Original subtitles

We love cats.

Our community of cats was going really great, and then we rescued these

When the kittens came, Brooklyn was very upset, and she disappeared for five

weeks. She's also blind, Jackson.

Excuse me? Yeah, Brooklyn's blind.

Cats need to become indoor cats.

No, I would not allow that.

Jude is the best cat in the world until the lights go out.

Jude, hey.

No.

He attacked them, and we don't know why.

I don't want to go blind because my cat attacks me in the middle of the night.

We've been able to stop Jude at night by locking ourselves in the bedroom.

If Jude attacked someone and he had to be put down, I would feel devastated.

I don't feel like someone else should have the right to say what you can or

can't do for those that you love.

My son was playing in the front yard when a dog attacked him, and Tara leapt

the rescue and saved our son.

She saved me from the dog wasn't attacking me.

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.

It's my wife, Elijah, and we love cats. We have how many cats, Elijah?

So we have five.

All the cats are now inside -outside cats.

It's a good girl.

Yeah, there you go.

You know, our community of cats was going really great, and then we rescued

these kittens.

Stevie, I wonder, when the kittens came, Brooklyn was very upset.

Brooklyn is blind.

She disappeared for five weeks. And finally she showed up.

Emaciated. Terrifying. And we just felt like we had completely betrayed her

trust. She thought we'd replaced her.

We have two issues.

We want Brooklyn to not think she has to go away, that she's, you know, welcome

here. And we want Wonder to stop putting holes in her chin.

My chin here, that's all Wonder chewing on me and crying me.

I have no idea on how to handle these issues. I have a feeling

we might be doing it wrong.

I'm on my way to meet up with Eric and Eliza, guardians to five free -roaming

cats, including one, Brooklyn, who apparently tends to disappear for days

end. Now, since Eric and Eliza rescued a pair of kittens, Brooklyn has been

increasingly MIA.

Let's go see what I can do.

Who is this? This is Streak. How many cats?

Five. We have five cats. We have three generations.

Wow. So he's 17, and then Brooklyn and Hart are like 10 or 11, and then the

babies are six months. You sound like my house. Eric and Eliza's hearts are 100

% in the right place. These are animal people. They love their animals.

It's great.

Who's that?

Wonder. That's Wonder.

That's Wonder. Heath looks like an 11 -month -old cat. He's a big boy. So I

to ask, why is your chin all beat up? Wonder bites and claws.

Ow, ow, ow, ow.

That's Heath?

That's Heath.

Yeah, he's a blood drawer.

Man. Yeah. The Wonder thing, we can work that out. Okay. And that's not going to

be a big deal. Brooklyn, however, the problem. She kind of disappeared since

got the kitten.

Brooklyn is not here?

No. Huh?

We got a cat missing. That's an emergency situation right out of the

to figure out how we got here.

She's not a fan of the kittens.

Well, our biggest fear with Brooklyn is we don't want her to feel replaced.

We want her to know she's as important to us as she always was.

She's also blind, Jackson.

Excuse me? Yeah, Brooklyn's blind.

She lost her sight.

Did it ever get diagnosed? Yeah, it was diagnosed she was blind.

Now we have a cat who gets offended pretty easily, takes off.

And is blind.

She's outside and she's blind.

That freaks me out completely. Okay.

That was her.

She just went down to the basement. Oh, yeah. There's wonder. And Brooklyn just

came in.

She's in the basement, so we have her.

Where's Brooklyn?

Want some foodies?

Where is she? She's probably right under there. No way.

Yep. Next way. So there is no way out of here. So she cannot get out. Look, I

know that if I'm in a house for 10 minutes and suddenly I'm under the

it's going to be a long day.

Let's see. Where is Brooklyn?

Okay, so let's see what the sound of this can of food.

Brooklyn, where are you, honey?

I feel like the Roto -Rooter man.

I'm really concerned about Brooklyn.

I'm concerned about a blind cat who has indoor -outdoor access.

You add on top of that that this is a cat who isn't hanging around the house

much anymore because of the arrival of the kittens, and she's missing right

and she could be anywhere. That is just a real bad situation.

Uh, I'm seeing nothing.

You know that she turns up in the cupboard upstairs?

Oh, you're going to have to show me that. It's a pretty frustrating

All the cats are indoor -outdoor. There are cat doors and open doors and open

windows everywhere.

Coming out, you could really sort of go spelunking. If you're a cat, I mean, you

could disappear in a heartbeat.

Okay.

Behind that set of cupboards, there's a crawl space.

Brooklyn is not in the basement, not under the floorboards.

She could be on the roof. She could be in a tree. She could be on the moon.

I'm lost.

I'm completely lost.

Maybe Brooklyn's outside.

She's afraid to be trapped inside since the kittens came. So the kittens came

around, and Brooklyn is just like, Not going to have it. No, not at all. And

disappeared, and I was crying all day. How long was she missing?

Five weeks.

Wow. When she came back, she looked so different because of emaciation. She was

so skinny.

Oh, my God. She was just such a mess.

From what Eric and Eliza are telling me, it could be that as her senses were

leaving her, that Brooklyn got more and more scared and felt like she had to

hide because she couldn't trust the outside world. Remember, cats are prey

animals. If they make themselves vulnerable to possible predators,

But I doubt that two little kittens caused her to head for the hills.

ever wind up in the pool? Brooklyn, right after she lost her sight, she did

up in the pool once. Holy cow. She just like real quick fell in and got out.

Yeah. I have many skimmers because I'm always planning to rescue somebody.

And there, I just saw a bug in here. You know I have to rescue all the bugs.

And now I have to find it again. You have got to meet my wife.

Yeah, I can't go. You guys are kind of the same person. It's kind of spooky.

That's interesting.

Eric and Eliza are obviously animal people.

Eliza especially puts off the energy of someone who will do anything at any time

for any animal.

Person after my own heart, for sure.

Brooklyn hangs out in the dog house as well. Sometimes, yeah. She does.

And right now it's probably wet in there. Yeah, it's nasty. But you were

that as far as you know, your cats don't go over, right? No,

they don't. As far as we know, and especially now, maybe when they were

these little guys really don't. But when Brooklyn disappears, you're pretty sure

she's not going?

Well, I wasn't sure this last time. I think she's not. We asked many

That's the thing. We asked many, many, many neighbors.

I had a feeling she was gone -gone.

You're talking about the five -week gone -gone?

Yeah. But you said that you had seen her on camera eating in the middle of the

night. Yeah. Where was that happening? In two places. One right there, and then

one right outside of the front door.

So let's keep moving then. Yeah, yeah, we can find that. So right here is where

you found her eating?

Right here?

We're not there, but just right around that tree. That's the raccoon feeding

area. Raccoons eat right here every night.

And a possum. Are you worried about the interaction between possum, raccoon, and

your cat? They only fight over food. And they have food galore. If a cat happens

to come up while they're eating, raccoons are, they'll growl at it. Yeah.

An expansive backyard with large trees, open water, and a raccoon and possum

feeding area. In the outdoors, there's no place for a blind cat.

Period. Do your cats respect the street?

They don't know the street.

They don't know.

They don't know. They just don't seem to ever go.

Okay. Eric and Eliza ensure me that the cats don't go over the fence to the

neighbors. I love that tree.

Do the cats climb that, too?

No. Not that we ever see. Okay. They walk away, and three minutes later,

and Wonder are heading to the next zip code.

Got a cat in a tree.

We've got two cats in the tree.

I would very much like to have you come with me because I'm worried that you're

going to go over this fence.

It just keeps getting more chaotic in this place. I can't have two more cats

missing today. It's not safe, period.

All right, you two. How about down from the tree? Let's play down.

No, no, no.

Don't fall.

You're going to come down from me?

No, no, don't go away.

The cat guardians and I were all outside looking for their missing blind cat,

Brooklyn. No, don't fall.

Instead, we discovered their two rambunctious cats in the tree.

No, no, no, no, no, don't fall.

Don't fall.

Don't fall.

I'm fishing for cats in a tree.

What I want is to get Stevie and Wonder out of this tree and on the ground where

I can keep a better eye on them and hopefully lead them back in the house.

What I got to do first is get them out of this tree. And there are birds and

kinds of critters in this tree keeping their attention. My toy has got to be

more entertaining than those birds.

And there we go.

That's why they call it fishing or catting.

Oh, no, no, no. Don't walk away.

I got a big one.

How about down from the tree?

Let's play down here.

There we go.

There we go.

Now Eric can see what the humans can do to replicate this kind of excitement,

and maybe that will show him the light. And what is the light? The light is

bringing your cats inside.

Come here, buddy.

What's that?

Let's play down.

If we want him not to do this, this is the key.

Playtime is so essential to drain away kid and energy so it doesn't come out in

inappropriate ways, like biting humans.

Come on, let's go inside.

This way.

Come on, come on, come on.

Come on, Stevie Nick.

Just as I'm leading Stevie and Wonder away from the tree and back into the

safety of the house, Brooklyn is found.

Thank God.

And where did you find her? She was just sitting in the kitchen by the basement

door. If you don't mind, let's confine her. Sure. At least this way we know

where she is. Okay. And we have a square one to start from. Yes. At the very

least, right? Brooklyn being missing all day is just a symptom of a much larger

problem. Chaos leads to danger. And I've got to show Eric and Eliza how to get

this situation under control. This is what we need to do. Two six -month -old

kittens. Exercise is a big, big deal. If Wonder is allowed to just be outside,

he could spend two hours like this with a toy.

It's jumping, it's moving, it's chasing, it's doing all those things. You drain

that energy out. The play, the meal, now they're into grooming and sleeping.

Also, if we start to create a rhythm to her day, know that food happens at a

certain time at a certain place. So that place needs to be indoors, right? So

folks, it's lunchtime. You know, the number one solution here is gaining

of the chaos, creating rituals and rhythms so that these cats can predict.

what their days look like so that we can predict their comings and goings. My

goal is that there's never a time that I would come over to this house and hear

we have no idea where Brooklyn is.

Now let's get to the hard part.

In order to control the chaos and establish order with Brooklyn, the whole

Brooklyn being a blind cat going outside thing freaks me out. Now, how do you

keep her inside and not everybody else?

You don't.

So your cats become indoor cats.

No, I would not allow that because they have to have what they want.

I think it's mean.

It's mean if we don't replace that experience with some other experience.

I believe they should have whatever life they make out of my life. But I want

them to live to be 20 years old. No matter what their sense of boundaries

hawks, falcons, coyotes, cars, mean people don't know boundaries.

The thing that Eric and Eliza might not want to hear is that chaos is ruling

this home. And I have this gnawing feeling inside me that something bad is

to happen here. If it's not tomorrow or next week, it's going to happen.

Cats are going to disappear. Someone's going to fall in the pool. And I just

don't want it to happen. The only other option as I see it, there are systems

that we can do to fence in the whole place so that they can go outside, but

can't get out of the yard. The point is, look, we could fence.

but at the same time work towards making this place a preferred destination.

That means interior catification.

Because honestly, I mean, your cats, you give them a great window seat and a

sunny spot and a cushy place.

They're probably going to pick that. I want you to be able to, at any time in

the day, find Brooklyn.

What do you want to do?

I'd die if anything happened to them, and we could have prevented it. We know

that indoor -outdoor cats live.

approximately seven years, something like that, versus 14 for strictly indoor

cats. That's the average. If those are the choices, then I feel we have to

the play.

Okay. Now, look, if you guys follow through on this, I really think by the

I get back here next time, we're going to have a much clearer picture on who

Brooklyn is, what she's avoiding, and alternately...

What she likes.

All right, great.

Thank you so much.

Here's the thing.

Eric and Eliza love their animals, that's for sure, but they have got to

the chaos and embrace order in this house or something really bad is going

happen, and it's an avoidable tragedy.

My name is Jordan Alvarado, and this is my wife, Kristen, and we've been married

five years.

We have one cat named Jude, and we've had him for our entire marriage.

When he's being good during the day, he brings so much happiness into our lives.

He's the best cat in the world until the lights go out.

Hey, hey, no.

We have one cat during the day and one at night.

He attacks us. Jude.

And we don't know why.

The first time that Jude attacked me was on the back of my arm.

I had Jude, and he turned and got me in my hand.

Jude! Every time I lay down in bed, my biggest fear is that if he attacks me,

he's going to get me in the face.

It's really difficult when your cat is attacking you in the middle of the

and I just don't know how to deal with that kind of behavior.

We've been able to stop Jude at night by locking ourselves in the bedroom.

One of my greatest fears is that he's going to bite another person. He's

bit members of our family.

If Jude attacked someone and he had to be put down, I would feel devastated.

I don't feel like someone else should have the right to say what you can or

can't do for those that you love.

That's why I've always sheltered him. It's like I'm protecting us of a fear of

situation that may come to fruition eventually.

I'm on my way to Yorba Linda, California to meet up with Jordan and Kristen

guarding Jude, a cat who is apparently... 100 % Jekyll and Hyde.

during the daytime, but attacks them mercilessly and violently at night. This

something I have never seen before.

So hopefully I can get my head around this so that these guys can get a good

night's sleep once and for all.

Hey, what's up, Jackson?

Hey, man.

Come on in. Good to see you.

Let's start talking. How did you get tuned?

I came home one night, and I kept hearing this.

Tiny little mew from the back of our yard. So I'm back there to investigate,

I looked in, and there was two little eyes staring out at me.

Reached into the bush and pulled him out by the scruff of his neck. How old was

he? Two weeks, three weeks. Yeah, about two weeks.

Seriously? And he was all by himself.

Was he just a normal cat at that point?

He played really rough from the beginning.

But I assume I'm here not because he bites too hard when he's playing. No.

No.

How many times have you guys been beat up by your cat?

Seriously?

That bad?

I've been bit at least three or four times.

Okay, what about you?

Maybe between six and ten times.

That you've been actually bitten?

Actually, bites probably three or four times.

But scratches also. Yeah, the worst time was on the hand. I mean, same thing

like Kristen. Basically anything that was exposed that you don't know of while

you're sleeping.

Well, let's add in something.

So if there's been, between the two of you, let's say there's been ten times

that you've been...

You've basically been bit or scratched or contacted. If you added in how many

times you would have been had you not gotten out of the way?

At least.

50? Yeah, at least. 50 plus?

I mean, for a while there, nightly. I mean, I'm trying to put myself in your

shoes and even me. I mean, I can't imagine how you get through this and

have that bond intact.

I mean, you guys.

I really love this cat.

Until death do us part. I adore him, yeah. I mean, I've often joked that I

like we should have called him Dr.

Jekyll. Right.

I mean, he's amazing when he's, you know, being his usual regular Jude self.

He does photo shoots with us, everything.

Oh, really?

Yeah, but, I mean, when it comes to it, it's like he's a different cat. Like, I

feel like it's not really him when it's happening.

I have to, like, just pull my hands away and say, enough, like, and then walk

away because if I just let him go, he'll just gnaw on my hand.

Right. It always starts out loving, though. Yeah. Just rolling around,

his hands up in the air, and then you just kind of caress him just in the

way, and he's all over you. Okay. Well, that's stuff we can deal with, so good.

The first time he bit me, I was literally in a dead sleep.

He bit you in the dead sleep? Yes. I felt like a jolt on the bed, and it sort

woke me up. And just as I was starting to fall back asleep, that's when he came

at me the second time.

And he got me right in the back of the arm.

Stop.

He would bite me so hard that I would yell.

So that's always been kind of a struggle.

What's your routine like at night with him? Well, we've made barriers. We lock

ourselves in the bedroom at night, and then he has a whole other routine that

goes through.

Okay, and does he keep trying to get into the bedroom still?

I can hear him scratching.

And that's where the banging came in. Yeah. Right, so we've got banging and

scratching and that kind of thing. But how do you know if he's still doing his

thing? When he is spooked, he will shuffle around you.

He'll come around once, and that one time we've learned that that's our time

get out. What do you mean get out?

To get out of the room, to get out of there. Because the second time he comes

around, that's when the claws come out. Wait, let me get this straight. He has a

routine when he's getting worked up? Oh, yeah.

So it's almost like he's gone into a state, right?

Yeah. He seems just frenzied when it happens. It's like he's not thinking

straight. There's a lot that concerns me about this, because none of it adds up.

I've said it before, my greatest fear is that, what if it's not just my arm,

what if it's my eye? I don't want to go blind because my cat attacks me in the

middle of the night.

Right. You know, you do this job for a number of years, there's certain red

flags you look out for. When a couple is barricading themselves in the bedroom

for fear of their own cat, there's a red flag.

If I wasn't here, would you just barricade yourself in the room for the

his life?

Probably.

what's necessary then that's yeah what we have to do there's so many people who

would have said the cat turned on me and that cat would have been out on the

street well that's the kind of answers we've received and no way shape or form

has that ever occurred to me and i'm here to care for him you don't do that

family member and he's our family it's always been you know the three of us

we're a trio all right just to rule out the obvious stuff first Has Jude been

neutered? Yeah. Okay. What I need to do, obviously, is spend some time with him,

try to get a beat on what I think he's all about. I also want to map out danger

spots around the house.

Sure, no problem.

I'm trying to figure out what's going on with this cat during the night, so I'm

walking around the house looking for potential hot spots. Usually these

are open during the evening. He'll shuffle back and forth, and then he'll

that lap. The lap that we keep talking about. All right. Now, normally, I would

suspect that this kind of behavior would be triggered by outside cats, but

Jordan and Kristen are assuring me that that's not the case.

Whether real or imagined, the enemy is out here. Do you know whether you have

feral cats in the neighborhood?

Not that I'm aware of, no. Okay. So we've walked around outside trying to

the world through Jude's eyes. It's all pretty ordinary. Even if there are no

cats outside, maybe there's something else out there that's causing Jude to

freak out. What he is experiencing through his eyes at nighttime is a total

mystery to me at this point. And a mystery to Kristen and Jordan.

It's almost like he's trying to tell you, like, hey, look what's out here,

know. Right. He's trying to tell us something. Right. But there have been

where he abandons that target in the window and you become the target. Yeah.

Every night?

Almost every night. Yeah. Holy crap.

I've seen a lot of things. The one thing I have never seen is a cat that is

absolutely normal during the day and a holy terror at night.

Hey, be nice.

This is a situation that I've got to figure out before somebody really gets

hurt.

There have been times where he abandons that target in the window and you become

the target. Yeah.

Every night?

Almost every night.

Holy crap. Now, after taking a look at the environment, taking in the hot

also listening to what Jordan and Kristen have to say about Jude, now it's

for me to spend some time with him myself and fill in all of these blanks.

honey boy.

It's okay.

Hey. It's all right, honey boy.

I don't even think I need to ask you this, but could you do that at

Not when he's in one of his moods. Which is every night. Yeah.

I mean, right now.

There's not a muscle in me that fears him. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, he's just, he's scared, but it's not enough to have a cat go crazy on

you. Right. You know what I mean? Right. He's scared, clearly.

As scared as he might be, this is daytime Jude.

Definitely. It's just amazing because you know instinctually when it's okay

and when it's not okay. Because he's scared.

Hi, scaredy. It's okay, bud.

It's okay, bud.

What's going on?

He's not heavy.

I feel like it's tough to think about Jackson getting anything from Jude being

so Jekyll and Hyde. Did somebody else have a cat like this?

The whole thing is about trying to give you guys a feeling of control.

Anytime that you wind up barricaded, that's a...

Decent hint that you don't have control.

So let's start taking that back. Yeah.

Clearly locking Jude out of the bedroom at night is not working for anybody.

I've got to give these guys a plan to help Jude feel more comfortable in his

surroundings.

First thing that we want to do is actually find out what's going on. I'm

to leave you guys with a couple of motion -activated cameras.

They also have night vision on them. So what's going to happen is every time he

moves, camera starts.

The other camera we're going to have is going to be focused outside into your

front lawn. Every time there's motion out there, we're going to get it. If

there's any cats out there, we're going to figure out how bad the situation is.

Surveillance is a really crucial part of this homework.

Kristen and Jordan are locked away in their bedroom. Now we're going to see

world through Jude's eyes to see actually what's going on.

Next thing we want to do is cats derive a feeling of safety from the concept of

hunt, catch, kill, eat. So I want you to run around with him, get that motor

going. If we can start guiding him to safe spots that are above your head,

he can actually surveil the area without the threat that he's going to come

unglued. When you get him a little worn out, boom, it's mealtime. Now here's the

last step.

I think that Jude needs to be on medication, and I think he needs to be

medication pretty quickly.

Actions are thoroughly unpredictable.

You are being targeted in a way that is telling me that he feels like his life

is in danger.

Now, it's always a crapshoot when I tell people that I want their cats on meds.

Well, the first vet we saw thought the same thing. They were like, well, we can

try certain meds, but they may or may not work. After they don't work, most

folks end up putting the cat down, and that's, of course, when we got upset,

we're not going to do that.

Jordan particularly is resistant to the idea of Jude being on medication.

But the thing is, we have this ability to get our cats back to a place where

maybe they can tackle their problems with our help. Right now, Jude can't do

anything. He's a victim of his own body and his own chemistry, and we can help

change that. Something is stuck in him, and I really do believe that it is a

form of PTSD where he's gotten himself into this traumatic loop where he's

expecting bad things to happen. And, of course, he's dragging you into that

loop. I'm really surprised at what I've seen and heard here today about Jude.

And I'm just hoping that this homework provides some answers because these

guardians can't take any more of this day and night Jekyll and Hyde behavior.

mean, really, how could anybody?

So I'm here for my second visit with Eric and Eliza. Now, last time I was

these guys were living in total chaos, and I was dealing with a cat named

Brooklyn who tended to disappear for weeks on end, and oh, by the way, she's

blind. So hopefully this time, if there's order prevailing, then maybe

will want to stay home.

Good day.

Hey, how are you?

Good. Oh, good to see you. Good to see you, yeah.

Look, first and foremost, since last time I was here,

Did Brooklyn disappear?

No. No. Well, there we go. Remember, when I got here, freedom for Brooklyn

being lost for five weeks and nearly starving to death.

Now, Brooklyn's around, we're happy people, and we can move forward. I have

video homework sitting here, and I want to go through it.

Okay, breakfast together.

Kind of messy, but I'm learning.

See, all of them within a foot of each other. That's a beautiful picture.

We've got cats eating together. Playtime is happening.

Catification is happening.

So inside, I'm seeing order happen, right? Yeah. And

now outside, what's been happening?

Is the fence done?

The fence is nearly done. So we're almost at that point now where these

going to be completely contained.

It's about establishing order, and that is why we're seeing results.

Totally stoked.

Let's go outside. I want to see what's going on. I see fencing.

Yes. Amazing.

You don't see this as being this jail.

Yeah, yeah. Right? The thing that Perfect Fence did so beautifully here is

not only does a cat know when they run up to something, they look up, and they

say, well, why bother? Right? Because she's so cool. It's such a great

invention. It's a training tool. If they do go up, this will...

Do the cat dunk tank thing, but in a gentle way. So there's never going to be

cat falling. Right. It's always going to be, oh, I don't like this, that feeling

of it giving, and they're gone. We don't have to worry where our cats are.

They're here.

This is what order and routine is all about.

And now we've brought that order to the outside as well.

Now, how do they get out here?

Well, okay, they're going to build a tunnel, and they'll just tunnel right

Okay. I mean, they can still be indoor -outdoor cats, but 100 % safe. We never

have to worry. The last time I was here, I walked around and everything was

setting off alarm bells in my head. Oh, my God, it's a swimming pool. Oh, my

God, it's a gangplank between rooftops. Brooklyn could get killed at any moment.

Looking today at this enclosed area, we've taken all the challenges and all

beauty and all the comfort of the outdoors and contained it.

Perfect. Now that I know that Brooklyn is safe inside the house, I just want to

take some time and make an honest assessment and find out what's really

with this cat.

Brooklyn?

Baby?

Yes.

Yes, my baby girl.

You need some peace.

I can't imagine how you would be actually happy outside.

Right now I know that Brooklyn is not adverse to being in the house at all.

I want to know if she's adverse.

to wonder, and so I just want him to come into the room and see how they

interact. As long as you've got a decent toy, this is not your toy, although

that tail is a really nice toy, right?

Right, buddy?

The tail is a nice toy.

Feather kind of looks like the tail.

This is a playful cat, and that's a cat who would probably rather not be bugged.

You know, I love it when information just comes at me like a birthday cake,

that's what's going on right now. Look at that.

Nothing. There is not even one hint of animosity between these two cats.

Nothing. Do you think that this is what led to that cat disappearing for five

weeks?

The whole idea of Brooklyn rejecting the kittens, that's Eliza. That's not

Brooklyn. And I've got to talk to Eliza about this stuff.

I can say this without any reservation whatsoever.

There's nothing that I'm seeing in the relationship between Wonder and Brooklyn

that would lead Brooklyn to leaving home for weeks at a time, ever. Let me just

recap what I've seen today. The first thing is I spent some really good

time with Brooklyn and Wonder together, and they're forming a relationship,

which they've never been able to do before.

I don't think the kittens forced Brooklyn out. I don't think that she cut

for five weeks because of that.

What was it? It felt interesting. My guess is she wandered into somebody's

building that doesn't get opened and closed constantly, and they closed it. I

have to warn people who have indoor -outdoor cats, it happens constantly.

are survivors.

They would never purposely starve themselves just for the sake of not

home. Okay. Now, the one thing that we can do, if we want to give Brooklyn a

huge favor, putting a bell on Wonder's collar, because she's got to know he's

coming. Great idea. Thanks.

because she's blind, she can't see him coming, and the next thing she knows is

he's playing with her tail, and that's annoying to be surprised with that. And

in the meantime, I want you guys to remember something.

If Wonder is going after her tail, if he's being all belligerent with her,

should be a sign to you guys that playtime did not satisfy him that day.

Now, let's take the catification outside.

So when we get to the point where the tunnel is finished, I want to make sure

the end of that tunnel is jackpot. The first time these guys go through that

tunnel, it's got to be a wonderland. We're going to put toys and all kinds of

fun things to make the outside a destination.

It'll be like a day at the beach for these guys, okay? Okay. I feel good

that your cats are safe and they seem happy to me. Make this last push and

ensure that. Good.

All right, guys. Thank you. Great work.

Thank you, Jackson. I'll see you soon, okay? Bye.

Bye.

We're in a good place right now. I mean, there's order being restored in this

house. That's great. At least the cats are safe. But now it's up to Eric and

Eliza to provide the best life possible for Brooklyn, both inside and outside

the house.

What is he seeing out there?

Wow. I mean, whatever it was that he saw there had him at a tent.

June.

So I'm here for my final visit with Jordan and Kristen and their cat, Jude.

I'm a little nervous about this one. I've got a cat with a serious chemical

imbalance who needs some help. And I've got a couple who's so scared they can't

even sleep at night.

Hello, man.

Hey, whoa.

Look at that. We've got catification going on in here, man.

This is really nice and dirty. It looks good. Is he using that, too?

Yeah. Well, now we've got some good news happening here. Let's talk about it.

Come on.

The fact that we have Jude sitting in a window, chill, makes me want to throw a

party, which I won't do because it's too loud, but that's fantastic.

The last time I was here, Jude was highly agitated, even during the

the cat that I'm seeing today is just super chill.

Now, since my last visit, Jordan and Kristen got over their fear of

and took Jude to the vet, and I'm hoping that the meds are making a huge

difference. How are things going?

Doing good. Yeah, much better.

He's taken real good to the medicine.

Yay. We're not sleeping with the bedroom door closed anymore.

Us sleeping through a whole night without peering over the covers.

So basically everything.

Yeah. Everything's different. Stuff sounds really exciting. I want to grab

homework. Is this surveillance?

Yeah. This is from last month.

Oh, right. So this is before he went on meds.

Watching his body language.

He goes from window, now he's peeking in here. He's totally freaked about what

he sees. Boom, he's here. And then as he's leaving, he checks back again like

this. I mean, whatever it was that he saw there, and let's not forget, it

be nothing, had him at a 10, right?

What is he seeing out there?

Wow.

So I see you in the window.

One flash, then another flash.

So those are car lights passing through the leaves on the trees. Mm -hmm.

I finally get what was driving him crazy. It wasn't cats. It was

And as the headlights go through all of these trees, they create sort of that

flashing effect that I think in his state could have been making him nuts.

that's why it only happened at night. I'm glad that it was captured.

You guys could not have described it well enough. So having stuff like this

just so invaluable.

You have no idea what it feels like to be that cat. Having visual proof of what

he's gone through, it stamps itself in your brain. It makes you want to just

help this guy more so than ever. This is from a month ago, before Jude went on

the medication.

And has he had any episodes since then? Nope. Nope. Haven't had any of that.

Love it, man.

Nice work, buddy.

Catification success.

And now it looks like you're going into your play ritual.

Nice.

Rituals are incredibly healthy for cats.

It's important for them to know that every day looks like the last. But in

case, that ritual is helping Jordan and Kristen regain a sense of normalcy and

predictability in their own lives.

Man, there is so much.

First and foremost, I could feel a return to Kitten.

Talk to me about that for a second because I could feel him coming off you

I think he's just been awesome.

I've really missed playing with him. He was so playful when he was a baby. And

then it just turned to like this point where I felt like most of our

interactions with him were bad interactions or me scolding him or

away. So it's been really awesome to have that back every night. Like I come

home and the way for me to de -stress by just playing with him and enjoying time

with him. I definitely feel like Jackson did what no one else could do. We've

sought help in so many different ways. And this is the first time that we've

really. received answers.

Well, guys, this is all I need to see. Smile on your faces and I'm going to

off. Thank you so much.

It's been my pleasure. You guys have been amazing. Thank you.

My pleasure.

It's been great.

Stay cool, mister.

I'm very proud of you, my son. I am so proud of you.

Man, I only got one word on this one.

That was amazing. These guys got over their fears associated with medication.

Coupled with that, they were able to use their play ritual to get Jude's energy

working in a positive direction and to reconnect with the cat they used to have

to barricade themselves in the bedroom from. But no more.

I'm here for my third and final visit with Eric and Eliza and their cat,

Brooklyn. Now, the Guardians originally called me over here about a blind cat

who hated kittens. In my previous visit, I figured out that wasn't exactly true.

Hopefully, this time, I'm coming in to a much more sane world where Brooklyn can

form relationships with these kittens and we can all hang out safely in their

new enclosure.

So, where's Eric? He happens to be away working.

Well, let me ask you right off the bat. Yes. The last time I was here. Yes.

Anybody go missing?

No one's gone missing.

High five. Yes, I know.

We got cats in the house, and they're safe. They're not in the bushes, and

they're not in the neighbor's yard, and they're not gone missing for weeks on

end.

The outdoor enclosure, are the cats using it? They are using it. Are they

let out any other way except through that door? Just through that door. Man.

That's good. Okay, that's great. Bravo to Eric and Eliza. They've shut all the

doors. There's only one exit and one entrance point to this house, and it

to a safe place.

Let's... Take a look at your homework, huh? Okay.

Hello, Stevie.

Hello, good girl.

Hello.

Hey, wonder boy.

You want to go back in there?

Have you had any moments of, like, traffic jams? Yeah, but it's been funny.

Brooklyn can be in a five -car pileup in the tunnel, but she's cool. She doesn't

panic, nothing.

That's important. That's the only thing I was worried about. Yeah. So I'm

outside. I came into the enclosure with Brooklyn.

There she goes.

There she goes.

Look at this cat's body language.

I mean, she is confident. She is chest high. She is tail high. She's being able

to define her boundaries.

And that's a healthy thing for a blind cat. The fact that all five cats can be

in that tunnel at the same time. Yeah.

Tells us that there's no issues here whatsoever. Yeah. Have you noticed

in terms of the bell?

She and I aren't coming, and it's a whole other relationship.

And she lets him kiss her and stuff.

Really? Yeah. As long as Brooklyn hears Wonder coming, she can press for it. She

can be a little proactive. She can get out of the way, whatever. That bell on

the collar, that's a winner. Everything seems smooth sailing here. I want to go

outside and hang with some cats.

Okay. One of the major discoveries the last time I was here was that Brooklyn

really didn't hate Wonder at all. She dealt with him just fine. But I want to

see them all hanging out in a much bigger environment where they can all

safe, all have their own space. I hope it's everything I think it's going to

What's this?

Nice job! Did you see that? Now I follow her. Right. Allow her to think that she

has a prey.

Right. You wait for her to drop it. Right.

Oh, yeah. There it goes.

Wow. Nice job, buddy.

Eliza and Eric both perceived absolute freedom as happiness for these cats.

not true.

Safety first, happiness second. We got both of those now, and hopefully

everybody realizes you can't have one without the other. This is what I love.

She's making the moves. She's going over, and now she does that thing where

kind of smells her butt to let them know, hey, I'm here. Right.

So, no chaos.

Yeah, no chaos. All order. This has been therapeutic.

Working with Jackson has really helped me in the rest of my life in the

household and being able to enjoy these cats.

All right, take care, all right? Bye, guys.

Bye. Have fun.

Look at that right there. Cats are outside, but they're safe.

There's no more chaos in this house whatsoever.

Discipline is freedom. There's your proof.

Today I'm in Bakersfield, California to meet up with a family and their cat

Tara, whose incredible rescue of their son while he was being attacked by a dog

became a viral phenomenon.

I can't wait to meet this super cat.

Hey, man. I'm Erica.

And I'm Roger.

Tara's an eight -year -old tabby cat, and she is our cat from heaven because

saved our son's life.

My son was playing in the front yard when a dog attacked him, and Tara leapt

the rescue and saved our son.

Thanks to her quick action, our son escaped with minor injuries, and that is

she's our hero.

Hello, baby. This is the famous Tara.

I mean, I've seen the video a bazillion times, like everybody else has on the

planet. I'm just so stoked to finally meet her, man. This is our son, Jeremy.

Hi. So tell me about your story.

Our neighbor had been getting stuff out of their backyard and had accidentally

let their dog out.

And my son was playing out front, and the dog had run around our car and

actually grabbed Jeremy by the leg and pulled him off his little balance bike

that he was riding.

Before I could even register in my head, like, what the heck just happened, Tara

was body slamming the dog.

There's a body slam heard around the world. Yeah, I posted the video to

media, and then it just ballooned, and it took us by storm. One of the things

about the video that's so striking is that not only does Tara lay herself out

get that dog away from Jeremy, she goes right back to Jeremy. That is a maternal

instinct if I've ever seen one.

In terms of the relationship between Jeremy and Tara that was already there,

she always sort of guard him a little bit?

Yeah, when he was a baby, she was always sleeping next to him. You noticed that

early on? Yes. But I think there was more of a bond there because our son is

autistic. She's always there to help him.

She took care of me when I was little. She saved me from the dog wasn't

attacking me.

Yeah, she was looking out for you that day.

I think it's important that we consider the big picture.

Tara was definitely a hero, but that doesn't mean that the dog was a villain.

was over -territorial and he was under -trained. And after the attack, that dog

was confiscated and euthanized. It was a tragedy. Tara prevented a worse tragedy

from happening, but the way it played out was still unfortunate.

I love you.

He's whispering.

She's talking.

Is she talking?

Yes. What is she saying? She said, I love you too.

You're a cat whisperer.

It has been an honor. Thanks so much. It was really wonderful.

Great to meet you, Erica.

Man, I love that.

I mean, superheroes come in all shapes and sizes, and Atari is all that. A

a guardian angel, and I am so glad to have met her and her family.