My Cat from Hell
| My Cat from Hell | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality |
| Starring | Jackson Galaxy |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 73 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Eyeworks USA |
| Release | |
| Original network | Animal Planet |
| Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | May 7, 2011 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
My Cat from Hell is an American reality television series that airs on Animal Planet and premiered in May 2011. It stars Jackson Galaxy, a cat behaviorist by day and a musician by night, who visits the homes of cat owners in order to resolve conflicts or behavior issues between the owners and their cats or between the cats and other pets. Behavioral issues can include attacks by the cats on their owners.
As of June 11, 2016, 73 episodes of My Cat from Hell have aired, concluding the seventh season.
Philosophy
Jackson Galaxy believes that he can help any "problem cat"—provided that its human guardians follow the advice he provides—and that most behavioral problems result either from triggers in the cat's environment, medical issues with the animal, or mishandling of the cat by humans.
Jackson teaches that cats are territorial, needing spaces within homes to call their own, and that they send signals when they no longer desire petting, a condition he refers to as "overstimulation." Cats do not like being cornered, and lash out when overstimulated. Certain cats (whom he calls "tree-dwelling cats") behave better when they have access to above-ground perches, and he often instructs owners of such cats to install an above-the-floor walkway with no dead ends, in order to provide these cats with the psychological comfort of escape routes.
Jackson does not believe in cats being surgically de-clawed, believing that the animals suffer for it.[1] On episode 5 of season 2, "Cat Fight!", he said that cats become hyper aware of the weapons they have left, going straight for back claws (if these have not been removed) and teeth, because that's what they have to fight with. Later on in life, they suffer a lot more arthritis. Instead of de-clawing, he encourages owners to provide scratching posts and other designated surfaces that allow the cat to practice its instinctive behavior of scratching and exercising safely, or to use soft claws or vinyl claws which cover the claws rather than having the claws removed.[2]
He teaches that there are correct and incorrect ways to pick up a cat, and that when cats are picked up incorrectly, they will often injure humans in an attempt to escape. Most cats need exercise to release excess energy in a positive way; toys and play with owners are outlets Jackson encourages. When this is not done, such cats find ways to release energy on their own, which are often undesirable to their owners and/or destructive to the home.
In multi-animal situations, Jackson creates barriers in homes to divide the space into areas which the animals can claim as places of their own. He slowly introduces the cat to the other animals in positive situations (such as feeding). Occasionally, Jackson suspects that certain behavioral problems which defy conventional explanation are due to an underlying health problem (such as arthritis), in which case he instructs the owners to take their cat to a veterinarian before continuing efforts at modifying the behavior.
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 3 | May 7, 2011 | May 21, 2011 | ||
| 2 | 6 | January 7, 2012 | February 18, 2012 | ||
| 3 | 10 | June 30, 2012 | September 8, 2012 | ||
| 4 | 17 | April 6, 2013 | July 20, 2013 | ||
| 5 | 17[3] | April 26, 2014[4] | November 22, 2014 | ||
| 6 | 10[5] | April 4, 2015[6] | June 13, 2015 | ||
| 7 | 10 | April 2, 2016[7] | June 11, 2016 | ||
Episodes
Season 1 (2011)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "He Hates My Boyfriend" | May 7, 2011 | N/A |
| 2 | 2 | "Fifi's Ruining My Love Life" | May 14, 2011 | N/A |
| 3 | 3 | "Wildcat!" | May 21, 2011 | N/A |
| Minibar is a feral cat rescued by Carre and Brian. In addition they already have two cats, Bonsai and Fubar. Duff is an unpredictable cat owned by Garret & Jenny. | ||||
Season 2 (2012)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | "Terrorizing My Clients" | January 7, 2012 | N/A |
| 5 | 2 | "Mad Max" | January 14, 2012 | N/A |
| 6 | 3 | "On the War Path" | January 21, 2012 | N/A |
| 7 | 4 | "Pissed Off!" | January 28, 2012 | N/A |
| 8 | 5 | "Cat Fight!" | February 4, 2012 | N/A |
| A cat named Penny Lane hates her owner's roommate. Roxy and Max are two cats that begin to attack each other after they move into a new home. | ||||
| 9 | 6 | "Spitting Mad" | February 18, 2012 | N/A |
| Two warring Sphynxes, Mathilde and Black Rose are constantly keeping their owners, Steve and Dierdre up at night. Travis and Dorothy fear that their temperamental cat Polly may and could attack toddler son Rex. | ||||
Season 3 (2012)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | "Cat Fight!" | June 30, 2012 | N/A |
| Jackson heads across the U.S. to help two NYC couples with their aggressive cats: Mufasa, a silver Bengal has been constantly jumping and attacking Susanne, while boyfriend Justin takes it lightly. A uber-cramped apartment for engaged couple Mike and Emilie have become wargrounds for Olive who constantly attacks Pepper daily, forcing the couple instead of enjoying what will be their life together, to sleep in separate rooms at any sign of a fight between the two cats. | ||||
| 11 | 2 | "My Cat or My Family" | July 7, 2012 | N/A |
| Xena has been on a tear with Jen's family and house for the last several months, going into random screaming and hissing fits which have also left Jen, dad Mike and five-year-old son Chris scratched up and the latter even scared to go in his room. Gigi has taken such an aversion to new kitten Suki so much that Brit journalists Julie and Nick fear that her aggression may lead to the latter getting killed. | ||||
| 12 | 3 | "Kitty Dearest" | July 14, 2012 | N/A |
| Best friends Travis and Diane are struggling to co-parent Oscar the Sphinx peacefully together, as he lashes out at Diane whenever she picks him up, urinates everywhere but his litter box and disturbs Travis in his at-home office by constantly yowling at night. Vet Tech Esther and musician hubby Vincent are at ends with rescue tabby Riley who repeatedly lashes out whenever hands are outstretched. | ||||
| 13 | 4 | "Kitty Jail" | July 21, 2012 | N/A |
| 14 | 5 | "Roscoe the Menace" | July 28, 2012 | N/A |
| 15 | 6 | "Cat Escape!" | August 4, 2012 | N/A |
| Michael and Khrys have an escape artist in their home in the form of an unneutered Russian Blue named Kitty, who also marks all over the house. Addie, an 8 year old Tabby, repeatedly swats and scratches whoever comes near her, specifically in her cat tree, be it either owners Don and Joy or anyone else entering the house. Behavior, Joy directly fingers blame on more canine-centric hubby Don, who roughhouses while playing with her, as like with a dog. | ||||
| 16 | 7 | "My Cat Eats Everything!" | August 18, 2012 | N/A |
| 17 | 8 | "My Cat is a Bully" | August 25, 2012 | N/A |
| Mother and daughter Melissa and Mariah are at odds with the latter's pet cat Miley who constantly attacks the prior's two chihuahuas, but the problem may not be so much in Miley but the humans themselves, specifically Melissa, who continues to use the cat's "aggression" as an excuse to treat the dogs as if they were human babies. Burmese Gracie had been adopted from and returned to the shelter twice before finally coming home with Kristen, but the welcoming has not been so sweet, as Kris' boyfriend Lei, his family, friends and guests and the legions of former cat-sitters who've quit over Gracie have been subject to her attacks. | ||||
| 18 | 9 | "Big Boi Ruins Our Social Life" | September 1, 2012 | N/A |
| College roommates Nicole and Shoshana got more than what they bargained for when they took in pregnant stray Cutie, as unneutered and only surviving kitten Big Boi had turned their social lives upside down. As they also prep for the upcoming birth of their first child, Lucas and girlfriend of seven years, Candice have come at loggerheads over the fate of Lucas' 23 year old tabby Pump, who Candace sees as an interference with her work as an at-home holistic therapist. | ||||
| 19 | 10 | "Bitten" | September 8, 2012 | N/A |
| Achilles is owned by Amy, but has become aggressive to both Amy and Mike, Amy's boyfriend who, is thinking of leaving over Achilles' behavior. Kevin and Megan are the proud parents of a one-year-old little girl, Quinn as well as two four-legged "children" in cats Bitten and Chompy, but it is Bitten’s vicious attacks on the once abused and now rescued Chompy that has both Megan and Kevin taking sides in trying to protect their daughter from getting in the middle of these "fights" | ||||
Season 4 (2013)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1 | "Deaf, Blind, and Biting" | April 6, 2013 | 0.93[8] |
| 21 | 2 | "Roommates From Hell" | April 13, 2013 | 0.94[9] |
| 22 | 3 | "Penny Hates Puck" | April 20, 2013 | 1.21[10] |
| 23 | 4 | "Feral Scottish Fold" | April 27, 2013 | 0.99[11] |
| 24 | 5 | "Macho Cat" | May 4, 2013 | 0.94[12] |
| 25 | 6 | "Graveyard of Peed on Things" | May 11, 2013 | 0.85[13] |
| 26 | 7 | "The White Tornado" | May 18, 2013 | 0.81[14] |
| 27 | 8 | "Chubs" | June 1, 2013 | 0.78[15] |
| 28 | 9 | "Bea Hates CeCe" | June 8, 2013 | 0.85[16] |
| 29 | 10 | "Cat Horror Show" | June 15, 2013 | 0.70[17] |
| 30 | 11 | "My Cat Ruined My Wedding" | June 22, 2013 | 0.99[18] |
| 31 | 12 | "Max Hates My Family" | June 29, 2013 | 0.95[19] |
| 32 | 13 | "Buddha Bullies Hector" | July 6, 2013 | 0.76[20] |
| 33 | 14 | "Evil Kashmir" | July 13, 2013 | 0.71[21] |
| 34 | 15 | "Devil Cat" | July 13, 2013 | 0.82[21] |
| 35 | 16 | "Crazy Daisy" | July 20, 2013 | 0.67[22] |
| 36 | 17 | "Where Are They Meow?" | July 20, 2013 | 0.59[22] |
Season 5 (2014)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "Sky Diver's Nightmare" | April 26, 2014 | N/A |
| 38 | 2 | "Bloody Thirsty" | May 3, 2014 | N/A |
| 39 | 3 | "Surprise Attack Cat!" | May 10, 2014 | N/A |
| 40 | 4 | "Stalking Miss Daisy" | May 17, 2014 | N/A |
| 41 | 5 | "Einstein Hates Izzy" | May 31, 2014 | N/A |
| 42 | 6 | "Puma on the Rampage" | June 7, 2014 | N/A |
| 43 | 7 | "911, My Cat's Holding Me Hostage!" | June 14, 2014 | N/A |
| 44 | 8 | "Scared to Laugh" | June 14, 2014 | N/A |
| 45 | 9 | "Mama Mia!" | June 21, 2014 | N/A |
| 46 | 10 | "Multi-Million-Dollar Nightmare" | June 28, 2014 | N/A |
| 47 | 11 | "Demon Cat" | July 5, 2014 | N/A |
| 48 | 12 | "Hungry Like the Wolf" | October 11, 2014 | N/A |
| 49 | 13 | "Godzilla Attacks!" | October 25, 2014 | N/A |
| 50 | 14 | "Reese the Ripper" | November 1, 2014 | N/A |
| 51 | 15 | "When the Fat Lady Sings" | November 8, 2014 | N/A |
| 52 | 16 | "Appetite for Destruction" | November 15, 2014 | N/A |
| 53 | 17 | "Chloe the Bully" | November 22, 2014 | N/A |
Season 6 (2015)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54 | 1 | "My Boyfriend vs. My Cat" | April 4, 2015 | N/A |
| 55 | 2 | "Darkness Comes Knocking" | April 11, 2015 | N/A |
| 56 | 3 | "Real Housecat of Orange County" | April 18, 2015 | N/A |
| 57 | 4 | "Bad Cat Karma" | April 25, 2015 | N/A |
| 58 | 5 | "Fat Elvis" | May 2, 2015 | N/A |
| 59 | 6 | "Psychic Disconnect" | May 9, 2015 | N/A |
| 60 | 7 | "Happily Never After" | May 16, 2015 | N/A |
| 61 | 8 | "Loves Bites!" | May 30, 2015 | N/A |
| 62 | 9 | "Woody the Killer Kitty" | June 6, 2015 | N/A |
| 63 | 10 | "Paranormal Cat-tivity" | June 13, 2015 | N/A |
Season 7 (2016)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | 1 | "Crazy Cat Opens Doors" | April 2, 2016 | N/A |
| 65 | 2 | "Katrina Storms In" | April 9, 2016 | N/A |
| 66 | 3 | "Four Blind Cats" | April 16, 2016 | N/A |
| 67 | 4 | "Scary Tails" | April 23, 2016 | N/A |
| 68 | 5 | "Breaking Bald" | April 30, 2016 | N/A |
| 69 | 6 | "Brooklyn Cat Fight" | May 7, 2016 | N/A |
| 70 | 7 | "Gotham Feral Cats" | May 14, 2016 | N/A |
| 71 | 8 | "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Scar" | May 21, 2016 | N/A |
| 72 | 9 | "Felines and Frenemies?" | June 4, 2016 | N/A |
| 73 | 10 | "A Brave New Cat World" | June 11, 2016 | N/A |
Reception
Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times wrote, "Mr. Galaxy—yes, it feels ridiculous writing that—looks like a Hells Angel, but his love and respect for cats seems genuine, and his advice appears actually to help the clients, most of whom are couples whose crazed pets are affecting their relationships."[23] Brad Wete of Entertainment Weekly commented, "Galaxy offers useful tips, even if your animal’s not nuts."[24]
See also
References
- ↑ Galaxy, Jackson (October 1, 2010). "Cats and Claws – Living Happily Ever After". jacksongalaxy.com. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ↑ Matheson, Darcy (March 22, 2013). "Declaw dilemma: Some veterinarians refusing to declaw cats". CTV News Vancouver. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ↑ "My Cat From Hell: Episode Guide". Zap2it. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ↑ Team Cat Mojo (April 23, 2014). "My Cat From Hell Season Premiere Sat. Apr. 26 at 8pm E/P". jacksongalaxy.com. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ↑ "My Cat From Hell: Episode Guide". Zap2it. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ↑ Team Cat Mojo (March 10, 2015). "My Cat From Hell Season Premiere is Sat. Apr. 4 on Animal Planet". jacksongalaxy.com. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ↑ Team Cat Mojo (March 7, 2016). "My Cat From Hell Season 7 Premiere is Sat. Apr. 2, 2016 on Animal Planet". jacksongalaxy.com. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (April 9, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: "Marvin Marvin," "Wendell & Vinnie" Top Viewers for Nickelodeon". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (April 16, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: "Marvin Marvin" Leads Viewers, "Ultimate Fighter" Tops Demos". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (April 23, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: NBA Playoffs Tripleheader Puts ESPN on Top". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (April 30, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: NBA Playoffs, "Marvin Marvin" Top Charts". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan (May 7, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: TNT Tops Charts with Bulls/Nets Finale". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (May 14, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: "Beverly Lewis' The Confession," "My Cat from Hell" Top Originals". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (May 21, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: Game 6 of Knicks/Pacers Puts ESPN on Top". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (June 4, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: TNT Tops Charts with Game 6 of Heat/Pacers". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (June 11, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: "Sam & Cat" Opens on Top for Nickelodeon". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (June 18, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: NBC Sports Network Tops Charts with Stanley Cup Finals". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (June 25, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: "Sam & Cat" Tops Viewers, "Jodi Arias" Leads Demos". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (July 2, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: "Anna Nicole," "Sam & Cat" Snag Top Spots". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Yanan, Travis (July 10, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: TNT Races to the Front with NASCAR Coverage". The Futon Critic.
- 1 2 Yanan, Travis (July 16, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: Nickelodeon Tops Charts with "Sam & Cat," "Haunted Hathaways"". The Futon Critic.
- 1 2 Yanan, Travis (July 23, 2013). "Saturday's Cable Ratings: Nickelodeon Tops Viewers, Demos with "Sam & Cat"". The Futon Critic.
- ↑ Neil Genzlinger (May 6, 2011). "And You Used to Think Hairballs Were Bad". The New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
- ↑ Brad Wete (May 8, 2011). "'My Cat From Hell' debuts on Animal Planet: Who knew cats were this bonkers?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 21, 2012.