CLAWS were out as film crews visited a house in Thornbury to document a ferocious family cat with a fear of the vets.

Liz Hancock, 40, applied for Channel 5’s ‘Pets Who Hate Vets’ after years of struggling with her Bengal cat Tezpurr.

The Windrush Court resident rehomed Tezpurr when he was six years old – but did not know the common traits of the Bengal species.

The cat, which lives with Liz and her seven-year-old daughter Lois, a Crossways

Infant pupil, hissed, bit and scratched his owners and refused to get inside a carrier for journeys to the vet.

Liz said she grew used to wearing a thick winter coat to protect herself when moving Tezpurr into a carrier.

“When we first brought him home, he was adorable – like butter wouldn’t melt. Then he turned almost feral and hideous, hissing and spitting and clawing at you.

“I did some research and found out he’s closely linked with the Asian leopard – and they’re normally wild like this.

“Getting him into a carrier and to the vets was near impossible. He has huge anxiety levels and it was hard to deal with him being so reluctant and vicious.

“If Tezpurr was a human, he would be Mariah Carey – a real diva.”

One of Liz’s friends showed her the Channel 5 application for the documentary in June and she immediately put herself forward.

“I thought – this really applies to me,” she said. 

“I showed them Tezpurr in a sort of audition via webcam, and they agreed to start filming here in July. The aim was to change his behaviour and for me to find out how best to treat him.

“It’s easy to teach a kitten to change behaviour, but much harder for older cats, I thought there was no way Tezpurr would change.

“They followed us around, observing, and I talked with a behaviourist about how I handle him.” 

Liz, who is a finance administrator for charity The Thomas Moore Project in Bristol, was given a brand new cat carrier and was told to use it as a cat palace for Tezpurr, filling it with treats and toys.

She also put drops of herbal Valerian in the carrier too to help him relax.

Over the next few weeks, she was tasked with shutting the lid and door, and eventually trying to pick up the carrier and see his reaction.

“Getting him near or in a carrier really used to stress me out, but their techniques worked,” she said.

“He’s still got the wild cat Bengal instinct, but he’s calmed down a lot now.

“The programme has taught me how to pick up on signs and manage him, it was a really positive experience.”

Pets Who Hate Vets was aired on Tuesday, November 3.

Liz added: "It was surreal, the strangest experience to watch myself on TV. I adore my feral puss, claws and all."