Original subtitles

Don't go near the cat. Don't try to pet the cat.

Babe, let me out.

I've tried so many different things and nothing has worked. I feel completely

hopeless.

No, no, no, no.

Ah!

Damn it.

Jackson and Ivy are feral. I can't pick them up. You can't pick them up? No. Oh.

I am moving to Vancouver, Canada in a month, and I can't get my cat into the

carriers. I hate to see them being scared.

You go to pieces.

I'm Jackson Galaxy.

Oh, my God, I love my job.

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

cat.

That really ups the stakes a little bit here.

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

Just a cat that needs my help. Thank you.

Hi,

I'm Maddie. I'm Erin. We've been dating for a year. I got May at a nearby

shelter. She was six or seven weeks old.

My first encounter with May was actually very similar to what now I have to

repeat to anyone else's first encounter with May. Don't go near the cat. Don't

try to pet the cat.

Don't look at the cat.

May is quite aggressive and attacks all the time, and it's impossible

to live here without living completely in fear.

I'm trapped.

May, let me out.

May is aggressive to the point where blood is drawn and scratches become

I love when she is relaxed and having her brief lovable moment.

Then she'll wake up and bite you, yeah. That doesn't last too long. Then she'll

attack. I feel completely hopeless.

But I don't want to rehome her. I still love her and want her to be here.

May, let me out.

Today I'm in Long Beach heading over to meet up with Guardians Maddie and Erin,

who sent out a Mayday alert about their cat, May.

Apparently, May lashes out violently, both unprovoked and unpredictably. To

that has the hallmarks of a cat who's suffering. That means I can't get there

soon enough.

Hi! Hi!

How are you doing? Good.

Thank you for coming.

Of course.

So. I hear there's quite a lot going on with your cat.

A little bit. How old is she? A little over two and a half. Two and a half. Has

she always been aggressive?

She started out really nice and adorable and then kind of quickly descended into

madness. Does she go after you guys specifically?

Does she go after anybody?

Well, I mean, we're here mostly.

Where is she?

She is in the other room.

Let's go to the other room. Let's go meet your cat.

This is May.

Well, okay, the first thing I noticed, what's up with her hair?

The vet says it is stressed over grooming.

So, psychogenic alopecia. Now, is it always like that?

It's gotten so much worse.

That is pretty bad. I know.

Psychogenic alopecia is hair falling out for no apparent reason. I've dealt with

some serious cases of alopecia before. This one is up there.

I mean, this cat has licked herself bald, and she's doing it in a very

methodical way.

Boy, she's just like May the Gargoyle right now. Look at her, man.

You said that you don't bring a whole lot of people over here, mainly because

her? If I have some friends over, I have to give a speech.

Don't look at the cat, don't touch the cat, don't go near the cat. So you

basically have people walking in like... Yeah, already afraid.

The worst thing that Mae does is her surprise bite attack because you don't

it coming. You have no way to protect yourself.

What I'm going to do right now, just so you know, is challenge her just a little

bit. See where the line is with her, where she goes from being okay Mae to

okay Mae.

The way I'm challenging May today is by presenting actual threats to her. I will

cut off her escape routes to see how she responds to that. I'm also going to

present friendly gestures and see how she responds to that and see if there's

any logic in her responses. If I approach you as a friend and you claw my

out, I got information.

Look, it's food.

You want it?

I am so scared.

Would that be okay?

Ha ha.

Or not.

She can't be touched where? Anywhere.

He touched her.

It's okay, baby.

It's okay.

I'm trying to get May to be in a relaxed space with me, and in the meantime, her

guardians are going into horror movie mode every time I make a move towards

I want her striking out from a place of over -ownership of the space. I want to

see if she's rational in her behavior, and I can't see that until she's more

relaxed. I'm going to have you leave the room for a minute. I'm just trying to

get some kind of honest response from her.

Hi, Mindy.

Hi, sweetie.

It's okay.

Wow.

Moms leave the room for a second. This is what I get?

The method to my madness is I am going to push

May. I want to see how appropriate or inappropriate her responses are.

She is coming after me like a cat on fire.

When May decides that I'm a real threat,

Forget it, man. I don't stand a chance right now.

Oh, damn, you got some claws.

I'm going to back away. I'm going to try to present myself as an ally and not an

enemy and see how she appreciates that.

That one hurt, eh?

I am not giving up until I get a clear idea of what's up with me. You can go

over there if you want.

The exercise of challenge line is about finding a rational spot where I need to

stop my stimulation of the cat. There is no rational spot with May.

And that concerns me.

This is a conciliatory gesture.

She's literally reaching out to me.

There's no doubt in my mind a shroud disappears from her, that shroud of

madness, and reveals a much sweeter version of May, desperate to find her

out. And that's why I'm here.

Just because I get a moment of vulnerability from May doesn't mean that

done. Now I want to see if we can sustain that. Can we form a

is this just a moment?

Out, not.

You are not messing around. We have a momentary emergence of reason followed

by a whole lot of crazy.

No, no, no, no.

Out,

not. You are not messing around.

Truth. No, no, no, no.

Damn it.

I'm at Guardian Aaron and Maddie's house right now. Shortly after my arrival, I

began a series of challenge line tests with their cat, May, and I'm getting a

pretty severe beatdown in return. Despite the pain, I'm doing my best to

it out.

Just the truth.

No truth.

I am willing to lose half the blood in my arm if it means that I can leave on a

positive note with her.

I don't know what else to do with you. I really don't.

I literally have not been beaten up this bad in a long time. I mean, there comes

a moment where if I don't call it quit soon, I'm going to lose a digit.

Wait, what's that?

Can you give me a little blink?

That's a good girl.

Right when I give up, Nay is showing me vulnerability.

I get to exchange some blinks with her, some slow head movements. We're talking.

We're having a conversation.

There's something behind claws and teeth, and that's a beating heart.

May needs help.

Okay, so I asked for this. This is on me. So we got to get to work. First and

foremost, we got to get her on medication.

Mentally, she's suffering, and that's the bottom line.

If your cat is a threat to themselves or a threat to others, and it's in a very

unpredictable way, your cat is suffering and your cat needs help. Period. End of

sentence. There's other stuff I want you guys to do. It's not just about give

meds and walk away.

I want you to be cataloging the where's in your house, okay? We're looking for

what I call the confident where.

Confident where is when her body goes from this to this.

Tell me where that is. Because those are the things we'll capitalize on. We'll

start building her a world starting from where she feels safe and confident.

So I want you to be playing with her. And I want you, obviously, to use toys

where your hand is nowhere near the cat.

Once the meds start to take effect and Mae is hopefully in a better mind frame,

then we can use the play to divert her from the over -grooming. The most

important homework I can give you is that when you're scared, act as if

not. The stakes are pretty high if Maddie and Aaron don't accomplish all of

I'm laying out. If they think that it's bad now, this is the tip of the iceberg.

I worked my butt off just to get a moment with her where I saw her poking

through the clouds. I feel like I know your cat like you know her at this

and she's not what she seems to be.

I believe that. If the homework is not successful, I'm going to be scared about

May's future.

Just hang in there, okay?

Thank you.

I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

Tell you what, man, I got beat up today, but it was totally worth it. I know

this cat better than I could have possibly.

I may be hurting, but in the long run, she won't be.

My name is Jennifer, and I have two cats, Jackson and Ivy.

Jackson and Ivy are feral. They don't attack, but they're very scared.

They're always hyper -aware of anything going on, any noise, any movement, and

they're really scared of strangers.

I knew when I adopted them that they were unadoptable, and I knew it was

to be hard, but I took on that commitment and that responsibility, so I

totally devoted to them, and I want to do whatever I can.

I am moving to Vancouver, Canada in a month, and I can't get my cats into the

carrier. I'm just trying to run after them, and they are running away from me

and hiding. It's impossible.

I just want the tools to help me to get my cats being really comfortable in the

carriers because I have a long car ride ahead of me. The cats are going to be

freaked out. I am going to be freaked out.

So I'm about to meet up for the first time with Jennifer and her two cats,

Jackson and Ivy, who refuse to get into a cat carrier. Now, you think that

that's a small deal? Think about emergencies. Think about going to the

not a small deal. And she faces a problem that many cat guardians do. How

get cats to do what they don't want to do?

That's why I'm here.

Hey. Hi, Jackson. Hi, I'm Jennifer.

Jennifer, how are you? Good to meet you. The cats are in the bedroom.

Come on in.

I know that we're dealing with some fraidy cats.

Yes. They are a little over three years old. Okay. They're feral cats.

I volunteer at a shelter, that's where I met them, and they would just run and

hide when anyone came in. Wow. But I couldn't just... you know, leave them

and wanted them to have a home. Were they ever considered adoptable? No, they

were considered unadoptable.

Wow. And they were rescued when they were a few months old, so they weren't

really fully socialized. How many months?

About three months old, so they just kind of missed that window.

Right there. Yeah.

Get all the information that they need to succeed socially in life. Between the

ages of three and nine weeks old, pass there. It's a crapshoot whether or not

they will ever acclimate to humans. I see somebody.

Oh, yeah.

Who is that? That is Jackson. He is named after you. Oh, is he really? Yes.

Oh, that's embarrassing.

Okay, so let's just sit down here.

Hello, my friend.

Hello, my friend.

Where's Ivy?

She is probably hiding here under the ottoman.

I got Jackson under the bed, but at least making contact with me. But Ivy,

going to be a tough one.

I've been trying to socialize them as much as I can. They're a lot better than

they were. Like, I can pet them a little bit when they're really relaxed.

But I can't pick them up. You can't pick them up? No.

Oh.

Yeah. Okay.

Wow, man. Okay.

Usually, ferals have a decent sense of trust with their guardians. It's

outsiders who can't get near them. But from what Jennifer is telling me, her

issues go even beyond that.

Now, tell me the rest of the story.

In the apartment right below mine, there was a fire.

About a year ago. So the alarm was blazing. I was desperately trying to

cats and get them into carriers so I could evacuate them. But the problem is

that I can't even pick them up when they're relaxed, much less when a fire

is blazing and they're terrified. And eventually, like, I had to just evacuate

without them. Oh, you had to leave without them. I did. It was

Thankfully, they were fine.

And, you know, the fire was contained and put out quickly.

I just feel like I can't keep them safe. I can't care for them the way I want

to. There's a story I've heard many times over.

I actually even experienced it with a friend of mine who lost her cat. Oh, my

God. Being in that position, it would kill me. I really feel for Jennifer.

That's a heartbreaking decision to make. Do you feel like there are keys that

you've found that help to bring them around?

hard. They aren't very food motivated. Like, nope, we don't care. We're not

interested. All cats are food motivated.

Watch this. Going straight to the big guns.

We're going sardines. Let's have some breakfast together.

What do you say?

What if I give it to you right out of my hand because I really got a feeling you

might take it from me.

Good boy.

Is it a good boy? Here.

Oh, there we go.

Good job, baby.

And there's some more right there.

And can you come even further?

Good boy, Jackson.

Now the presentation of a challenge line, right? Because that is pretty far

there for him. If Jackson is willing to stick his head out and his shoulders out

under that bed, for me, a stranger, that defines having your cat do something

they don't want to do. And Ivy is no different.

Eventually, food will override her fear.

Oh, honey. Oh, that's Ivy. That was Ivy? Yeah.

Oh, there she goes, baby girl.

Oh, sweetheart.

Now.

Now. I know. Let's talk, okay?

Let's talk. She has plenty of hiding spaces.

I know, but I hate to see them being here. I know you do. I know you do.

Judging by what just happened with Ivy, you go to pieces.

Yeah.

Ivy just got spooked for a second, which for a feral cat is nothing out of the

ordinary, and Jennifer is a total mess.

So if Jennifer is going to burst into tears watching Ivy get scared walking

across the room, how does she expect to get her into a carrier, transport her 21

hours into a new territory, set up that territory, and think that these cats are

going to thrive in that new territory?

Jennifer's got a little bit of waking up to do right now.

Oh, that's got to go.

Oh, off she goes.

Judging by what just happened with Ivy, you go to pieces.

I know, but I hate to see them being scared. I know you do. I know you do.

Ivy just got spooked for a second, and Jennifer is a total mess.

You just about broke down in tears watching her do that.

The bigger challenge to me right now is the human, for sure.

Okay, let's go talk homework with you, okay? Yeah.

If I can't get Jennifer on board, and I mean now, I might as well throw in the

towel here.

So here's what I want to do.

I think that this begins with you, right? I think it would be really useful

you to find your comfortable center when it comes to dealing with them.

Have you ever meditated before? Have you ever done meditation?

A little bit. I want every day, just five minutes before you interact with

First and foremost, I want Jennifer to face life with her cats in a grounded,

present way with the practice of meditation so that she can look at

the outside in and say, am I presenting energy that my cats are going to pick up

on, negative or positive?

After that, movable base camp.

The most crucial part of base camp for these cats is their carriers. I want

Jennifer to break the task of getting her cat into the carrier, into the

smallest possible task, that then become achievable challenge lines one after

the other instead of one massive challenge line ice bath for her cat.

You've got to feed your cats in the carrier to get them to positively

the carrier with good things.

Once you can feed him and you go like that, he's fine, cool. The next treat,

like that, he's cool.

And if he's not, if he's going like this, but he's still dealing with it, do

same action three, four, five times until you get all the way close.

Every time that you extinguish a challenge line, you're moving forward,

Jennifer has a lot of work to do before I get back here next time, and I know

it's daunting, and I know putting her cat through challenge is really

emotionally challenging for her, but we got to do it. Take care, okay?

Thanks, you too.

All right, bye -bye. Bye. Jackson was totally accurate in his assessment, not

just of Jackson and Ivy, but of me. If the homework doesn't work, I'm screwed.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

I'm trapped.

I'm here for my second visit with Maddie and Aaron and their cat, Mae.

Mae, who gave me one of the most epic feedings I've ever taken by a cat

I gave these guys the homework to get Mae on medication with the hopes that we

could successfully reintroduce her to a world that is just not on fire.

Hopefully that's the case.

Well, hey. Welcome back. How are you? Good to see you. Good to see you.

Just right off the bat.

Since the last time I was here, did anybody get as bloody as me?

No, thank God.

No. Okay, no attacks on you guys?

A couple little attacks. A minor one.

So when you talk minor, what does minor look like? It's like she thinks she

should be attacking, but she's just not really into it since we started her on

the medication. I was going to say, see, that's the beauty of finding the right

medication. I'm glad the anxiety medication is working. That's amazing.

Let's see what you guys have been up to.

Erin's sitting on the couch petting Kitty.

What the hell?

See, look, she's petting her tummy.

Excuse me.

We cut to smiley face while we pet the cat, right?

So that's pretty amazing. I mean, for you to be able to just sit there and pet

May means that something went right.

So I'm trying to play with May before feeding her, as suggested by Jackson.

As usual, she is not very interested.

Why doesn't my cat want to play with me? Come on! The only way you're going to

get your cat into this is to be the bird.

These guardians have got to understand that you've got to take on the role of

the prey animal when you handle that toy in order for your cat to truly engage.

Last time I was here, I wanted you guys to sort of mark out the concept.

confident wares in this house. And I'd like to tour those places. Can you take

me around?

Yeah. Treasure hunt.

So the annoying part is that she likes to sit in the middle of the bath mat

right there.

So usually when we would be trying to come into the bathroom, you can't

that's her spot to hang out. Okay, so it is a pretty territorially iffy

place. A real button pusher for you guys.

You're going to have that moment of... Maybe I don't have to go to bed, right?

And your challenge is going to be, I'm going to the bathroom. That's going to

tough. I know it will be. So let's move on to the next one.

The last confident where is on the bed. And right next to that X is Mae.

You would assume that that confident place would have been the shelf where I

Mae the last time I was here. But that's not confidence. That's the unconfident

where. That's where she goes to be scared and angry.

She sits here a lot.

Erin has to...

curl up on that part of the bed or wait for her to leave because she's been

scared of the cat for good reason.

Oh, my God.

This is a big moment.

I love what I just saw. I am super stunned.

Yeah. What about you? It's incredible.

You're, like, tearing up. I know. I know.

I am so stunned right now.

I was not expecting this.

Oh, my God.

Now, considering all that these three have been through together, It's quite a

beautiful moment, really.

I thought this was always going to be an issue, and feeling relief is so

incredible. I bet, man.

Maddie's response is just beautiful right now because she's never had this

moment before, and to see her get it is really worth it. Last time I was here,

the reason why I got as decimated as I got was because I knew there was

something else there, and I kept going in because I kept thinking that I was

going to get there with her. But she didn't want to do that, but she had to

it. Now you're seeing that impulse starting to wane, and maybe every now

again there's a little bit of a half -hearted thing, but it's pretty much

Right now, May is making progress, but I think that Maddie and Aaron are

thinking, hey, this is wonderful.

We have a happy cat. She's on medication. It's over.

No, it's just beginning.

May and Aaron had a nice moment, but that's all it was. It was a moment. We

every moment to be like this in order to erase the fear and the distress that

exists on both sides.

I need you to reintroduce yourself to Mae because I think that's what's

necessary. You've been carrying around the weight of her violence. Yeah.

And now it's time to start releasing it. Today, I got to say that moment that

was so beautiful because you had no expectations.

So I need you guys to stay on each other about those expectations.

When I do this exercise with cats, it's about reintroducing like you've never

met before, even though you've had a bad encounter. It's the same thing with

these guys. They have to act like they've just met Mae without fear.

We have now identified her confident wares. So now the fun part is expanding

those confident wares to the confident everywhere.

For instance, the bath mat. The bath mat is not serving a very good purpose

right now. It's a big X, but it's also something that you are now avoiding. So

pull it out. Then guide her to these places. Now we get into the over

I notice May's alopecia isn't getting any better. This over -grooming thing

got to be addressed.

I know that there's stuff that we can do to help stop it.

Proactively, it's stepping up your play so that we can redirect that impulse.

And you see her doing it? Just guide her head away. You know, it gives the body

a chance to regenerate. Maze over grooming is an obsessive behavior, but

good news is that Maddie and Erin can help redirect maze grooming by

her with play. I will talk to you in a few weeks, okay? Thank you, Jackson. All

right, of course. See you soon. Bye.

Bye.

Amazing. Mae is not suffering anymore, and that's great. But what Maddie and

Aaron have to realize is that's not where we end. That's where we begin.

How are things going here?

There are definitely some bad parts.

Don't be scared, Aaron.

I'm here in San Bernardino, California to meet up with Shanta and her husband

Scott, and there are two cats from heaven, Ariadne and Arcady. Now these

cats are mobility challenged, but that does not stop them from getting around

and getting into trouble just like any other cat. I can't wait to meet them.

Hello. Hi there.

Hi, how are you? I'm Jackson.

Oh my gosh, nice to meet you. I'm Shanta. Shanta, good to meet you.

It's Catland.

Oh my God, there's so much to watch right now. I'm Shanta, and this is my

husband Scott.

We foster cats with special needs.

Let's meet some cats. Okay. Okay, so who scooted this way? That was... Ariadne.

This is Ariadne. She was born without hip sockets.

Wow. I've never seen a cat born without hip sockets.

Who is this? That's Arcady. What's going on with Arcady? He was born paralyzed,

and his hips are deformed and his knees are deformed. Man.

He's a mess, but a very happy mess.

Even though neither one of them have use of their back legs, that doesn't stop

them from being able to get around and having fun.

So the box thing happened when?

He was five months.

He has a wheelchair, but he loves the box.

It's like a little hover around, man. He could spin.

Oh, wow. Here we go. Here we go.

The thing that I find so amazing about animals, no self -pity, no

awareness of I'm different from anybody else.

I am Ariadne, I am Arkady, and get them away, right? I mean, it's inspiring.

If your reaction to seeing Ariadne and Arkady is, oh, it's a sad story,

you're missing the point.

They're happy animals living a happy life with a happy family. So I noticed

they have outfits on.

The outfits that I've created, I just... Pulled fabric out that I had. It's

simple, but they work.

Water resistant.

Plus it protects their belly as well. It protects them.

Look, everyone who knows me knows that I don't like putting animals in clothes.

Now, in this case, these guys need this clothing. If it serves a purpose, go

with it. So now we have Ariadne and Arcady. But who was the first that came

you? Tegan was our first.

Oh, she's so adorable. Tell me the story about Tegan. Tegan was...

She went from being perfectly fine to gone.

Shanta's grief is still strong, but she had the strength to turn that into

something very positive.

And a lot of people would have just crawled into a hole and possibly never

have adopted another cat.

And these guys went completely headlong in the other direction.

Doing cats without special needs just isn't our thing anymore. Now it's the

special ones.

One thing that's so crucial about the work that Shanta and Scott are doing is

that these cats, if not adopted and fostered by them, would likely have been

euthanized. Shanta and Scott, by continuing to adopt and foster cats like

Ariadne and Arcady and then raising awareness, these cats are saving a lot

lives. We had the opportunity of visiting junior high classrooms and the

reception was amazing.

I have this hunger to just share with people what we've learned because a lot

people don't realize that cats like this exist.

I learned this, and I have to share it. I can't keep it quiet. For Tegan, I have

to share it. I leave here with a big smile on my face. I met cats today who

embrace life in a way that no other cat can.

And at the same time, I met two people who just want to make life better for

these cats, and that's all they care about. These are my people.

So I'm here for my second visit with Jennifer and her two cats, Jackson and

Now, when I left these guys last time, it was all about baby steps, trying to

make positive associations, because when it comes to trauma here, Jennifer's got

as much as these cats do, and they both have challenges that they had to face.

Hopefully they did.

How's life in the world of Jackson and Ivy?

It's going pretty well. Yeah?

Making some progress.

Good. That's what we want. We want progress. Let's take a look at your

Time for my daily meditation.

Good.

Love this.

Love it.

And look

at you. What do you do?

You walk away.

Now, that's a big deal for you. The cats are going into the carriers on their

own because they don't feel a sense of pressure. All they feel is, hey, there's

food, and I'm going in. All right, that's for you.

That's for little Mr.

Jackson.

I'm just going to do this.

Wait,

am I seeing this right?

That's Ivy in there with door closed?

Yeah.

Girl, nice.

What I've seen in the video homework shows me that these guys are embracing

those baby steps. Now, she's got to get it in her bones that she can do

processes like this over and over and over again. So, I've got something else

my sleeve.

So I want you to start getting your fire drill in your head. Obviously, you guys

have been through an actual fire. I hope there's never another emergency like

that, but I want you to be prepared for it. What I'm also talking about is the

act of getting these guys into a kennel and what your next steps are after that

in a thought -out way.

Now, I'm going to give you two minutes.

You're going to go into that room and go through everything that you showed me

on homework, which is your feeding exercise into the kennel, doors closed.

now, time is the thing that puts pressure on us.

Your challenge is to get through this pressure meditatively.

I'm freaking out right now. This is a lot of pressure, and I've never timed

myself, so I have no idea how it's going to go.

I know.

Very nice.

Let's do this.

Now, the objective here with this dry run is to keep the pressure on Jennifer

she can keep acting rationally when the pressure's on. And I can't be with her

when she lands in Canada, but I want my words in her head. And I want her to

know that she's got options when she gets there.

And... Go.

I'm going to have her put those cats in carriers.

Door is closed in two minutes.

Ticking clock. I want to see how she responds under serious pressure.

I'm all about pushing. I'm all about challenging. But when you have two cats

a human who have been through the amount of trauma these three have, you want to

be careful.

But then again, Jennifer has to learn the lesson that just because you've been

through something doesn't mean you have to stay there.

Pain is something that happens to all of us, but suffering, that's a choice.

30 seconds to get that butt in there and the door is closed. Come on.

Six, five, four, three.

Oh, and with two seconds to spare.

Yay!

You did it, man.

You did it. That was fantastic.

I feel like the cats are progressing great. Jennifer was the X factor, and

I felt like she started coming into her own, and that was so important.

Judging by what I'm watching in there, your cats are doing great.

So we're going to pack up your house as if we are going to move you.

Wow. Now, bring me your litter box.

Okay. Don't ask why.

Okay.

We've been talking about traveling base camp.

This is the essence of base camp. I'd like you to put the litter in the

bag. Okay.

I'm telling you, if you take that dirty litter, pack it up, and you put it in a

new spot, your cat's going to walk up to it and they're going to be like, wait,

what's that smell?

Yeah, that's right. I live here.

Hey, baby, this is territorial gold right here.

Okay. It may not smell like gold, but it is. Now, next thing that I want are

beds, blankets, any kind of furniture that is a scent soaker. If you want your

cats to be okay in new territories, bring all their good stuff into that

before you bring them. Set up their litter box. Set up their dishes. Then

last thing that you do is bring your cats in. I also want their food dishes.

want their water dish.

To get some dirty laundry.

Anything that has your scent all over it. I feel confident setting up my house

when I get to Canada. I know what things I need to bring in so that the cats

will feel like it's their space.

Thank you so much.

Bon voyage.

I'm going to have Jennifer send me video updates when it's time to make the big

move, but I know this is going to work.

I know that Jackson and Ivy and Jennifer are going to get to Canada in one

piece. They'll all be sane at the end of it, and they're all going to feel safe

when they get to their home. We'll talk to you very soon. Take care, okay? Thank

you, too.

All right, bye -bye.

I'm trapped.

So I'm here for my final visit with Erin and Maddie and their cat, May. And the

last time I was here, we had gotten past the easy part of the work. The hard

part was reintroducing May to the world so that she felt confident everywhere,

which I hope she does, because if she doesn't, everybody suffers, including

How are things going here?

Things have been going really well.

Yeah, there are definitely some good parts, followed by a few bad parts.

Okay, so is it safe to say that the bad is the exception to the rule? Yes.

Well, listen, let's get right into it. I want to take a look at what you guys

have been up to. We moved Mae's bath mat out into the living room.

Neutral space.

Not ours nor hers.

I got home just now, and May May was sitting in the living room by herself on

the blanket.

And that's not anything that's ever happened, so that's kind of cool.

That's fantastic.

Since that day, has it been, has she done more of that? More frequent, yeah.

Yeah? So this worked.

May's reintroduction to the world has been a resounding success. I mean, every

place that she avoided before, she's actually magnetized to now. This cat is

confidently owning territory.

It's cat mojo, and Mae is demonstrating that in a huge way.

Maddie and Erin have been doing really good work in expanding Mae's confidence,

but I want to see how they're doing in overcoming their own PTSD, and as a

result, treating Mae like a normal cat, because that's the only way she's ever

going to act like one.

Erin says that Mae tried to get her just now, so I want to see

if she's going to.

Don't be scared, Erin.

You see now. You see how she's in the doorway, and Erin, I can see it. I can

you going ahead going, now what? Right? Because now she's sort of blocking the

doorway. This is the area where Maddie and Erin can and will keep improving.

Each time they walk by Mae with confidence and without fear, the

will just become a little more repaired.

So May is here.

This is one of the spots that May enjoys grooming.

Can you try to distract her from doing that with the laser or some toys?

Because she's been here a few times.

Oh, good job. It works.

There you go. I can designate this officially as a spot where Kitty likes

grooming. Don't you want to play instead of grooming?

Good kitty.

Okay. Great stuff. I mean, to know that she's capable of a normal life makes

me happy. And you guys are capable of a normal life.

Amazing work. Through this process, we've learned from Mae that we just have

give her the time and attention that she needs to become that cat that Maddie

always knew was in there.

Hi, Mae Mae.

Wow.

I'm having a moment with your cat.

It's the truth.

I'm going to cry.

I'm going to cry.

We have the truth.

Such a good girl.

I always want to make sure that a cat that I had a not so pleasant encounter

with still sees me as an ally. To have May walk up to me, headbutt my hand, my

legs, let me know that we're all good, it does mean something to me.

I mean, this is the truth that I've been looking for since the day I first met

me. Good girl.

Yay. What is it? What is it? What is it? Oh, my God, look at that belly.

Look at that belly.

She's so naked.

It's okay.

Although I am seeing lots of new growth there. See the peach fuzz? Yeah, it's

starting to get a little darker.

Well, the peach fuzz is to say that she hasn't gone at it.

Redirecting the over -grooming is working. Otherwise, she'd be completely

When I first met Mae, she was trapped on a shelf lashing out within an inch of

her life and my life. And that cat is walking around here soliciting attention

and love from me today and rolling over on her back. It's a different cat,

believe me.

No biting yourself, no biting humans. Anything else is fair game.

Mae Mae, stay positive, my love. Okay?

Guys, I'm out.

Thank you so much.

Hang with your cat. I don't want to break this moment up for a second.

Thank you, Justin. Okay, guys. Thank you.

Bye. Bye.

Truth is, do not get me sweeter than that. It's not just the fact that I'm

bleeding. It's about May and the fact that she's not suffering anymore.

And it's about Aaron and Maddie. They're not either.

Today's a good day.

Two weeks after I last met with Jennifer, she packed up her car for the

to Canada with her two cats, Jackson and Ivy.

And she's been sending me the video updates that I asked for.

So, good news.

Cats are in the carrier.

They're ready to go.

Jackson made a huge difference. Now I see that it is possible to work with my

cat. And I know that if there's an emergency, I can evacuate them.

These guys are doing really well.

We are heading.

Across the border.

Vancouver. In a few minutes, we'll be arriving and unpacking the cat, setting

base camp.

I am in my home in Vancouver.

There's Ivy in the litter box.

Of course, in the two litter boxes, we have the...

Very valuable used litter.

It's their territory now. They have totally claimed it. I never in my

dreams could have hoped that this would go so well.

It's amazing.