Jackson Galaxy's Biggest Challenge Yet. Lux the Cat.

WOW. I'm once again disappointed in the human race -- or those that would even dream of harming Lux, an innocent and blameless cat who was trying to defend himself from an out-of-control, ill-disciplined brat which hurt him. The KID should have been the one at risk, not Lux. And the parents who neglected to supervise the situation with kindness, patience and intelligence, failing, I surmise, to realize that kids can hurt cats and need to be closely supervised and stopped from doing so, should be in the same place as the brat. *sigh* *PRAYERS* that Lux is, and will always be, safe. And heaven help us and save us from ignorant people like these. Ya just can't fix stupid.

Thx for the great blog entry on Lux! Your blog is one of my favorites! While I really want to be objective about my opinion regarding Lux, it is difficult to not judge his original owners. I watched the episode twice, and only feel disappointment and anger towards these furparents. I have no doubt that Teresa loved her cat, but once she was afraid of him, that bond had been severed. Her life had changed and she already made the choice of her family over her cat when she locked Lux in a room, and basically threw him away.

I have nothing but disdain for her domestic partner. It is very hard to hide a true person on film unless you are a professional. He appeared not only cold and unsupportive toward Teresa, but definitely had a hatred towards Lux - I'd put my last dollar on it! I only hope that this couple is watched very closely when/if adopting other pets. I only feel concern for Smokey the dog.

I also think there may be some truth to Lux feeling abandoned by his hu-mom. I owned a hand-raised cat and he imprinted on me from the start. He was my child, and yes, I had a baby at the time too. This was a very special cat, for I was truly his parent and he required extra attention and alone time with me. I treasure the time I spent with him and he had a great life.

Finally, I can't help but wonder if Lux was attempting to protect the baby by getting between him and the father right before the second visit by Jackson. The guy had a loud voice and was yelling at the cat. Every cat owner knows you look at their behavior, particularly if it is defensive, before approaching and adjust accordingly. Animals sense those with a cold heart, and I just didn't feel any warmth from this guy at all, and I tried. I'm sure this episode won't be forgotten and criticized for a long time. Kudos to Jackson for maintaining diplomacy while keeping the cat's best interest as his main focus.

I am glad Jackson stepped in to help Lux. I don't think any one thing is totally to blame for the outburst of this beautiful cat. I could see from the beginning of this story, the cat was unhappy, the guardians were stressed and overloaded. The "fit" was just no longer good for either the cat or the people.The stress on animal and humans from the new baby and distrust of Lux,almost destroyed them all. Once the family had this experience it became a vicious circle. Lux became isolated and more resentful, the family was scared and no longer trusted him and reacted badly. Poor Lux couldn't even meow without a camera in his face and his humans running and yelling. Lux should of been rehomed immediately. I have had experience with 2 cats that had this illness and I realized once my children and I had been attacked and badly...there was fear. I had to rehome for sake of cat.I could not get past the fear and the cats knew it and reacted more. If its not a good fit, its simply not. Only hurts the animal if you ignore the fact. I am relieved that Lux is finally getting some stressfree life and medication that he truely needed. Thank you Jackson for saving another one from a miserable situation.

I hope Lux gets a better home. The cruel father should have never kicked Lux for defending himself against the rotten child. I would like to have an opportunity to kick every human up the ass if I thought they did something wrong and consider it acceptable. 

I bottle fed six kittens losing only one and the others grew up perfectly fine albeit they did not have the hunting insticnt of my other cats they were brought up with they soon learnt to capture flys moths and the odd mouse. I always supevised them and the children togther teaching them and the children how to behave with each other as to me they had a human mommy not a cat mommy from two weeks of age so they were very much more human than cat. I also knew that as a human mommy much like a child with a different language they did not always understand what I was saying so I learnt to meow in different tones, this seemed to work & they grew up to be great I lost my last one last year 17yrs of age the oldest of all my cats so far so I must of done something right. Their mother who did not want them was quite feisty and taming her was not easy either but once I learnt to communicate she got better too. Perhaps Lux should be renamed firstly then re-trained in a similar way, he possibly misses the human mommy who looked after him. He seems to be suffering much like orphaned children do in that they do not have the same guidance of a parent as non-orphaned children, no one to give them a cuddle, a treat when they are good. From what I can gather in this situation the cats has had a tail pulled and like any cat has defended itself but then it has been kicked hard by an adult for defending itself so of course it has kicked off it is confused, unlike normal cats that would run hand reared cats are more human in their behaviours so he has displayed a human trait of defence and stayed his ground personally, the owners should give him up to a good home, let someone who does not use violence to resolve situations have him instead and the father we would all go to lengths to protect our children however in this situation I would never have kicked the cat I would have explained to the child that cats dont like their tail pulled, it is wrong and then clean the wound - kicking the cat has just served to show their child that violence is okay when it really isn't.

Testify!  You are so RIGHT ON!!!

Out of control, ill-disciplined brat?! Good Lord, did you not see that the child was 7 months old?! I love animals, especially my kitties, but that infant does not know better! There is NO excuse for stupidity on this level! Jmuhj, you should be ashamed of yourself! I hope Jackson can either keep Lux or find him a good home WITHOUT kids. Some pets, dogs and cats especially, just simply don't do well in a home with children. The fact that someone is IDIOT enough to say they should abandon their child in favor of a cat obviously needs a remedial course in HUMAN 101.

Im sorry i cant put tge blame on a 7 MONTH OLD BABY. BUT ON THE PARENTS!!!!!!

Are you seriously verbally attacking an infant?? Brat? Out of control? Ill tempered?? A 7 month old does not even nearly the capacity to understand right from wrong! They can only learn over time! Just as you can't expect a week old kitten to know not to claw furniture you can't expect an infant to know not to pull at things/animals/people in their reach!!!

I agree both child & cat should of been better supervised but as a parent myself to both cats and kids I know we get distracted, make mistakes, juggle too much at once!! And accidents happen! The situation was handled poorly then glorified by media! 

But how can someone with so much compassion for an animal not have the same for a child! They are almost the same! Little beings on all fours, learning, loving and at complete mercy to their keepers! People like you are what's wrong with the world! Demonizing first without knowing facts! Guilty til proven innocent! Try to love more and point fingers less! 

jmuhj; "out-of-control, ill-disciplined brat"...really? it's a SEVEN MONTH OLD BABY. did you even read the article or watch the episode? what does a 7 month old know about anything other than sleep, eat, poop, repeat? with maybe a bit of play here and there between.
instead of blaming a baby that doesn't know any better, blame the owners for lack of supervision.

you're right about one thing; you really can't fix stupid.

I am happy Lux is out of that home.  Cannot understand why that cat was abused and there were no charges brought toward the man who hurt the cat.  First of all anyone knows you supervised very young children with pets.  That is common sense.you do not leave a cat locked in a room with a litter boxthat was not changed in quite a while.  You do not hit, kick, or punish a cat.  What is this this jerk going to do when the baby makes him angry kick him?  The mother is in another universe acting like the cat was going to kill her at any minute.  Just so happy that cat is in a loving home.

I am happy Jackson was able to get involved and advocate for Lux. 

However, I have a cat wirh feline hyperestesia, and she does not ever attack or try to harm us in any way. She swats at her tail, growls, hisses and even stomps her feet, but it's always short lived and in no way a danger to us or our other cat. She has never chased us down. 

I do believe Lux has issues, but I believe there is more than meets the eye here, I believe there are reasons Kux has issues. Something happened to that cat.

I do pray the rehoming works and he can be helped.

That poor cat was stuck in that room with all that junk in there and a filthy litter box. Of course he's upset.

I am so glad he is out of that place.

I think Lux is a great cat, he just has some medical issues.  As long as he is given his meds, he should be fine.. Secondly and most importantly, the parents should have kept their eye on the child. Pulling a cat's tail is never a good idea.