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00:02This is the last show in our short series.
00:05Why is it so short?
00:08Because there's never been a series about cats before,
00:11and frankly, everyone was a bit nervous about it.
00:14Cats, they thought.
00:15What will they even do on screen?
00:19Quite a lot, it turns out.
00:20It's going to do a big jump.
00:21Oh, wow!
00:23People passing by.
00:25Sigrid brings sort of immediate joy.
00:27Brilliant, like a mountain goat except a mountain cat.
00:31Oh, what a moment.
00:33Congratulations.
00:35Oh, no.
00:37Tilly, Tilly, go the whole way.
00:39There we go.
00:39One really wants to stroke that name.
00:44You can tell when I'm about to get too anxious.
00:46He can sense medical things way before they happen.
00:50Look at this.
00:52He's got a very incredible Star Wars face.
00:55Wilfred, it's you on a Spanish lady's leg.
00:58Are you with this?
00:59I think I can get it.
01:00Whoa!
01:01Oh, he's never bitten someone.
01:03Ow!
01:04She has the loudest purr.
01:10Thanks.
01:11Larry wanted to come in.
01:13This is David Baddiel, Cat Man.
01:23There's much weird negativity around cats, especially around women and cats, which goes back a long way.
01:30Cats in the 19th century, there was a lot of very unpleasant misogynistic kind of commentary in the press about
01:36unmarried women in particular doting on cats.
01:40Yeah.
01:41Because they're the babies that they never had.
01:43And that continues.
01:44We're effectively run in this country by a bunch of childless cat ladies.
01:48Which is, of course, offensive and cliched and misogynistic, but also completely misunderstands how great it is to own cats.
01:57It also assumes that cats are somehow not a guy thing.
02:13The notion that having a cat makes you less masculine is ridiculous.
02:18It's kind of like a man eating a banana in front of other men is gay.
02:22Or, like, is it gay to wash your bum in the shower?
02:25You know?
02:25Sorry, can I just take you back?
02:26I have never heard that a man eating a banana in front of other men is gay.
02:30Oh!
02:30That's a new one on me.
02:31Okay, well, that's definitely a thing.
02:33I think it's ridiculous.
02:34If someone says to me, oh, you like cats, do you?
02:38Wimp.
02:39That shows much more about them.
02:40Of course.
02:41You know, this doesn't affect me.
02:43What defines manly?
02:44Because then it's kind of like, I mean, toxically manly?
02:47Yeah, I think men with cats are less toxically manly.
02:50I think a man with a cat is a more rounded person.
02:54I think he's got his yin and his yang.
02:57When people want to refer to perhaps an uncle in their family who's not the marrying kind,
03:03they refer to him, and this wasn't offensive at the time, as a pussy bachelor.
03:07So it becomes a euphemism for a gay man.
03:11I've never seen affection towards cats to be not blokey.
03:15Like, I was brought in a working class household, and all the blokes were blokey.
03:19But they all love cats.
03:21It was some Gen Z article that basically said the golden retriever boyfriend era is over.
03:27It's all about cat dad energy.
03:30Right.
03:30So I think we're winning now.
03:32It's obviously nonsense.
03:33Yeah.
03:33There is something I find so hot when I walk into the room and Chris is just like having a
03:38moment with one of the cats.
03:39Yeah.
03:39Like when he's really getting into Myrtle's fur, and they're just so lost that he barely even notices I come
03:44in the room.
03:44I'm like, that's hot.
03:46I did have a man once come round, and he was so nice and gentle with my cats.
03:51I thought, I want to have sex with him.
03:54Did you have sex with him?
03:56No.
04:09A farm cat.
04:10That's a thing.
04:11Do all farms have cats?
04:12I think most of them do.
04:13We got Lippy because it's nice to have a cat around and also to keep the mask down.
04:18That quickly turned around.
04:19She became just like a farm cat, a barn cat.
04:22So you're known on Instagram for hanging out with Lippy.
04:25How did that begin?
04:26Doing all of me.
04:27So one day, I just filmed myself holding Lippy, and she wrapped her arms around me.
04:32Yeah.
04:32I put that on the internet, and it just sort of blew up.
04:36Don't take this the wrong way, but you're quite a hot bloke.
04:39Oh, thank you.
04:40And why would you take it the wrong way?
04:42I'll take it.
04:42And so I think the idea of a hot bloke with cats, that appeals to people.
04:46I mean, you may have quite a lot of women followers.
04:49It's...
04:50I mean, I check my stats, and it's 80% women.
04:53Right.
04:54So I'm right about that.
04:56Harry and Lippy is the biggest fave magnet I've ever seen on Instagram.
05:01He comes up on my feed all the time, and I'm just like,
05:03that's the kind of guy you want to be the father for your children, isn't it?
05:06Yeah.
05:06I mean, you're a married woman, but I think he comes up a lot.
05:09He comes up a lot.
05:10On your phone.
05:10He does.
05:11He does come up a lot on my phone.
05:13I think he has absolutely nailed it.
05:17Can we meet Lippy?
05:19Of course.
05:19Where is Lippy?
05:20There she is.
05:22Hello, Lippy.
05:24There you go.
05:25He's just unbelievably friendly.
05:27I've never known a cat as, like, friendly, as I.
05:30Part of the thing with you, you decided to carry Lippy around in a sling.
05:35Yes.
05:36That's probably one of the reasons, isn't it, why people, 80% women, like it.
05:41Because there's the sort of, like, baby...
05:43It's like a father sort of thing, yeah.
05:46There's a whole image to it, even though it is a cat.
05:48Yeah.
05:48And you couldn't have actually given birth to it.
05:50No.
05:50No.
05:51Where's the sling?
05:53I've got some behind it.
05:54Oh, you've got Varys?
05:55Yeah.
05:57Okay, show me what you do.
05:59So, wrap it around.
06:01Okay.
06:02And then over the shoulder.
06:04Wow, that's an element of Star Wars.
06:06The real emblem of Obi-Wan, the whole thing.
06:09Yeah.
06:10Go on, Lippy.
06:13Go on, Lippy.
06:14So, you want it to be a lot tighter.
06:17So, it holds them, so you just do that.
06:20Yeah.
06:22Pull the bum in.
06:25But look how cute that is.
06:27Okay, shall I have a go at putting this on?
06:31If you put that there.
06:32Yeah.
06:35Now what?
06:35I mean, I was going to try doing this myself, but basically Harry has stepped in.
06:40I don't think so.
06:41Right, so across.
06:42It feels much more like a strange Japanese ritual than I thought it was going to.
06:47Shall we go for a walk and then transfer?
06:50Sounds good.
06:51Okay.
06:53So, you want to get her in this one first?
06:55This one, okay.
06:57Now this has never happened before, right?
06:58This is a first on television.
07:00It's a first.
07:01And indeed, for cats and you.
07:02Let's see if it works.
07:03Literally going into someone else's sling, mine.
07:06I mean, at the moment she's backing away.
07:08I don't think she'll just go in.
07:09If you sort of.
07:10I'm thinking more, I'll take it.
07:12If you grab her off.
07:12Yeah.
07:14Okay.
07:14Here we go.
07:15If you grab her off.
07:16Right.
07:17Okay.
07:18That's the first move.
07:19If you want to sort of have her on the other.
07:23Okay.
07:24Yeah.
07:26There you go.
07:26And then sort of his gelato.
07:29Oh.
07:30Oh.
07:30Oh no.
07:31Here we go.
07:32No, that's not going to work.
07:33Lift pig.
07:34Come on.
07:34You can't fail us now.
07:36Is she going back to her barn?
07:38Once again, I'm going to do that speech that I do on this show so often about, you know,
07:42you can't really wrangle them.
07:44Cats.
07:45Actually, I'll be honest.
07:46I was fairly confident.
07:47Let's see if we can put her in the sling in the barn and then go for a walk.
07:52And if we can't do it, we have to accept that it's only Harry that she wants to sling up
07:56with.
08:03Since I've started doing this show, men who would normally want to talk to me about football want to talk
08:09to me about, guess what?
08:13Cats.
08:14Cats is one of the things I never wanted in my house.
08:17I had a phobia.
08:18You had a phobia?
08:19Yeah.
08:19Mommy says she wants it and children want it.
08:21Yeah.
08:21So I said, okay then, let's go.
08:23I'm very much scared.
08:24I'm still scared of him.
08:25After two days, I'm okay.
08:27I start holding you.
08:28Rocky.
08:29Hello.
08:30When you enter my house, first thing, my eyes looking for Rocky.
08:34Really?
08:35So you grew to love Rocky.
08:36It's so lovely.
08:37It was beautiful.
08:39This is Pearl.
08:40And what you just picked her up today?
08:41Yes, I picked her up today.
08:43Really?
08:43I told you so cute.
08:45I love the cat Tyrion.
08:46He needs a little playmate.
08:48I was about to go out to work one morning and my wife says she thinks that Lucy, our cat,
08:53is pregnant.
08:54I said, I'll ring the vet and make an appointment for the cat to go in there.
08:58I've had cats and children.
09:00I was the one who had to convince my parents to...
09:02Really?
09:02They didn't want a cat?
09:04Yeah, yeah.
09:04And then once they did, it's game over.
09:08So the cat rings me at work about two hours later.
09:10No, the vet.
09:11Not the cat.
09:12Oh, no, it's the cat.
09:13Yeah, good.
09:13The vet rings me and says, I said, we've got some good news and some bad news.
09:18I said, well, what's the good news?
09:20The good news is the cat's not pregnant.
09:22I said, what's the bad news?
09:24Oh, we've chopped him off.
09:28So you got over your phobia because of Rocky?
09:30It's the Rocky.
09:31One morning, Rocky was coming back.
09:33I mean, suddenly I got a call from the vet and said, hey, someone ran over.
09:40They asked me to give you options to see my Rocky, but I didn't.
09:45They're okay.
09:46No, no, no.
09:47And then...
09:48I love him a lot.
09:50Oh.
09:50I'm a man, you know, so I don't like to cry.
09:53I'm so moved.
09:54I'm crying.
09:55I mean, he was the one himself, you know.
10:00I think Nippy likes to be more in the barn.
10:03If you pick her up and put her on this shoulder...
10:05Yeah.
10:06No, if you just...
10:07Oh.
10:11Whoa.
10:13You know what?
10:14Do you think it's the red?
10:15I don't know, it might be a...
10:20Oh.
10:21See, I think it's the red, which means I've got to put a grey one on to give it a
10:26go.
10:29The deal refusing to be beaten.
10:33It's quite a sad spectacle.
10:35Messages are just open, aren't they, on Instagram?
10:38Yeah.
10:38So you must get loads of messages.
10:40Yeah, there's quite a few.
10:44So I wanted to buy my used shoes.
10:48And that wasn't a person who runs a secondhand shoe shop, that was a person.
10:51No, that was just like a random guy.
10:53So it's not just women?
10:54It's guys as well.
10:55Right.
10:56A lot of it's saying, like, I love Lippy.
10:57How old's Lippy?
10:58Where do you live?
10:59And stuff like that.
11:00The where do you live one's more frightening.
11:03I know where you live.
11:04I never tell them that fact.
11:07I'm going to try.
11:09There we go.
11:09If you sort of, like, hold her in.
11:11Let me try stroking her for a bit.
11:13That's nice, isn't it, man?
11:14Still don't know if I'll get her in my sleeve, though.
11:16Might be asking too much.
11:18Oh, no.
11:19Okay.
11:20You're having it.
11:20Lippy isn't playing ball.
11:23I nearly got Lippy on there, but obviously that's not acceptable.
11:29I don't know if you slowly do it.
11:31I just need to sort of be the other way round, to be honest.
11:34Oh, she needs to be facing me.
11:37Oh, whoa.
11:38Let go, let go.
11:40Okay.
11:42Okay.
11:43Okay.
11:43Yes.
11:44Yes.
11:45That counts.
11:46Okay.
11:47I think that counts.
11:48It's just her arse in the sling.
11:50But I think that counts.
11:52Because look, hands free.
11:54Thank you, Harry.
11:55There it is.
11:57I am.
11:58I am Cat Man.
12:01She's chilling.
12:02I'm off with Lippy now.
12:03See, I can't really remove her ever.
12:05I think she's with me for the rest of the series.
12:07Ladies and gentlemen, it is.
12:09David Belial.
12:10And Lippy.
12:24One of the best weapons in the cat armoury is this.
12:32Purring.
12:33It's not just a noise.
12:35It gives off a deep sense of reward.
12:37And no other animal makes that noise.
12:39And again, I have to ask a cross-species question.
12:42Why don't we like it so much?
12:44Because it's been scientifically proven.
12:47It is good for us.
13:03How does a perm make you feel?
13:05It's nature's ASMR.
13:07Do you know what I mean?
13:07It's like, it's the original ASMR.
13:09Oh.
13:11Sublime, exquisite, healed.
13:13I don't know what it is or does, but it's better than any other sound.
13:19I've never felt as comforted, soothed, like, enraptured.
13:25Purring is known to heal you.
13:28That's known to change your frequency.
13:32It's a non-verbal communication, but that obviously is a communicative one that we can hear.
13:37Some cats will use it to self-soothe, so cats will purr when they're ill.
13:42Cats will even purr when they're dying as well.
13:44There was a very specific moment, just about six months before Leeloo died, where my friend died.
13:49And I was absolutely broken.
13:51And she would just come and get into bed with me, like, here, which was unusual, and just purr so
13:57loudly.
13:58And it would almost, like, regulate my breathing.
14:02It's very grounding, not to be woo-woo about it.
14:04No.
14:04But it is very grounding to me, because it's a reminder that existence is to be enjoyed.
14:11And that pleasure is, you know, right at the centre of living experience.
14:27She's done a huge burp, so I hope she'll not do that again.
14:29Oh, OK. Well, that's OK. Hello, Bella.
14:32So, Bella is the holder of a Guinness World Record.
14:36So, she has the loudest purr of a domestic cat living.
14:41You've got two certificates. Why is that?
14:44Erm, she did it in May originally. Yeah.
14:46And she then re-broke her record in August for whiskers.
14:50I believe she was then employed by whiskers.
14:53She was sponsored by whiskers.
14:55Whiskers use her purr for their adverts.
14:58So, if you hear a cat purring on a whiskers ad, it's likely to be Bella.
15:01It's quite like to be Bella, yes.
15:02OK, but they didn't use her. Why not?
15:04Because she's old and a bit chunky.
15:06That's awful.
15:07Whiskers, you should be ashamed of yourself.
15:09She's beautiful.
15:10She's kind of sized.
15:11Yeah, she's beautiful.
15:12Erm, I noticed it said living on the certificate,
15:15and that did for a moment confuse me, because I thought,
15:17well, how can a dead cat purr, unless you're using it a bit like a pair of bagpipes.
15:22But the living cat who's got the loudest purr is Bella.
15:25By the way, can we just hear it?
15:29It's loud.
15:31What happened?
15:32A whole team of people came to the house.
15:35They sound-proofed the room she was in.
15:36They put a decibelometer a metre away from her, a metre high,
15:40so they could actually do the official recording.
15:42I was given one of these. This is a decibelometer.
15:45But what I was doing was this.
15:48Yes.
15:48And that's what I did originally as well.
15:50Yeah, that's wrong. It's a metre away.
15:52A metre away.
15:53The record achieved was 54.6 decibels.
15:56Let's have a quick go.
15:57Let me get some more chicken.
15:58Okay, yeah, chicken.
15:59That's not for me, is it?
16:00If you'd like some.
16:01No, it's okay.
16:02Although I have started purring.
16:04Let's see what we can get.
16:06I'm not sure it's a spectator sport.
16:13It's sort of like averaging out about 36.
16:19I'm sort of wondering if we can see if she'll purr louder upstairs.
16:23Yeah, can do.
16:25Okay, it's getting a bit louder.
16:29I don't think that's a metre.
16:31But that, we were getting a good 51 there.
16:34Is that a metre?
16:35No.
16:37Okay, do I have to be off the bed for it to be a metre?
16:39Well, I think I do. Hold on.
16:40What about here?
16:42Is that a metre?
16:43No, whichever.
16:44Is that a metre?
16:45That's about a metre.
16:46Okay, let's give it a proper go.
16:50Okay, well, we got a 53, though.
16:52I can't tell whether or not it was just purring, a little bit of stroking,
16:56and a little bit of just licking her chops.
16:58It was quite loud.
17:00I'm thinking of getting Ron to have a go.
17:02Do you want to hear Ron?
17:03Is he loud?
17:05I mean, I thought it completely shattered your record yesterday,
17:07but then it turned out I was holding the decibelometer far too close.
17:12She's actually got pretty loud now in response.
17:14She realises a competitor's incoming.
17:17So this is me and my wife trying to get Ron to do it.
17:26I mean, for a second, this went to 55.3.
17:28I didn't hear any other sounds, in which case you've broken the world record.
17:32I don't know how official this is.
17:34All right, you know, he walks away.
17:36You are chasing around the house.
17:37Yeah, I chased around the house, but hang on, hang on.
17:40It is going up to 62.
17:42Hang on, let's try another one.
17:43I've got Zelda.
17:44She's pretty loud.
17:48Come on, Zelda.
17:50I think Bella's winning.
17:55No, I think Bella is winning.
17:58Anyway, thank you, Bella.
18:00Thank you, Nicole.
18:01I don't think we're going to get a definitive record-breaking purr today.
18:05I think it's you.
18:07Fair enough.
18:08She prefers Frank's female.
18:14A cat's purr isn't the only thing about them that makes us feel better.
18:18A cat's presence alone can change the atmosphere, calm the room, lift the mood,
18:23make life feel a little bit softer around the edges.
18:27We may discover that the answer to our present mental health epidemic
18:31is to prescribe everyone a cat.
18:36Hi, is he there?
18:38This is Mr London Meow.
18:40Oh, I love cats.
18:41Do you love cats?
18:41Yeah.
18:42Oh, my God.
18:47This is Mr London.
18:48Hi, Mr London.
18:50What's the story?
18:51Just come around in the hospital, say hi,
18:53and just bring a little bit of joy to everybody that we come across.
18:56Cats have got empathy.
18:58Yes.
18:58And they kind of know, A, when someone's in a little bit of trouble.
19:02Yes.
19:02And B, they kind of know when it might be a good idea for them to comfort them.
19:07Bye, Mr London.
19:10What's he like with the patients?
19:12There are certain patients that he chooses, but he knows there are certain people that just need that little bit
19:18of extra love or attention.
19:21Yeah.
19:22So this is something that the NHS in general are positive about then?
19:26They understood since they won that providing healthcare is not only about the physical part, but it's also about motivating
19:34the patients just to take on the recovery process.
19:38Hi.
19:39Hi.
19:39I'm Isabel, and this is Mr London.
19:41Goodness me.
19:43This is amazing.
19:44Doesn't just help the patients?
19:46No, it's everybody that we come across.
19:47Can I stroke?
19:48Of course.
19:49Beautiful.
19:51Oh, it's just wonderful.
19:53He's sporting a very nice cut-off denim jacket.
19:56Does he wear that a lot?
19:58He doesn't wear the same clothes very often.
20:01You know, he's a little bit of a posh cat.
20:04I like this, though, because it's sort of Bruce Springsteen circa 1983.
20:08I can see Mr London singing Born in the USA, even though that makes no sense at all.
20:16Cats absolutely have empathy, especially Pip being incredibly responsive to, you know, some of the darkest years of my teenager
20:24-dom.
20:25When you've been upset, I've seen Pip come out of nowhere to try and comfort you.
20:30Yeah, absolutely.
20:30It's really amazing.
20:31I did 30 years in the Royal Air Force, and we used to bring back the dead and the wounded
20:36from Afghanistan.
20:37And my cats could always tell when I'd had a bad trip.
20:39They'd know.
20:40They'd just sit with me.
20:41Yeah.
20:41They knew, but they'd only do it for so long.
20:43And then they'd try to encourage me to play and drag me outside.
20:46They're very astute.
20:47I actually used to really hate cats.
20:50Oh, you've said that now on this show.
20:53I know, but it was a terrible misconception.
20:55Tell me what.
20:56Well, I'm incredibly allergic to them.
20:57Oh.
20:58I was incredibly depressed, and my partner always grew up with cats and really wanted to get a cat.
21:04And the choice was continue taking the antidepressants and deal with the side effects of that.
21:09Or get the cat to treat the depression and take the antihistamine every day.
21:12So that's the trade-off that I made.
21:13The two cats that live in my house are the tent poles holding up my mental health.
21:18Absolutely.
21:19Not your partner at all.
21:22I am allergic to cats.
21:24If you're allergic to cats, they love you.
21:27It might be a very slightly kind of James Bond-y way of killing you, which is in a kind
21:32of slinky, affectionate way.
21:34They make you suffer.
21:35What?
21:36Roger is a honey trap.
21:38Roger is a honey trap.
21:40Are these some messages, aren't they?
21:42Today I was feeling terrible because of my depression and thought nothing could make me feel better.
21:47But suddenly I found that video of Wilfred and literally laughed until I cried.
21:51I am better now.
21:53When you have a cat in your life, you are going to do certain things for the cat even when
21:57you don't get out of the bed at all that day because you're in that bad of shape in your
22:01head.
22:02For anything else, you're going to get up and feed the cat and make sure the cat's okay and whatnot.
22:08My cats, when I was crying my eyes out, just sort of left the room.
22:11Did they?
22:11They were embarrassed.
22:12And then they just sort of looked at me as if to say, like, pull yourself together.
22:19He can tell when I'm about to get too anxious.
22:21Like, this morning was a bit scary for me, so he didn't even eat his breakfast.
22:25He jumped on the bed and went straight onto my chest.
22:28Yeah.
22:28He weighs five and a half kilos, so that's a good enough weight to kind of settle things down.
22:33Yeah.
22:34And he doesn't quite know how much he weighs.
22:36Sometimes he'll, like, stand right on your throat.
22:38Right, right.
22:39But you can tell him to lie down and he'll move back and lie down.
22:41That's kind of anxiety-causing.
22:42Yeah.
22:43Yeah, he's...
22:44Sometimes it's a work in progress.
22:55Tell us about what Void's done for you.
22:58Um, I've sort of always used the terminology that he's a seizure cat.
23:03He can sense medical things way before they happen.
23:07What is your medical profile that he helps with?
23:10Um, so I have epilepsy.
23:12I have a heart condition, meaning my heart rate's way too fast.
23:15But I sort of have episodes of fainting, collapsing, and he's very in tune with all of it.
23:25When did you first notice that he had a kind of radar for that?
23:29It would have probably been maybe the third seizure that he'd done the same thing to me.
23:35He comes and sits next to me, puts one paw on me, looks at me in the face and gives
23:39a very quiet meow.
23:41That is the only time you will ever hear him meow.
23:43So when I do, it's, oh, he's telling me something.
23:47Is he always right?
23:48Or do you sometimes think, actually, no, I'm fine?
23:50Yes, he's never been wrong.
23:53I'm going to try picking you up.
23:55Yeah.
23:57There you go.
23:59No.
24:01He does have a really calm, sort of protective aura.
24:06And also, you know, he doesn't like men, but he's taken to it.
24:10He's doing all right.
24:11Yeah.
24:12I don't want to confirm any ethnic stereotypes, but I wouldn't mind Void diagnosing if I've got any health issues.
24:23You know what?
24:23When I said the Bruce Springsteen thing, I actually hadn't seen the front room.
24:27That's not very Bruce Springsteen.
24:29Yeah.
24:29That's a bit more Laurence Llewellyn Bowen.
24:37When you're going through a tough day at work, it always brings a smile to people's faces.
24:43Yeah, yeah.
24:46Denim and the bow tie is quite a thing.
24:48It's quite a bold idea.
24:50It's a whole thing.
24:50It's a whole thing.
24:51It's a whole thing.
24:51And we agree with it.
24:53Oh, my God.
24:55So, this is sometimes what happens.
24:58Wow.
24:59Is he Mr. Meow?
25:01Yes.
25:01Mr. London Meow.
25:03Yeah, Mr. London Meow.
25:05There's a kind of NHS party happening around Mr. London out of nowhere.
25:10It's like Tom Cruise has come in the wall.
25:16I like Hannibal.
25:18You do?
25:20Yeah.
25:23Hello.
25:25Beautiful.
25:26What's his name?
25:27Mr. London.
25:28Mr. London, yes.
25:29Yeah.
25:40My pleasure, really.
25:42It's the first time I've got up and walked properly in four days.
25:45Really?
25:46Yeah.
25:46Was that partly because you saw Mr. London?
25:48Because you said there was a cat out here.
25:50Yeah.
25:50And I still wanted to come and see it, so...
25:52Oh, right.
25:53I've walked and all the worse are watching me, because I should be in bed.
25:56So, we weren't going to get in trouble.
25:58But, you know, I saw you go for Mr. London.
25:59Oh, yeah.
26:00And, you know, you didn't move that fast, but you moved fast enough.
26:03No.
26:03I've been moving as fast as I can before you left.
26:05Yeah, yeah.
26:06Well done, Estella.
26:07Hope you get better soon.
26:20As someone presently with three, but who has had in his time nine, one thing I've often wondered
26:26is, can you have too many cats?
26:29Is that possible?
26:35How many cats are we feeding this morning?
26:3722.
26:39Right.
26:40Breakfast.
26:44Talk me through who we've got here.
26:47That's Malfi, Honda, Imposter Linda, Blackie.
26:52Yeah.
26:52And you have behind you as well, quite shy ones.
26:55Felix, Sylvester, Mimi.
26:57Have you got them?
26:58So, that's the cat restaurant.
27:00Yes.
27:01This is where they dine.
27:02And those are kind of heated beds on top of the food.
27:05Yeah, in case stray cat that wants to come in here and find a shelter.
27:17Maybe people think I'm a hoarder.
27:19I'm not.
27:20This is the lifestyle that met me, because I'm actually allergic to cats.
27:24What?
27:26Actually, so am I.
27:31Linda is the queen.
27:33What do you mean by that?
27:34Linda, she was left behind by the previous owner of the house.
27:38Oh.
27:38She was, keep having kittens in the garden because she was not new to it.
27:42Is that how the colony began?
27:43Yeah.
27:44Yeah.
27:44So what did you decide at that point?
27:46I've contacted animal charities because I was worried about them.
27:50Yeah.
27:50You know, so many cats.
27:52Yeah.
27:52So, at the end, we managed to trap 21 cats.
27:57Not as a game show.
27:59You just...
28:00It's called a trap new to release program.
28:04Trap new to release?
28:05It still sounds like a game show.
28:10So, this is the toilet?
28:12Yeah.
28:12Yeah.
28:13It's coconut soil.
28:15Is that better for pooing?
28:16Better to remove it and keep it clean.
28:18All right.
28:19Okay.
28:19That must be quite a lot of work.
28:21Done sand.
28:21Yeah, it is.
28:22With these amount of cats.
28:23Yes.
28:23A lot of...
28:23If you don't clean it, you'll upset the neighbours as well, so...
28:27I would have thought eventually the neighbours are going to say,
28:29that's too much cat poo.
28:34This is the little accommodation.
28:36They have a heating inside.
28:39Okay.
28:40It's like a little cat city.
28:41Okay.
28:41I mean, I'd quite like to live here.
28:45I promise...
28:45Oh, there is.
28:46There you go.
28:46Oh, Beethoven.
28:47Beethoven.
28:48Yes.
28:49And we have precursor here as well.
28:53I like the fact that precursor is kind of an interesting grammatical name.
28:58Look at precursor.
28:59What a sweetie.
29:03So, Camilla, I noticed that you have a kind of timetable there for all the cats.
29:08So, the colour coding means yellow is the colony.
29:11Yeah, at the back.
29:12And then green is...
29:14The cats that live in front.
29:15And then Matty, Molly and Nigel, who sound like a children's book from the 1950s.
29:19You've got all their names there.
29:21I've been introduced to 11 of them, but I'm yet to meet...
29:24Inji.
29:25Julie.
29:26Pancake.
29:26Missy.
29:27Socks.
29:28Triangle.
29:29Tommy.
29:30Creamy.
29:31Toffic.
29:32Matty, Molly, Nigel.
29:33Not Farage.
29:34Not Farage, no.
29:36It looks different.
29:38So, it's 22.
29:3922.
29:40Do they all get on?
29:42They fight sometimes.
29:43Right.
29:44So, you will always have some...
29:46Some trouble.
29:47Yeah.
29:47Okay.
29:48Look at that.
29:56Matty is a rescue and my friend, she runs a little rescue.
30:01So, he was bullied by other cats in her place.
30:05Oh.
30:05So, he just found a refuge in mine.
30:08Oh, what's this?
30:08Paints them as well.
30:10Well, this is your husband's painting?
30:12Yeah.
30:12Oh, that's really brilliant.
30:13That's Linda.
30:14This is Linda?
30:15Yeah.
30:16God, it's fantastic.
30:17And he does that quite a lot.
30:18Does he paint the cats?
30:19Um, yeah.
30:20He has to have the moment that he sits with them.
30:23It may be that he's a painter.
30:25He likes painting.
30:26And there's nothing else to paint except cats in this house.
30:30So, I was planning to go to the loo, but I'd have to share it.
30:37Well, I might just go in.
30:42Excuse me.
30:43Privacy.
30:47I'm not quite sure whether this is appropriate.
30:51Because definitely...
30:52Is it creamy?
30:54By the way, that's the cat I'm talking about.
30:57I think creamy isn't that happy about sharing the toilet with me.
31:06Creamy?
31:07There is a human toilet in here.
31:09Go and use your coconut soil toilet in the garden, please.
31:13Creamy.
31:19We've talked a bit on this show about the sad end of beloved cats.
31:23It's such a tough thing, even for the person holding the syringe.
31:26Is it quite difficult for you to keep your emotions out of caring for other people's pets?
31:31It is difficult.
31:32I've had my own animals put to sleep, and I know what it's like being on the other side.
31:36I've crumbled.
31:36Every single time I've had a dog or a cat put to sleep, I've crumbled.
31:39Because I'm not a professional in that moment.
31:41I'm their mum.
31:43You know, as a vet, you have to look after the people who are going through it.
31:46The animal who is going through it.
31:47You talk them through the process.
31:49You, you know, talk about their last wishes with the animal's body.
31:52And, you know, would they like some paw prints, fur clippings?
32:04Oh, wow.
32:05This is Michonne, or what's left of her.
32:08Her ashes are in there.
32:09Wow.
32:09We've got that on the kitchen counter, the warm part that she used to go to on sunny days.
32:13That is...
32:14She's still with us.
32:15I'm slightly welling up at the thought of that.
32:17She was such a sweet girl.
32:19Hang on, how do you get the ashes in there?
32:20Well, I don't do it.
32:21It's a professional who does it, but it's under there, if you really want to know.
32:24Oh, I see.
32:25Something where you add a little funnel.
32:27Oh, it's there.
32:30So, I've got one cat now.
32:32Our first cat died.
32:34I'm sorry.
32:34Oh, it's all right.
32:35They're both black cats.
32:36We've got a model of a black cat full of her ashes.
32:39When she died, they said, do you want that we can cremate her?
32:44Mm.
32:44Well, where they said, for a certain price, you can have the ashes.
32:50Mm.
32:51Or for a higher price, we'll put her through on her own,
32:54so you know you're getting hurt.
32:56So, basically...
32:56No, hang on.
32:57No, no.
32:58So, are you saying to me that it's possible the ashes I've got are just any cats?
33:02No, I don't know what deal you struck.
33:03What I'm saying is that we were offered the ashes of her,
33:08or for a lesser price, some ashes.
33:11Are they even cats' ashes?
33:13Well, I don't know.
33:13Are they?
33:14They went to a fireplace and hoped for the best.
33:21My first cat, Leeloo.
33:24She died in 2020.
33:26Yes.
33:26And it was a horrible year.
33:28And I'd lost my mind.
33:29Oh, God.
33:30And so I still have her.
33:31Yeah.
33:32I mean, I sort of knew this.
33:33I know that sounds weird, but it's...
33:35Well, I was going to say it's not as weird as it sounds.
33:37It is.
33:39I've currently got her under cheesecloth so that she doesn't get eaten by moths.
33:44This actually is Leeloo.
33:46This is Leeloo.
33:47OK, I'm going to touch Leeloo.
33:48Yeah, touch her.
33:50Oh, my God.
33:51What?
33:52I mean, she feels like a real cat.
33:55Yeah, because it's a real cat.
33:56Well, it's a dead real cat.
33:59It's what is it?
34:00It's not stuffed.
34:01No, it's not stuffed.
34:02She's a freeze-dried cat.
34:04So, if you go taxidermy, chances are what you get back,
34:07might look a bit disappointing.
34:10Freeze-drying.
34:10So, I found this...
34:11What that brings to mind is coffee.
34:14Similar process.
34:17So, what is freeze-drying?
34:18So, when I dropped her off at this place that I found in LA...
34:21She died?
34:22She did die first.
34:24No, I'm not suggesting you killed her by freeze-drying her.
34:27After a week, Chris and I go to pick up the frozen cat.
34:31Yeah.
34:31I found the place in Studio City that's going to freeze-dry her.
34:35I get given a box and I...
34:37Is there an ice pack in the box?
34:39Well, so, no.
34:39So, Chris is...
34:40So, Chris is driving and I've got the frozen cat on my lap in the box.
34:45It's probably about a 45-minute drive.
34:46I'm like, Chris, my leg's getting really cold.
34:49And he's like, I'm nearly there, nearly there.
34:51The trouble is if your legs are getting cold, she's getting warm.
34:53She's getting warm.
34:54That's my worry.
34:54But that's okay, because we want her to thaw out.
34:56And so, I leave the cat there and ten months later...
35:00Ten months later?
35:01They called me and said, she's ready.
35:03What are they doing for ten months?
35:05Dehydrating her.
35:06So, you can choose your position.
35:07So, you can be lying down to the right, to the left, ears up, ears down.
35:11Sitting up is a bit more complicated because they can topple.
35:13It's a good position.
35:14It looks like a very natural cat position.
35:24Can I just say straight away, this feels weird because I love having a cat on my lap.
35:29Yeah.
35:29I spend a lot of my time trying to get my cats to sit on my lap.
35:33Obviously, this is very easy to do with this cat.
35:35Yes, she does.
35:35It's very biddable, a dead cat.
35:37Yeah.
35:38She's really obliging.
35:39It feels nice but not quite right.
35:41It's not quite right because she's dead.
35:42She's dead.
35:43It's really nice and then you realise it's really thin as dead.
35:45Yeah, exactly.
35:49You know what?
35:49I think it's a brilliant thing.
35:51I don't think it's a complete solution to death.
35:53No.
35:54To be honest with you.
35:56We could start doing it to people.
35:58Yeah.
35:58Well, that's what I said.
35:59I wonder what it would cost for me if I insisted to my children, when I die, this is what
36:03I want.
36:03They have asked me.
36:04They've said, are you cremated?
36:06Dad, what should we do?
36:07I want this.
36:07I want this and I want to be in your houses.
36:10I can be moved about at Christmas.
36:22Of course you can have your animals cloned now.
36:24Well, I know two people who've done that.
36:26Do you?
36:26Yeah, but dogs only.
36:28You can have cats as well.
36:29I'm sure you can but I don't know anyone who's bothered having their cat cloned.
36:31Knowing you as I do, do you know how much it costs a clone animal?
36:34Yeah, quite a lot.
36:35$60,000.
36:36Does it?
36:37Do you know how to spend it?
36:38No.
36:38I don't think so.
36:39I'm really quite upset about the vet bill for a bit.
36:41It's enormous.
36:42Cloning is a tempting thought.
36:44The idea you could bring back the cat you loved, whisker for whisker.
36:48But, as I said in the first episode, all cats are different.
36:52Might that include ones that are genetically identical?
37:01This is Jem.
37:03Jem's a clone.
37:04She is how old?
37:05She's just turned three.
37:07Yeah.
37:09Oh, she likes me.
37:10Yes.
37:11Very friendly.
37:15My feet look like Ina Sharples.
37:19This is our laboratory.
37:23So, one of my cats has recently died. If I had wanted to clone Pip, what would I have
37:28had to do?
37:29Here in the UK, the samples are taken after a pet's passed away.
37:32Right, and then you cultivate the sample?
37:35Yes, we preserve and culture the sample.
37:38And then it gets sent to America, and then the cat and Pip too would come back on a plane?
37:45Yes.
37:46You can go and get her, or she can come back with a member of the Virgin team.
37:51OK.
37:52Wow.
37:55Liquid nitrogen does take oxygen out of the air, so if an alarm goes off, we have to go
38:00out the room, because it's an oxygen alarm.
38:02Is oxygen just gradually depleting in this room?
38:05Is that what you're telling me?
38:06No.
38:07Not at a significant rate, so we're all right at the minute.
38:09OK, good.
38:10Good to know.
38:12Whoa.
38:14You know what?
38:15I'm going to be over here by the export semen only sign.
38:18Wow.
38:21How long does that take?
38:22From the start of submitting a sample to having a clone, it's about a year.
38:27Cloning is different from, you know, giving birth.
38:31Obviously, you pass on your DNA.
38:33Yeah.
38:33I am not a clone of my dad.
38:35Thank heavens.
38:36You should meet my dad.
38:37Well, he's dead.
38:38And I didn't want him cloned.
38:39I look a bit like him.
38:41So are you saying that the clones are more like children that are created in this process?
38:45That's the angle that most of our clients are approaching this from, that they know very
38:51clearly that it's not a reincarnation of the animal, that original animal past.
38:54Would I have done it with Pip?
38:56Or any other than my cats?
38:57Monkey, Fompha, Chairman Meow, who have died over the years?
39:06Um, I might have done.
39:10So these are some samples.
39:12Is one of them a cat?
39:14One of these could well be a cat.
39:16I mean, it looks quite cat-like to me from here.
39:19Does the process sometimes fail, like IVF does?
39:22We can never guarantee that a skin sample is going to be viable.
39:25Cats can sometimes be a bit trickier, unfortunately.
39:28Oh, really?
39:30I've really far optimised this technology from the initial Dolly the sheep, which is what
39:34obviously most people will relate to.
39:36I've got a daughter called Dolly, and a few people occasionally ask me whether I named
39:39her after the sheep.
39:40And that seems like a very unlikely thing to do.
39:42Right.
39:43Interesting.
39:49I sort of really would like to see an animal and the clone, to see how close they are.
39:55I've got Clone Kitty as an example.
39:57She's got a website.
39:58She's got a great portfolio of the original animal and then the clone.
40:03You've got a cat.
40:05Yes, I do.
40:06I've heard you like your cat.
40:07Yes.
40:08Your boss was saying that your affection is basically your cat and your boyfriend's a
40:11long way underneath that.
40:12Definitely, yeah.
40:13Fair enough.
40:15I hope he's watching.
40:16The boyfriend.
40:17So, what's your cat's name?
40:19Hector.
40:20I'm going to ask you the question, are you thinking of cloning Hector?
40:22I definitely would do, yes.
40:24But I'm going to hope that Hector Touchwood is going to be with me for a very long time
40:29because he is really important to me.
40:31I love Hector.
40:33He's got a brilliant face.
40:34Yes.
40:35Definitely knows he's best boy.
40:37He's neutered, right?
40:38He is, yes, but he still thinks he's a big boy.
40:43OK.
40:44I'll take that.
40:45Yeah.
40:46As it's, I think, meant.
40:48Yeah.
40:50As far as my recently deceased cat Pip goes, cloning wasn't for us.
40:56And we didn't get her to the freezer quick enough after she passed to get her freeze dried.
41:01But she deserves a memorial.
41:03And I found one.
41:09So, we're doing your cat, aren't we?
41:11Well, we're doing my late cat and I think we're going to commemorate her partly on my body.
41:16Yes.
41:17We are.
41:17I love her and Pip as well.
41:18Pip's gorgeous.
41:19Yeah.
41:20When you actually see the pores properly.
41:22They are.
41:22Yeah.
41:23You'll definitely see.
41:23But that feels more like a tattoo to me.
41:25You know, on there I think she just looks like she's an enormous cat balloon.
41:28But the pores are amazing, obviously.
41:30They're just really cute.
41:31So, most people tend to get their portraits here only because it's like the flattest skin
41:36and you can see it quite easily yourself.
41:39I tell you my problem with having it there is that I think it might make me a little bit
41:43sad to see it all the time.
41:45What do you think?
41:46Particularly because her eyes are very sad, which is one of the beautiful things about her.
41:51I don't know if I can handle it.
41:52I think I might have to have it here.
41:53I do hear that.
41:53I think I might have to have it here to sort of look at it occasionally when I...
41:57As and when.
41:57As and when, yeah.
41:58Yeah.
42:02Right.
42:13Are you ready?
42:14Yeah.
42:15Here we go.
42:16Here we go.
42:22How's that?
42:23That's fine.
42:25Yeah?
42:25Yeah.
42:25Yeah?
42:26I mean...
42:26They sound like there's a buck coming.
42:28Well, I could...
42:29If you'd kept going on that spot for another 20 minutes, I'd have started screaming.
42:34Yeah.
42:34Yeah.
42:38Yeah.
42:45We're coming towards the end.
42:46It's been a couple of hours.
42:48And what I think I've proved is that I am able to take a certain amount of pain.
42:55But only in the service of cat commemoration.
42:59It is true that right now I'm quite near fainting.
43:05Ignore me saying I'm going to cry.
43:08That's fine.
43:09You can trust me now when I say that we are done.
43:12Are we done?
43:13Are we done?
43:13Yeah, no, we actually are done now.
43:15Oh, well, thank you so much.
43:19So now Pip is always with me.
43:22Plus, a side effect, I am finally a hard man.
43:27That's what tattoos do, right?
43:30Although, to be honest, if I do get into a fight at any point,
43:35I'm not sure this is going to be any help.
43:38Unless I can run away while my attackers are going...
43:44See you next time.
43:58I am very sad to announce that as of today, I shall be stepping down as Cat Man on Channel
44:054.
44:06There will be a referendum and the choice will be made and counted by Larry.
44:13Bongo, high five. High five.
44:16Yeah, that was sort of trying to get to you for a high five.
44:19Tell me about how Let's Party works.
44:22So it's a birthday party celebration for your pets.
44:25Which cats are we celebrating?
44:26Felix. Felix.
44:27So it's his first birthday.
44:30Sorry about this. It's slightly vulgar.
44:35Oh, you must have the magic touch, you sir.
44:38No, she only wanted a tiny bit of finger milk.
44:40Oh, Lily Bear.
44:42Tilly is an adventure cat.
44:43She goes to the train station.
44:45She got on the train to Waterloo.
44:50Right, brother.
44:53A little bit of light of parking.
44:56Hi, I'm Hazel.
44:57Will you stand up?
44:58Or is your friend going to come?
45:00There you go.
45:01And you are doing a great job as a sausage.
45:03Just going to make sure you get that.
45:05That's very much stuck in his fur now.
45:07Yeah, he's never going to find that.
45:08Yeah, it's fur.
45:09I'm the same.
45:09Where I realize there's food on my boobs later in the day.
45:13Yeah, so.
45:13Well, it's really hard to find.
45:15I mean, sometimes.
45:21I've never seen a cat in a ball pond.
45:23Wow.
45:23Happy birthday to you, Felix.
45:27Happy birthday to you.
45:37Oh, yeah, he's in that hand.
45:39Ow!
45:40OK, that was more painful than I thought it would be.
45:44Sorry.
45:49She does have a Southwest Rail card for life.
45:51It does say Tilly the Cat, and slightly confusingly,
45:55there's a picture of a bird on it.
46:00Happy birthday, Felix!
46:04Well done, Felix.
46:06Ben, what do you think of this?
46:08What are we thinking of it?
46:10What do we think?
46:11Like that, that's what she thinks.
46:14Once again, a great advert for cats.
46:19Have you not talked to people for a few years?
46:24Just cats.
46:24It's just cats.
46:26I've mainly just talked to cats.
46:27That's why I like it.
46:29Thank you very much.
46:31It has been an honor.
46:33Perhaps we should put this at the end of the series.
46:40He was cunning in cloaked form, and now Alan Carr searches for secret genius
46:44in a competition you can play at home starting Sunday, 9pm.
46:48New two or more for next forcibly coerced into a high-stakes political chess match
46:52is the return of French crime drama Astrid Murder in Paris.
46:55Back here next, we're counting down with the cats.
46:58.
46:58.
46:58.
46:58.
46:58.
46:58.
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