(01 of10)
Open Image ModalThe Amazing Acro-Cats consists of 14 cats -- of which all but two are female. \n
\nThere\'s also three performing rats (all female), one groundhog (male) and a hen named Cluck Norris, who plays cymbals in the Acro-Cats\' house band, the Rock Cats.\n
\nCluck Norris also lays eggs. \"We eat them,\" says Samantha Martin, the Acro-Cats creator and ringleader.\n (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(02 of10)
Open Image ModalThe Amazing Acro-Cats and their human helpers -- Martin, as well as publicist Polly Smith and fearless assistant Seunga Park -- travel about 10 months of the year on a \"purr-fect\" 35-foot tour bus that is kitted out for the cats\' maximum comfort. For example, the cats get the on-board master bedroom.\n
\n\"The cats have more room than the humans,\" says Martin. (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(03 of10)
Open Image ModalSamantha Martin\'s first traveling animal circus specialized in rats.\n
\n\"The Amazing Acro-Rats,\" she says. \"I couldn\'t make a living on just rats.\"\n
\nAbout a decade ago, Martin switched to that other misunderstood, often underestimated breed of animal: cats. She\'d put on cat shows at art galleries and other small venues, and began realizing this might be a more sustainable venture.\n
\n\"People started showing up in droves,\" Martin says.\n (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(04 of10)
Open Image ModalThe cats and other performing critters are taught their tricks using only positive reinforcement, like clicker training and food treats. They\'re never scolded or punished.\n
\n\"No one protests after they\'ve seen the show,\" Martin says. \"It\'s not cruel in any way.\" (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(05 of10)
Open Image ModalYou may not be able to run off with the cat circus, exactly. But you can definitely participate!\n
\nVolunteers in each city help out with the box office and wrangling cats between shows. Or if you\'ve got a pad where the kitties can crash for a couple of days between gigs, that\'s also very welcome. \n
\nAs are folks who have some bus-fixing skills they want to donate.\n
\nIt\'s an \"old bus,\" says Martin. Here\'s where to get in touch. (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(06 of10)
Open Image ModalThe Rock Cats are (as far as we know) the world\'s only feline rock band.\n
\nTuna the cat is on cowbell. Sookie plays the chimes. Nue\'s on keyboards. Dakota hammers away on the drums. And, of course, Cluck Norris pecks away at the cymbals. \n
\nThe result: a little dada. A little daffy. Completely delightful. (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(07 of10)
Open Image ModalThe Amazing Acro-Cats often travel with foster kittens, who are available for adoption. In fact, since Martin has a special fondness for the teeniest kitties, the tour bus travels with an incubator.\n
\nAll these babies get basic clicker training, Martin says, and most are able to high-five by the time they are dispatched to their forever families.\n
\nSo far, 157 cats have been fostered and then adopted into permanent homes, Martin says. That should be 158 soon -- an adoption application has been put in in for a sweet little orange guy named Opie. (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(08 of10)
Open Image ModalThe Acro-Cats aren\'t just here to entertain you (though, certainly, they will do that). Samantha Martin is also using her feline circus to show you that cats are really, really fun and trainable.\n
\n\"I want to help people build a better relationship with their cat,\" she says.\n
\nTo that end, Martin has devised a cat training kit. We can\'t promise your cat will do leaps like this one on command after using the kit, but we can promise you all will have a good time. (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(09 of10)
Open Image ModalThe cats can sometimes be a bit persnickety. As well-trained as they are, as much fresh tuna as they\'re rewarded with, feline performers don\'t always feel like doing their tricks. \n
\nCluck Norris, on the other hand, never misses her mark.\n
\n\"You don\'t see cat circuses around because people can\'t stand the humiliation,\" says Martin. \"Cluck is a total professional. Has a good work ethic.\" (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)
(10 of10)
Open Image ModalHome is an apartment in Chicago with a big screened-in yard, where, Martin says, she and the cats pretty much do the same things as what they do on stage, in front of an audience.\n
\nThe jumps and tightropes are spread out across the living room, and the Rock Cats\' instruments are set up in the kitchen, where they like to play while Martin cooks. \n
\n\"This is what I would do at home,\" she says, wearing a cat ear headband, and gesturing toward one Acro-Cat who\'s climbing up a tower, and another seated at a set of drums, while several more sit on scraps of purple carpet -- their \"marks\" -- and other perches, waiting to be rewarded for their efforts. (Cluck Norris is napping in her carrier, and Garfield the groundhog is running laps around the room, pausing only occasionally to be petted.)\n
\nBut as fun as it is being home -- and it is fun, for those couple of months a year -- getting back on the road is also a good time, for Martin and the rest of the gang.\n
\n\"I love to travel. I love to see the countryside,\" she says. \"And I get to be with my pets 24/7.\" (credit:The Amazing Acro-Cats)