Lilly the Kitchen Kitten Animals at Work

Hello and welcome to another great episode.

All over the planet there are millions of animals that have jobs.

Aargh!

This is the show that brings you the funniest, coolest

and most bizarre animals at work.

Coming up.

Will Lilly the taste tester's brand new cat food recipe be a hit?

This'll be be the making or breaking of your smoothie recipe, Lilly.

Roo is a life coach horse who is changing people's lives.

Roo's been Rebecca's saviour.

And the fanimals are challenged with turning these little ponies

into athletes.

OK, try again.

But now it's...

..showtime!

Hi, everybody, welcome to Animals At Work, where animals work

and eat my arm off. Aaaargh!

First we're off to Gloucestershire in the UK.

Lilly!

Somewhere in this garden lives a cat with a great job.

In fact, it's a job so brilliant

that it makes her the envy of moggies all over the world.

-Erm...

-Come on, Lilly.

..When she decides to show up for work, that is.

None of the other employees get fished out of bushes.

Ah, here she is.

It's like herding cats.

At last, meet Lilly.

Lilly is a lucky kitty who gets to eat for a living.

Which do you prefer?

Mmm. She's a taste tester.

She works for her boss, Joe.

A vet who's hoping to launch a line of cat food products.

I do all the business side of things,

and Lilly, here, is the chief taste tester. Do your thing.

Lilly and Joe's business has reached a critical stage.

Over the next few days they need to finalise their new cat food recipe

and try it on a test kitty group.

There's a lot of work to do and Lilly's going to have to

knuckle down and take things a BITE more seriously.

Lilly and Joe have all the ingredients

to become a business success.

They're attempting to invent a new meal to give cats more variety.

I think cat food could do with a bit of improving.

By getting their recipe right, they hope they'll have

something that every cat out there will be crazy for.

Wait for it...

..cat smoothies!

Yes, you heard right. Smoothies for cats.

I think I'm going to call this one Trout Surprise.

Lilly and Joe were inspired to create a new cat food range

after listening to Joe's patients.

I had people coming in with cats and dogs,

saying "Is it safe? Can I cook meals for my pets at home?"

Joe didn't know the answer,

so he went about doing the research himself

and soon realised he was onto something.

A new food recipe for cats.

These recipes include all of Lilly's favourite ingredients

and are nutritionally important. Things like eggs, fruit and veggies

and most importantly, meat.

You can't have vegetarian cats.

They can't survive on a vegetarian diet.

For Joe and Lilly, their biggest challenge

is finding new combinations.

Joe cooks. Lilly does the sampling...

She's wolfing that.

..giving her verdict on whether they work or not.

Well done, Lilly. She comes into the office...

Time to go to work.

..she tastes lots of fresh bits of fish and chicken and things

and gives it the paw up or the paw down.

There's a lot invested in Lilly's verdict.

This is tougher than you'd think,

because cats are notoriously picky eaters.

No-one's entirely sure why this is, but it does mean

Lilly really needs to concentrate on the flavours to get it right.

You'd think that Lilly would take her job very seriously.

But she's not what you'd call the perfect employee.

She's always trying to get on the desk.

It's hard to tell her off because that's her job.

But the time has come for Lilly to start taking things seriously.

The next few days are critical

if her and Joe's business venture is going to be a winner.

They need to select the final recipe.

This one is chicken, veg and prawn.

Then, they need to test the product out on a local cat shelter.

-There we go.

-Lovely.

This'll be be making or breaking of your smoothie recipe.

If things go well then Lilly and Joe are in business

and could be on the way to making millions.

But to stand any chance of that happening...

Come on, Lilly. Time to go to work.

..Lilly has to pull her claw out and work on her attitude.

She decides that she doesn't want to come in.

She just says "No," and she runs outside. Lilly!

Oh, and actually going to work would be a bonus.

I've got her! You're going to work whether you like it or not.

Lilly and Joe have everything riding on this.

The cats at the rescue centre have to like the recipe.

The pressure really is on.

Later, can Lilly improve her professional attitude?

Or will her new recipe be a cat-astrophe?

Not going for our one. She's going for the other one. Hmm.

It's not just today that animals have had jobs.

In fact, history reveals that in the past,

they've had even more amazing jobs than today.

And here are those, History's Heroes.

I, Professor Bumbleman, animal historian,

do pledge allegiance to the show Animals At Work

and promise to spread stories of animal loyalty

to all that will listen.

Stories like this.

Our first incredible, loyal employee is Barry the St Bernard.

From 1800 to 1814,

he worked at a monastery along the treacherous St Bernard's path,

in the Swiss Alps.

Working with the monks, Barry rescued over 40 people,

who were lost in the snow, from freezing to death.

If, however, Barry couldn't drag the stranded folk home to safety,

he'd lay on top of them throughout the cold, cold night,

warming them with his furry body.

Barry's loyalty was rewarded with, well, loyalty.

Even today at the monastery, one dog is always named Barry in his honour.

Nice.

Next in our loyalty list is the Australian dingo,

a breed of dog many consider to be wild and untameable.

But this hasn't always been the case.

In the past, dingoes worked with the Australian aboriginals,

helping them throughout the day with their hunting.

Despite the hard day, the dingo didn't stop working at night.

They'd loyally curl up in bed with the humans, acting as a bed warmer.

If you think that was true loyalty,

the next working animal is even more impressive.

Tirpitz the pig, worked aboard the German SMS Dresden

during the First World War.

The war was not going well for the Germans,

and during one battle the Dresden was sunk. Oh, dear.

Everyone jumped ship, even the captain.

But not Tirpitz.

He loyally stayed onboard right till the ship disappeared into the sea.

An hour later, crew from a British warship

spotted Tirpitz in the water and he was rescued.

The crew awarded him the Iron Cross for loyalty and bravery,

for sticking to his sinking ship

even after everyone else had abandoned it.

Good on you, Tirpitz !

And that, my dear, loyal friends, concludes another History's Heroes.

And remember, now I've pledged allegiance

to Animals At Work, I'll always be here for you.

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

Blue Peter!

You want to offer me the presenter's job?

Waahoo! Where's my sticky back plastic?

Now, it's back to Gloucestershire in England.

This is Lilly and vet, Joe.

That's number one, chicken and haddock.

Together they've set up a business creating smoothies for cats.

Joe knocks up the recipes, whilst Lilly has the fun job.

She gets to test them out.

I rely on her to make sure all the other cats

are going to eat the food and enjoy it.

Yummy!

But now, the business has reached a critical stage.

The launch date is approaching and there's a lot to do.

They need to choose a recipe to be tested

on some kitty diners at a local cat shelter.

And it's important that they like what they're given.

The problem is that seven-month-old Lilly

isn't the most professional worker.

You can ask a cat to do something

but you can't tell a cat to do anything.

-And that's if she actually bothers to go into work at all.

-Lilly!

I've got some lovely new recipes for you to try today, come on.

It's make or break for Lilly's business.

Can she act professionally enough to make it a success?

Enough's enough, cat.

The time has come.

Lilly and Joe need to prepare for the tasting at the cat shelter.

So it's off to work. The question is, will Lilly make it in on time?

Oh, she's not in the garden again, is she?

Lilly! No!

No, she's arrived and is raring to go.

Could it be that she's already turned over a new leaf?

Lilly needs to select which of Joe's smoothie recipes

they'll be testing out at the cat shelter.

This is key, as cats are incredibly picky about what they eat.

There's a lot riding on this. Joe gets cooking.

..a bit of tuna fish, bit of banana, about 100g of prawns.

While Lilly, well, she takes it easy.

A little slurp of coconut milk.

-Steady on there, Joe!

-Try and be a bit more careful.

And voila! Dinner is served.

Joe has cooked up three of his and Lilly's recipes,

which he'll be serving with normal dry shop-bought cat food.

Now comes the important bit.

Lilly needs to select which one they'll test out at the cat shelter.

There. Do your thing. Which do you prefer?

Time for our taste tester to go to work.

And she's got a tough decision to make.

Dish number one is a chicken, vegetable and prawn combo.

Dish number two is a concoction featuring...

Dish number three is a chicken and haddock blend.

This is the first time Lilly will try any of my smoothie recipes.

Fingers crossed she'll lap them up and really like them.

So it's the big moment.

Time for Lilly to make the decision on which her business hinges.

Which smoothie should they test out at the shelter home?

First up, it's dish number one. What does Lilly make of this?

She's having a taste.

But nothing more. Lilly's not interested in dish number one,

the chicken veg and prawn combo is a disaster.

So what about dish number two?

Remember, this is the crazy combination,

which includes trout and banana.

Oh, this is interesting. This one clearly tickles Lilly's fancy. Yes!

She's filling her boots with this one.

-She's wolfing that one down.

-Before she gets too full,

Lilly moves on to the final dish, number three.

Will this appeal more than dish two?

Urgh, it appears not.

A quick sample before she turns back to dish two.

I think we've got a winner.

Which means we have it. There's a clear winner.

It's all about dish number two.

The wild combination of...

It's right up Lilly's street and gets her seal of approval.

That may have looked easy

but remember what a big decision that was for Lilly.

-Hello!

-It's vital that the cats at the shelter like the recipe.

And the next step will be to test it out on them.

If the smoothie is popular, then the team have a hit on their hands.

If the cats turn their noses up at it,

it's back to the drawing board for Lilly.

This really is big.

Later, it's testing time. Will Lilly's smoothie be a hit?

Now we're off to London in the UK.

On a city farm in the east end of London, lives Roo,

a marvellous mare, with a truly amazing job. She's a life coach.

A life coach is someone who helps people deal with problems,

by giving them confidence to improve their lives and make them happier.

Roo's just brilliant at her job,

because she understands what it's like to need help,

as she herself had a troubled start to life.

When Roo arrived at the farm she was in a terrible state.

She'd been living in a field during winter.

She was very hairy, quite skinny,

just wanted some TLC and some attention.

A year later, Roo is fit, well and very happy.

And that's thanks to the love and hard work of everyone at the farm.

In particular, Roo's best friend, 14-year-old Rebecca.

I love everything about her. She's just amazing.

Roo's been Rebecca's life coach since they first met.

And her influence has been enormous.

Rebecca's had a tough couple of years.

She wasn't concentrating in school

and eventually things got so bad, she had to leave.

But then she met Roo.

The two immediately bonded and became friends straight away.

And with that, Rebecca made a commitment to help look after Roo,

and nurture her back to health.

The responsibility of caring for Roo

gave Rebecca a new passion and purpose in life.

Rebecca poured her energy into caring for Roo.

And in return, Roo's been an amazing influence.

Roo's been Rebecca's saviour.

As her life coach, Roo's taught Rebecca everything

about taking care of a horse.

Yeah, it is a lot of responsibility, because she's such a big animal

that she, kind of, needs different things.

Amongst Roo's requirements are being groomed,

being mucked out and having footwear that's up to scratch.

Rebecca needs to make sure that Roo gets fitted

for a new pair of shoes every six to eight weeks.

On top of that, Rebecca has to make sure that Roo's pearly whites

get a routine check up once a year.

Don't let the smile fool you.

Roo can be pretty hard to handle at times.

But keeping Rebecca on her toes is all part of the job.

One minute she's really nice and the next she's a bit grouchy and that.

What ever tactic Roo's using, it's working.

She's teaching me to be patient.

As the bond between them gets stronger,

Rebecca's life continues to improve.

Now that both are on an even keel, they have so much confidence,

they not only ride together, they jump, too!

Head up, legs on, off you go. Push, push, push!

Look at the confidence shining through as they take on the jumps.

And no matter how high the bar's raised,

Roo and Rebecca meet up to the challenge. Truly amazing.

It looks like nothing can stand in this pair's way,

as they continue to prove, that with the help of a friend,

obstacles can always be overcome.

So let's hear it for Roo, the life coach with a difference.

GERMAN ACCENT: All these pesky animals are getting all zee jobs!

I must invent something to give these jobs back to humans!

Ah! Hello, there.

I am John Brainyman, the world's greatest inventor of animal gadgets.

Today I am working on a pair of headphones

that will make a human be able to hear in sonar, just like a bat.

Time to test them out.

Now, please don't worry, this is perfectly safe.

I have thought of every possible eventuality,

and I assure you nothing, absolutely nothing, can go wrong.

Ah, I think it's working, I can hear...

Aaah-ha-ha!

Aaah-ho-ho!

MACHINE BEEPS

BANG!

I need the fanimals, they're the kids who love animals.

-And here they are, it's the...

-Fanimals, yes!

Meet the fanimals, our animal detectives.

Today the fanimals are challenged to prove

that Shetland ponies could have jobs as athletes...

-You can do it!

-..by putting these two tidy beasts

head to head in a race across a tricky obstacle course.

Welcome to...

Let's meet our mini athletes.

Both Bear and Image love the idea of being a professional racer.

Unfortunately for them, neither is what you'd call a natural athlete.

You only have to take one look at them to guess that

Shetland ponies are the smallest breed of horses.

Their average height is...

..although some don't grow to be much taller than...

That's two and a half times shorter than the biggest horse breed.

Being small, Shetland's aren't what you'd consider ideal for racing.

On average, a Shetland's legs measure less than...

Which makes fast speed and jumping a bit of a problem.

The fanimals are too big, so they won't be riding them.

Instead, they'll lead them around

one of the toughest obstacle courses imaginable.

Their first challenge will be

to reach a tennis ball placed on a bollard.

Once their fanimal guide has grabbed the ball,

the pony will have to cross a tricky seesaw

next they splish-splash through the water simulator.

Then it's up and over the horsey hurdle.

A quick zigzag around the cones and over the finish line. Tricky, eh?

Hey guys, let's do the course.

So, on with the race.

Fanimal Seth is leading Bear, while Fanimal Mila leads Image.

Any pre-race predictions for the fanimals?

It depends on everything that goes wrong.

I'm not sure if I'm going to make it.

It's not hard to see why Mila's finding it hard to be positive.

Despite her dreams of being a pro-athlete.

It looks like Image may have pre-race nerves.

She doesn't even want to be led to the starting line.

Finally they're at the line. This is what we've all been waiting for.

Racers, ready?

-Ooh, the anticipation is killing me.

-Racers, ready?

They're under starter's orders.

And they're off.

Bear has made a storming start, as he blazes over the seesaw.

Image is...well, Image is not moving very fast.

Oh, no! She's even moving backwards.

Image, what are you doing?

Meanwhile, Bear's hammered through the course

and now only has the hurdle to clear.

Ooh, but what's this?

OK, try again.

Oh, no, Bear. You need to do the jump!

This is terrible.

With Image still suffering from race fright,

-the race couldn't be going more wrong.

-Come on, Bear.

But hold on a moment, what's this?

Could it be that Bear's going to attempt the hurdle again?

I think so. Here we go.

-He storms through to victory.

-Bear, go!

Bear has become the Animals At Work Mini Grand National winner.

Back at the other end of the course, Image is still having none of it.

This horse isn't going anywhere. Seth goes back.

Maybe he can offer some words of encouragement to Image.

Wow, I don't know what Seth said, but it's certainly done the trick.

You can do it!

Image has become the athlete she's always dreamt of being.

Well, sort of.

Now she's being a bad loser and doesn't want to jump the hurdle.

Oh, well, enough is enough. The race is over with Image in second place.

Good girl.

So, have the fanimals managed to prove

that Shetland ponies can be professional athletes?

Well, sort of.

With a lot of training, we could make an athlete of Bear yet.

Image? Well, there's no hope there.

So, well done, fanimals, and well done, ponies.

Even you, Image. Even though you're a little bit rubbish.

Finally, it's back to Gloucestershire in England.

Earlier on we met seven-month-old Lilly.

With business partner, Joe,

she's attempting to launch a brand new range of pet food.

Smoothies for cats. Whilst Joe knocked together the recipes,

Lilly does the most important bit.

She tastes the recipes.

Right, there you go, Lilly, do your thing.

She's the taste tester, so decides which flavours work the best.

Lilly and Joe's business has reached a critical stage.

They're almost ready to launch.

To cats, that is the equivalent of a five-star meal.

But before they do,

they need to make sure that it's tasty enough to be a hit.

So today's a massive day. They're taking Lilly's favourite smoothie,

to a local cat shelter to get the opinion of some of their residents.

This is make or break time for Lilly and Joe.

If the smoothie's a success, then they're in business.

If it's not to the other cats taste, it's back to the drawing board.

Lilly and Joe arrive at the rescue centre.

-Hello!

-Smoothies for your cats.

-Brilliant.

They're doing their best to act cool.

Do you mind if I leave Lilly there, while we get the other cats?

Not a problem.

But there's no hiding from how much is at stake.

Lilly's designed her taste test to be as simple as possible.

Joe will select three of the resident cats.

In turn, each cat will be given the choice between

a bowl containing normal cat food,

and a bowl containing Lilly's smoothie.

If the cats choose to eat the smoothie,

then it will deemed a success. If they ignore it,

then it's the worst possible news for Lilly and Joe.

The smoothie clearly isn't up to standard.

Let's meet the cats who it will all come down to.

Pumpkin loves fish and attacking people's toes.

Tilly likes cat treats and sitting on people's laps.

Arthur likes chicken and old people.

With everything in place, it's almost time

for the taste testing to commence.

A camera's been set up to allow

Lilly and Joe to observe from a separate room.

Ooh, they look nervous and rightly so.

This is going to be the making or breaking

-of your smoothie recipe, Lilly.

-It's time to get down to business.

We'll see which one you like the best.

In comes tester number one, Pumpkin.

Pumpkin's a young cat, but she knows what she likes.

Is she going to fancy the smoothie?

Yes she is! She's straight in there with no messing about.

Straight for our smoothie. Fantastic.

She's made up her mind so quickly, we'd better see that again.

So Lilly's concoction

is Pumpkin's favourite. And it's 1-0 to the smoothie.

This is great news for Lilly.

But there's no time to relax as we're onto tester number two. Tilly.

Tilly's taking her time. She seems a bit uncertain.

Oh, no, what's this?

It looks like Tilly's having none of it. She's heading off.

She doesn't seem particularly interested, does she?

No, wait, wait, wait, she's back.

And she's ignored the smoothie and gone for the normal cat food.

Not going for our one, she's going for the other one.

Oh, it's a disaster. Joe and Lilly are devastated.

That might be a negative.

I think we might have failed on this one.

So the foods are tied at 1-1.

So one likes it, one not quite so keen.

We've got Arthur with the deciding vote.

So it's all on his shoulders which one he'll like.

Fingers crossed he'll like the smoothie.

Everything hangs on this. My nerves can't take this.

I'm not the only one. Lilly's so anxious she can hardly watch.

Arthur's walking with purpose, he seems to know exactly what he wants.

He's straight over to the smoothie. It looks like good news.

But what's this? He's not eating it.

Has something put him off? Has he changed his mind?

ARTHUR MIAOWS

And, he goes for it!

Arthur's chosen the smoothie, I don't believe it!

The smoothie has won. Lilly and Joe are beside themselves.

Hooray!

The smoothie coming out successfully is the indication

Lilly and Joe were looking for. It's time to launch the product.

The next step is to get the smoothies on the production line.

The cat world's got a new food to get excited about

and it's all thanks to taste tester Lilly.

The cat with the best taste buds in the world. Miaow!

How's that? Lilly was really in TUNA with her taste buds, get it?

Tuna, tune? Oh, whatever.

Anyway, thanks for joining us on Animals At Work.

See you next time. You are so catty!

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