TV show wants applicants whose lives have been turned upside down by their cat

Cat from hell? Or owner from the same place?

Athena Films are looking for cat owners whose lives have been blighted by their cat. I have used the word ‘blighted’ but if you read their advert on Facebook (on the Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK page for a strange reason) it does seem that they want to hear from you if you have a cat from hell.

Athena Films advert looking for cats from hell and their owners

I have to say that I am unsure about this. I have just written another page about bad cat behaviour and concluded that is is really about bad human behaviour (but that’s just me). However, you’ll find that top class cat behaviorist deal with the behaviour of cat owners when resolving cat behaviour problems.

Athena Films are based in the UK but make ‘international documentaries for major broadcasters’ so Americans and cat owners from other countries should not rule themselves out unless they know better.

They want cat owners with cats who hate being handled or lash out when it’s time to visit the vet. That sounds like a semi-domesticated cat to me. And to ask for cat owners whose lives have been made a misery by their cat is strange because such a person is unlikely to keep the cat.

“Do you resort to wearing an oven glove just to be able to handle them?” That’s one of their questions. It is a question that would normally be put to a person handling feral cats by which I mean unsocialised wild cats. If someone out there is living with a cat like that it’ll be a strange household unless the person has just begun to socialise a feral cat and even then it would be wrong because you give feral cats space and time to get used to you rather than force things along by grabbing them with kitchen gloves.

I’ll be interesting to see how they get along. I sense that they want to do a Jackson Galaxy style TV series in resolving domestic cat behavior issues. The worry that I have is that they may give the impression to non-cat owners that domestic cats are a nightmare. It may reduce cat adoption numbers.

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Comments

TV show wants applicants whose lives have been turned upside down by their cat — 11 Comments

Jane on October 6, 2018 at 11:17 am said:
I cannot watch Mr Alaxy, he is weak in calling out both covert and overt abuse to cats by guatians, he never tackles declawing, he is too whacky, glib and cowardly for me.
The titles of these kind of shows perpetuate ignorance and lazy thinking in both viewers an participants. These show are all about income streams from advertising, the poor animals are treated as exploitable commodity.
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Irish Cornaire on August 15, 2018 at 8:37 pm said:
Wow Michael and ME King ye both nailed it perfectly and I agree about cat haters,wot about maybe a UK spin off of My Cat From Hell? I have 100’s of UK m8’s who are cat lovers and I bet they too would agree about a spin off but of course Jackson Galaxy would have to agree I’m sure.
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- Michael Broad on August 16, 2018 at 3:43 pm said:
  Yes, a UK spin off would be good. I should contact a television company 😉
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  - Irish Cornaire on August 16, 2018 at 4:10 pm said:
    Do it Michael,I bet it will go over well.
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Irish Cornaire on August 14, 2018 at 7:26 pm said:
Ahem,there already is a show like that,it’s called ‘My Cat From Hell’
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- Michael Broad on August 15, 2018 at 2:57 pm said:
  Yes, and I think one more will be one too many. I would like to see an emphasis on how pleasant it is to live with a domestic cat and make the programs more positive. I guess that would make them less boring in the eyes of television producers.
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M E King on August 13, 2018 at 6:26 pm said:
How about a show for the neighbors of inconsiderate dog owners who are letting their pets ruin someone else’s right to enjoy their own home.
For the record I think My Cat From Hell should be re-titled Cat Owners From Hell.
And you are 100% on the mark Micheal humans are the first thing you look at along with environment when dealing with animal behavior.
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- Michael Broad on August 14, 2018 at 5:26 am said:
  “Cat Owners From Hell”
  That’s the truth of it. It has always surprised me that Jackson Galaxy allows this title to his show because it goes against what he teaches regarding cat behavior.
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  - M E King on August 14, 2018 at 11:43 pm said:
    It’s actually very negative and I’m sure attracts cat haters who are hoping the cat gets dumped. And some of the owners are indeed abusive in the way they’re treating their cats. I no longer watch the show because on some level he patronizes those that see cats as evil by nature rather than lowering the boom on the negligent owners.
    Below is an image from the FB page for KitNipBox a subscription I’ve paid 30 dollars a month for and ended when I seen this cartoon posted. Portraying an owner who is literally kicking his own cat is beyond my scope of reasoning.
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    - Michael Broad on August 15, 2018 at 3:00 pm said:
      I am very surprised to see the cartoon on that website. They sell toys and treats et cetera it seems to me for domestic cats. The cartoon is highly inappropriate and fundamentally wrong. It’s a mistake to have added it to the website.
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      - M E King on August 15, 2018 at 9:01 pm said:
        I believe they removed it but I take screen shots of things like that. I also cancelled my subscription. Sometimes I have to wonder. I’m going to alternate and buy boxes from legit rescues from now on several times a year. Galaxy has irritated me several times on his show by going in for a second and third jab from a cat. He didn’t used to play to the camera this way. Little Mercy was pretty much listed as a cat from hell at the shelter. She has never misbehaved with me since the first time I held her.
        Cats and horses are very similar in behavior because you can’t really force either species to do what you want without establishing a real relationship built on trust.
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