

Hello. Come on, Vicki. So good to meet
you. Great to meet you as well.

For the program here, we pull animals
from our county shelter where the

euthanasia rate has been as high as 98%.

The animals go on a two -month rotation,
live with the men 24 -7 in the cells

before they can be up for adoption. The
inmates just make them so much more

socialized and adoptable.

Hi there.

I'm John Pate. Good to meet you. Good to
have you at our institution.

This is going to be fantastic. Well, we
have a wonderful program and can't wait

for you to see it.

Jackson, I'm Jeffery.

Jeffrey, good to meet you. I'm the
program leader of the overall Meow Mate

Mate program here at Allendale. This is
our cat wing.

I cannot believe all these cats walking
around in here, man.

This is the most exciting thing I've
ever seen in my life. I'm not kidding

Cats everywhere.

And they're just wandering around, no
fear, all social.

It was beyond my wildest dreams. What's
this cat's name?

Missy, hi, babe.

I usually, I go to houses cats aren't
this social, man. They're just like

the bed, on top of the fridge.

In 2013, we brought two cats.

And after about a month, the warden
called me and said, when are you

more? And it's just grown each year. Now
we have about 25 to 30 cats here on a

regular basis.

Hey, who's this?

Hi, babe.

Who are you?

Hi, how are you, man?

There's no way to translate what I'm
seeing in the state of South Carolina.

These inmates' faces have to be blurred.
But the faces are beaming. This feeling

of pride coming off of all these men.
They are proud of their cats, their

their role in things.

Immediately I know that I'm in for
something good here. When you think

fact that every single one of these cats
would probably be dead because you had

a 98 % kill rate at the shelter.

Not just the cats.

The cats, the dogs, and a lot of these
men.

I mean, we're not just saving four
-legged lives here. We're saving two

lives. Honestly, that part is clearly
one of the best things.

Having to dedicate yourself to this
animal, and this animal relying on you,

know, there's a shift inside of you
where you begin to feel empathy.

Nothing has changed me or had the effect
on me that caring for these animals has

had. So this is a typical cat room.
Okay.

We've got our two bunks, desk, two
lockers, the shelf.

We've got the litter box that you saw
when you came in. And then her food and

litter dish is right there under the
locker. She probably pushes it around a

good bit. Well, when you think about the
fact that I work with human families

who don't even want a litter box in
their living room, I don't want to look

it, I can't stand litter boxes. These
guys have a litter box this close to

bed. They've got food stacked up because
they love these cats.

A little lesson to be learned there.

Each cat belongs to a certain room. Is
that how it goes? Well, for a period of

time. Right.

We do a rotation.

They either rotate out or they rotate
from one room to another.

Because if we have one for two days,
we're attached.

I've been incarcerated since I was 17
years old. An environment where the only

thing I needed to look out for is self.

So to put everything that I want to do
to the side and say, I have to focus on

this four -ounce kitten.

It melts a lot of the selfishness out of
guys.

This is our library.

We have a lot of dog training, dog
psychology, different types of dogs.

them are dogs. You know what? Let's just
stop right there.

We really do need some cat books here.
Just let it be said that there will be

cat books at Allendale very soon.

Lots of cat books.

And Jackson, over in this corner, we
have a microscope.

Absolutely. We do fecal examinations and
we do ear cytology.

What the? So anytime we're concerned
about bowel movement of an animal, we

get a sample, put it on the microscope.
We can diagnose whipworms, coccidia,

which is some really nasty stuff, you
know.

None of my clients know how to put poop
under a microscope and figure out what's

in there. Are you kidding? It's
incredible.

I mean, the whole system that's in
place, when you consider that it is a

within a correctional institution, is
bananas.

One of the leaders in our program.

I was terrified of cats.

When I started working here, I was my
first cat. I got bit the first time, but

eventually got over it, and now I'm
clipping cat nails and cleaning their

and giving them baths sometimes if they
need it.

You're the first person I've ever known
to go from being petrified of cats to

giving them a bath. So congratulations.

This gentleman was afraid of cats. He
comes here. He faces his fear. The fact

that this is being highlighted in such
an incredible way is mind -blowing to

If I have a life sentence, the
possibility of me getting out is

But if I have to spend the rest of my
life taking care of these dogs and cats,

mean, that's all right with me.

Vicki's work doesn't stop at Meow Mates.
There's also Mutt Mates. We have 25

dogs. Of course, I'm known as the cat
guy, obviously, but I love dogs. I have

dogs, and I'm excited to see some dogs
here, for sure.

That's a good girl.

Ready. Sit.

Feet.

Yes. Hold. Yes. Now.

That's it. That a boy. Yes.

Yeah, baby.

That is the most adoptable dog on the
planet.

To date, we've had over 300 animals pass
through these gates.

most of which have been adopted directly
from the prison, and it's been very

successful. It's a win -win for both our
rescue group and the men here in

prison. This is our memorial garden for
one of our early cats in the program,

Gypsy. Gypsy came into the center. She
was not in very good shape at all. She

started to come around, and a guy that
previously was a pretty violent felon in

here, and Gypsy helped him as he helped
her, really turned his wife around.

Unfortunately, she had a turn for the
worse and didn't come back around.

So this is our memorial garden for
little gypsies. That's so sweet.

If not for the second chance afforded
these animals by this program, every

single one of them would be euthanized.
And without the second chance afforded

the men in our prisons, we've wasted all
of their lives.

Whoever you are, you deserve a second
chance.

I look at her like I do me.

I went through a rough time on the
streets. I've been through a lot of

and abused.

She's been abused.

So we relate.

And now I'm helping her get over her
abuse and she's helping me get over

Amen. It is essential that programs like
this get a very bright light shined on

them. And when you're talking about a
county where the kill rate at the

was nearly 100%, it is one of the most
perfect examples I've ever seen of

innovative thought.

putting your money where your mouth is,
and the results being beyond anybody's

wildest dreams.

Just looking at their faces, the
absolute pride and love that they have

these animals is undeniable.

We wanted Jackson to come and see this
to open the minds of people, not only

about a partnership such as this, but
also the good side of these men that are

here. They've done an incredible job.

Many of them have never loved anything
before.

Or felt loved.

I've had men tell me that they get off
their medicine that they were having to

take. They don't have to. That's
incredible.

Hundreds of men have gone through this
program and become better people.

I don't usually gush like this. I'm so
absolutely overwhelmed.

You guys have saved 300 lives plus.

Those are just the animals.

Yes, we're just counting. I feel so
blessed to be in this position to do

And so appreciative.

I wanted to make sure that I left you
with just something. This is

food from our friends at Chewy .com.
Well, thank you. You're very welcome. So

grateful for that. It's an amazing
story, and honestly, it's one that

really should know about. Now they will.

You have an open invitation to return
anytime you like. Hopefully, it'll be

under good circumstances.

Either way, you're welcome. Either way,
I'm welcome.

Thank you for everything that you're
doing. What you're doing for these

is beyond my ability to express.

Thank you. Take care, guys. There is a
very strange adjustment that your mind

has to make while you're standing in a
prison.

You're in a space with a whole bunch of
men who clearly have done something in

their life to wind up here, but their
interaction with these animals is so

gentle and loving.

I have seen so much care, so much
innovation, so much passion.

I swear I have been around the block and
I haven't seen it many times in my

life. It's amazing.

Miles was peeing, what was it? About
four to five times a day. Let's start

taking a look at your video homework.

Wait, what's this?

Oh, that's Miles peeing on the wall.

I am so worried that I'm going to be
finding him a new home today.

I'm back for my third visit with Alyssa
and Kristen and their cat, Miles.

The last time I was here, Miles had gone
a long way to repairing his

relationship with the other cats in the
house, but he was still very anxious and

peeing all over the place.

Alyssa and Kristen were very much on the
fence because they were concerned about

their daughter, Lena, wondering, was
this the right home for Miles? And I'm

worried that I'm going to be finding him
a new home today. The last time I was

here, Miles was peeing four times a day,
something like that. Yeah.

Has the peeing itself gone down?

Definitely. Cool.

I want to get into your video homework.

Here we go.

Who we got there?

I don't recognize that cat. I don't even
know that cat.

That is a big, fat calico. There's no
collar. Well fed, though.

So where is this?

That's right outside our bedroom.

Right where he's peeing. There is a real
threat outside the bedroom window where

any cat will go nuts.

It's not just Miles.

It's very common with all cats.

I can predict what's going to happen
next.

Let's take a look.

That's Miles peeing on the wall.

That's basically the opposite side of
where those animals are.

This is a big deal to him. So we're
going to have to put something outside

bedroom window that's a deterrent. We
have to deter these animals away from

window. Puffing air or water will train
these animals to maybe go on someone

else's yard.

Was that recent or was it before meds?

That was before med a week ago today.
And then we added the medicine, and

are some days where there's no pee at
all.

It's amazing.

Yeah. So we know that this medication
takes about four to six weeks to really

hit maximum efficacy.

And after a week, we're down to some
days we don't have anything going on.

Yep. That goes really, really well.

Okay. Our new homework was to play with
him any time we felt like he was going

to pee.

And it seems to be working amazingly.

We do have to pull out a toy and play
with him like five times a night.

But, hey, that's better than pulling out
the cleaner and the paper towel.

Got that right.

Here's the crew after a nice play
session.

Play and eat.

Look where he is.

Right in the middle of the room, nice
and down like that. That tells me you

good on the play.

Moving on.

noticing that at night Max and Maury
were jumping in the bed with us,

immediately faking their claim, and then
when Miles would jump up on the bed,

they'd hiss, and it'd create a lot of
tension.

So instead of giving the cats free roam
of our bedroom at night, we do that

during the day. That seems to be working
really well.

He hasn't been meowing to get out of the
room, and he hasn't peed, though.

Nope. He's been sleeping through the
night. Really well.

All good things.

That's fantastic.

That kind of territorial juggling is
going to happen. They're going to work

out in there just like they worked it
out in here. The one thing I would tell

you guys to do, take play time, start
dragging it into the room. Give them

activities in that room so they're not
just looking at each other, they've got

something to do.

You know, it's really hard to read this
couple. I mean, Miles' progress has been

steady this entire time.

Hopefully it's enough to prove to Alyssa
and Kristen that this rehoming thing is

completely unnecessary.

I would assume that you feel better at
this moment, but I want to be able to

walk away from here knowing that that
place that you guys were at where you

like, I think we may have to talk about
rehoming him.

Is he here to stay?

Um...

I want to be able to walk away from here
knowing that that place that you guys

were at, where you were like, I think we
may have to talk about rehoming him. Is

he here to stay?

Um, he's here to stay.

He's here to stay, yeah.

Good. We definitely feel very positive
change.

I love to see him interacting with Lena
and rubbing against her. That's

fantastic. Miles is 100 % here to stay.

Speaking of our boy, I want to take
advantage of the fact that he's right

You guys stay where you are. I'm going
to hang with him for a minute.

Come here, Miles, my love. Miles.

I am so happy with you.

Yes, my good boy.

I definitely feel like I'm getting a
little bit of feedback from Miles, a

thank you, a little phew. He loves it
when I'm petting him. I'm not just

satisfied with where Miles is right now.
I am absolutely giddy about his

progress. Bye, guys. Bye. Take care of
yourselves, okay? Thank you so much.

Before Jackson, we felt so duck.

And now we feel like we've got a handle
on who Miles is, what his stressors are,

and what we can do to help him. To be
here where we are, it's like kind of

amazing. All we feel is hope. We
wouldn't have been able to do it without

Jackson. We'll play.

We'll play.