Tuna the Rock Cat Animals at Work

Welcome to Animals At Work, the show about...animals at work.

'Around the world, there are millions of animals that have jobs.'

Argh! Arghh! 'This is the show that brings you the most extraordinary,

'bizarre and unusual animals at work.'

Coming up... Tuna and the Rock Cats

have some rehearsal nerves before their sold-out gig.

Hey, hey, hey, hey.

Stop.

It's another day helping patients for Murphy the nurse.

And will Buttercup defeat Daisy to stay unbeaten milking champion?

It's really squashy.

Ar, ar, ar.

So not impressed.

Oh, no, you gotta be kidding me.

I am not working with a beast. You want me to present with a lizard?

Do it yourself!

Actually, that was pretty good.

Welcome to Chicago, the heart of America's mid-west.

This is Tuna. She may look like an ordinary feline,

but she's an extraordinary cat of many talents.

This is the amazing Tuna. Tuna.

POP MUSIC PLAYS

-Samantha is six-year-old Tuna's manager.

-Tuna? Give me five.

Tuna has many jobs.

Tuna's a model. Tuna's an actress.

Tuna is a rock star.

And it's the rock star route that this cat is doggedly pursuing.

Yes, that really is a cat playing a guitar.

Tuna is founding member and lead guitarist of the successful band

The Rock Cats.

It's a family affair.

The other band members are Tuna's talented daughters.

There's Pinky on guitar.

Dakota's on drums.

Nue's on keyboards.

And, of course, Tuna on lead guitar.

Tuna is a perfectionist.

A real J-Lo.

MUSIC: "Jenny From The Block" by J-Lo

Is that the end of the song? I think that's the end of the song.

She really puts her heart and soul into it. She's a great musician.

For a cat!

This troupe of rockin' kitties are all trained with cat treats.

She gets nothing but the best food.

Fresh tuna, fresh steak, fresh chicken.

Whatever Tuna wants, Tuna gets.

Tuna.

I don't hear it.

I don't know if I have her trained or she has me trained.

Samantha spotted Tuna's talents as a show-off early on.

Tuna's stage career got started as part of a group

of athletic felines called Acro-Cats.

Then I discovered that not all cats are as brilliant as Tuna.

Really? You don't say!

Tuna is definitely top cat in all Samantha's live shows.

What's going on, Tuna?

And if Tuna doesn't like the way something is going,

-she soon lets everyone know about it.

-You know how musicians are.

Cue the silent treatment.

It's tough being her manager. She controls the show.

If she's not in the mood, the show will fall apart.

Should we show them the rest of your lair?

Tuna shares her home with her kids and former fellow Acro-Cats.

POP MUSIC PLAYS

As leader of the band, Tuna always has her mind on the next gig.

Tuna's determined that The Rock Cats will be the best band on the road.

And that means a lot of hard graft from all the band members.

Tuna needs to get the band working together

as The Rock Cats are booked for a sold-out gig.

The band go on the road for their next tour in 24 hours.

Will Tuna and the rest of the Rock Cats

get their act together in time to please their army of adoring fans?

Now we're off to Wisconsin.

This is Murphy and she has a very special job.

She's a nurse and works with her owner, Lynn, at the local hospital.

-Good girl.

-Labrador retrievers are intelligent,

gentle and good-natured. The perfect mix for this line of work.

-Hi, Carol.

-Good morning, Lynn. Good morning, Murphy.

Today, Murphy has a packed schedule.

She's in such demand giving exercise sessions

that she even has her own appointment book.

Are you ready to go to work?

Go get your bag. Hurry up. Go get it.

Before her rounds, Murphy needs one thing from her nurse's bag.

Good girl. Bring it here.

Come on. Let's go to work.

Murphy doesn't just cheer the patients up.

Catch, Murphy.

She helps with physical recovery by encouraging them to stretch...

..walk...

..and even talk.

-Catch.

-Catch.

And Murphy is especially good with people on her own level.

Hayley has an undiagnosed illness that makes her muscles weak,

so it's difficult for her to walk.

Where's Murphy?

Can you give...? Yes, that's Murphy.

Can you say kiss?

Hayley, you have to get up.

Hayley didn't want to go to physiotherapy.

That was, till she met Murphy.

Last spring, we had a really hard time motivating her

and that's when we introduced Murphy,

and then Hayley's just made progress by leaps and bounds since then.

He's really been a great motivator for her.

Hayley used to need someone's hand when she walked,

but now she can do it on her own.

Whoopsie. Good job!

But Murphy doesn't just work at the hospital.

She also makes house calls.

She's been working with Megan who's seven for three years.

I think that Megan wouldn't be where she is today

without having Murphy around, because I don't think I could have been able

to convince her to work this hard.

Megan and Murphy have become firm friends.

She even took her first steps with Murphy by her side.

My hopes were that Murphy would be able to

just help Megan participate in therapy

and as it turns out she's done so much more than that.

Murphy, sit!

-Watch her first.

-You're gonna have to do what she does,

so you're gonna have to put your hands over your head and stand up.

Megan has cerebral palsy.

Throwing the ball to Murphy

-helps her practice using her muscles.

-One, two.

Up, two.

Up!

Again, Murphy's mission is to get her patient to use

as many muscles as possible so that moving around gets a little easier.

-Real tall. There you go.

-Good job.

Megan and Murphy have a special connection.

It took him about all of three seconds to bond.

-Was that ever hard work?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, I thought so.

I thought so.

The motivation that Murphy can provide is one that humans can't.

POP MUSIC PLAYS

Nurse Murphy makes exercise fun.

Thank you! Good girl. Right here. Sit.

Sorry, Murphy, I have to go back to school, but I'll see you next time.

-OK.

-All it takes is patience, and someone to encourage you.

We've been on the net to find out what animals get up to on days off.

Take Orson, the bulldog from Arkansas.

For him, meal times are more like playtime, cos when you stack it up,

what's life without a challenge?

Good job, Orson!

Next time, how about some bones?

Now let's head to Chicago.

Tuna is founder and lead guitarist of an incredible band of felines,

The Rock Cats.

And Tuna's determined the band are going to be the best on the road,

whatever it takes.

She takes her job very seriously.

She's a very serious cat. How about a high five?

Tuna's hard work seems to be paying off.

Tuna actually has gotten more famous.

Tuna has more friends on her MySpace than I do.

People call and leave messages for Tuna.

With so much riding on the tour, manager Samantha does all she can

to make sure Rock Cats have everything they need.

Dolphin-safe tuna,

some chicken, some steak,

a room to rest, the green room. You have a green room set up for them?

This is their last rehearsal before the tour gets underway tomorrow.

There we go. Let's get up there.

We have to work together as a band.

Take your spot, Nue.

I'll lift you up, Nue. You're so spoiled.

You're getting just as spoiled as Tuna. Very nice. Come on, guys.

Now it's just gonna be piano. Some drums, please.

As mum and bandleader, Tuna's got to set an example

to the other members of the band.

Otherwise rehearsals just don't get off the ground.

But no-one wants to play.

There's just a lot of hanging around.

Nice. Some drums, please.

Nue, you're slacking on the keyboards. Nue, what's going on?

The Rock Cats can't even settle on

what instruments they want to play, let alone rehearse their set.

No glaring.

With a sold-out gig tomorrow, their fans expect a great performance.

-But the rehearsal isn't going to plan.

-I seriously...

I can't move another table in here so you have your own stage.

There's enough space for you there.

You're gonna be like this?

They've barely rehearsed one track.

It's all a bit of a shambles.

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Stop.

Stop, guys, seriously.

This show actually has sold out,

with a waiting list,

so a lot of people are anxious to see the Acro-Cats and mainly Tuna.

Sometimes they'll cheer, "Tuna! Tuna! Tuna! Tuna!"

Pre-gig nerves seem to be getting to everyone.

All right. Rest up.

Big show tomorrow.

Will The Rock Cats get over their last-minute nerves

and put on a storming performance?

Or are their devoted fans set to be disappointed?

BLEATING

Hey, sheep, I've got some questions for you. Here we go.

When sweaters get wet, they shrink, so why don't you?

And also how do you know when the wool's being pulled over your eyes?

And, listen, when a shepherd counts sheep, why doesn't he fall asleep?

And do you count people to go to sleep?

All these questions

and no answers.

We're off to Essex in England.

This is Boydells Dairy Farm, home to 300 sheep.

Cream of the flock is six-year-old Buttercup.

She's the farm's biggest milk producer.

But she's about to be challenged for the top spot by rival Daisy.

They're both mum to seven kids and both have unusually large udders.

That's a lot of milk.

Farmer Kiley is their boss.

I'm a dairy sheep farmer, one of only about 30 farms

in this country milking sheep.

I've got just over 300 sheep.

Milking just over 200 of them at the minute.

We produce about 60,000 litres of sheep's milk a year.

This is Buttercup,

my favourite sheep last year.

Milked really well.

And this here is Daisy.

She's a bit fidgety.

But Daisy's rivalling Buttercup.

This year, she's doing really well,

so I think it's a good bit of competition.

40 years ago, there was only one or two people doing it as a hobby.

700 years ago, lots of people milked sheep

and not many people milked cows.

Once a month, we measure how much milk each sheep gives

and that way I can calculate which ones are giving the most milk

and I know who to breed my replacement sheep from.

This here is a tank that could hold just over 600 litres.

The average sheep will give around 300 litres of milk,

so around here somewhere.

Last year, Buttercup gave up here, Daisy, down here.

So I'm wondering, by the end of the year,

which one will have filled it to the top.

The milk is used to make cheese, yoghurt and ice cream.

Daisy has never produced as much milk as Buttercup,

but lately she's been catching up.

And what's the best way to find out who's the farm's champion milker?

A milking contest!

Kiley has asked some volunteers to lend a hand, and it's the first time

any of them have milked a sheep.

I'm quite nervous, but I'm not terribly nervous.

No! That's my hair.

We're milking Buttercup.

We think we're gonna win, but we've never done it before.

Put this down here. What you need to do, you can go one on each side.

You take hold of the teat,

squeeze at the top and just slide your fingers down.

It's Buttercup to start.

It's really warm.

Squeeze at the top and just slide your finger down.

It's really difficult.

Looks as if she's doing well.

Last year, she produced 548 litres of milk.

That's almost twice the average.

It's a little bit difficult.

We can do that.

Sheep don't mind being milked.

We can do better.

And it only takes a couple of minutes.

-When we get the hang of it, we should be OK.

-Yeah.

But it's not all technique.

If the milk's not there, then it can't come out!

Not much more and I think Buttercup might be finished.

Now it's Daisy's turn. Can she take the milking crown from Buttercup?

OK, Daisy, up we go.

She's looking a bit sheepish about it.

You've got some food up here, Daisy.

Away you go.

It's really squashy and it's pretty hard.

It's quite difficult.

Different from milking a cow.

And a goat. It's different from milking cows and goats.

I'm a little bit concerned that the jug's not gonna be big enough.

-OK, girls, are you about there?

-Yeah.

It's all over.

But who's the farm's champion milk producer?

Buttercup or rival Daisy?

Results time. Let's measure the milk.

I reckon she has given us, oh, 500 millilitres of milk.

Now it's Daisy's turn.

What a full jug and you spilled some as well.

550!

Well done. Daisy is the winner.

Poor Buttercup. She's lost her title! But she's not too bothered.

There's always the next milk-off.

We've been looking out for your home videos of what animals get up to.

Check out these chinchillas and their daily sand bath.

But some of these cheeky chappies will do anything to avoid bath time!

It's much more fun with two chinchillas squashed in the tub!

Now it's time to go to the west coast of Canada.

This is Barkley the golden retriever.

He's a very special dog, with an amazing job.

He's a search and rescue dog with the Vancouver Fire Department.

As a crucial member of Canada's first urban search and rescue team,

Barkley's job is to save the lives

of people trapped in rubble and collapsed buildings.

Three years ago, Barkley's skills were put to the ultimate test

when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

He was one of the thousands who did their best in the rescue efforts

to save the lives of the survivors.

Today, the team are getting ready for one of their training exercises.

Search for him.

These are vital to make sure everyone's skills,

including Barkley's, stay sharp.

Flynn is his boss.

His major function is the location of people that are trapped.

He just tells me where those people are.

Part of the training ground has been designed as an earthquake zone.

BARKING

The first exercise for Barkley

is finding survivors amongst the rubble of a collapsed building.

The next exercise is searching for survivors trapped in pipes.

Barkley's nose for the job is what separates him from human colleagues.

As humans shed millions of skin cells every day,

they leave a trail of air scent that Barkley can follow.

His nose is one million times more sensitive than a human's.

Another survivor found!

Not all Barkley's rescue work is underground.

Sometimes he has to go into damaged buildings. Any way he can.

Being strapped into a harness is another part of Barkley's training.

This part of the exercise does not come naturally to dogs,

as they have no sense of height and depth.

But Barkley is no ordinary dog and he takes it all in his stride.

The practicality of being able to raise and lower a dog

would be valuable if we were dealing with structural collapse.

To actually raise and lower him in a controlled situation

is a valuable exercise for everybody.

Should the situation ever present itself,

we've now prepared for that eventual day. Good boy!

We have a great bond.

That's one of the things that you get with a dog like this.

You get a really good working bond, a really good buddy bond.

I trust him, he trusts me.

At the end of the day's training, Barkley's back to the stationhouse

and he's just one of the guys.

Attaboy.

Barkley's confident he can do anything the other firemen can do.

Well, except drive the truck!

It's back to Chicago with The Rock Cats.

It's the morning of The Rock Cat gig.

Rehearsals have been going badly thanks to pre-gig nerves.

Nue, you're slacking on the keyboards. Nue!

-Yesterday, things pretty much ground to a standstill.

-Stop, stop, guys.

The bandleader Tuna is doing her best to get The Rock Cats

to pull off a great performance tonight.

But, right now,

manager Samantha's priority is to get The Rock Cats on the road.

The Rock Cats have their own touring bus.

They travel in style.

At the venue, The Rock Cat fans are out in force.

I'm here tonight to see cats.

EXCITED SHOUTING

Everyone's working hard to get the stage set.

To calm her nerves, Tuna's gone for a walk.

You can't make a cat do anything that they don't want to do.

But with not much rehearsal,

no-one's really sure if the gig will be a success.

Unaware of the problems, The Rock Cat fans start piling in.

First up on stage are the support act, the Acro-Cats.

Meanwhile, backstage, Tuna is saving herself for her big performance.

-Here's Nue.

-The Rock Cats are up next.

Pinky's doing a solo as a warm-up act.

All right, take it away, Pinky!

PINKY PLUCKS GUITAR

Keep going.

-Keep going.

-It's so good, Dakota can't resist joining in!

-Keep going!

Is that the end of the song?

All right, excellent first song!

The audience laps up Pinky's performance!

OK, I am gonna try to get Tuna to play her guitar.

It's the band's big moment.

Will they all pull together to give a great performance,

or will the bad rehearsal come back to haunt them?

THE CATS PLAY THE INSTRUMENTS

ROCK MUSIC PLAYS OVER CATS

Tuna and the band play like they've never played before.

They give it their all and it goes down a storm!

Good job, Tuna!

I was blown away with Tuna's performance tonight.

Tuna never fails. She comes through like the rock star she is.

Because Tuna is such a trooper, The Rock Cats are a wow.

Hey, I just got a new dog with a talent for sniffing flowers.

He's a bud hound. Bud hound!

Hey, come on, I thought you'd be roaring with laughter.

Nothing? I'm trying to tell you some jokes here.

Look, look. Simba, I'm your father.

Nothing? What does it take to get a rise out of a tiger?

You know what? You stay here and guard, OK?

Ar, ar, ar.

So not impressed.

Listen, you stay and guard Pride Rock. I'm out of here.