Episode 34: The Doomsday Cat Cult

This week on Ghost Stories and Gummies, we’re getting into one of the wildest cult stories I’ve covered yet: the so‑called Doomsday Cat Cult. We’ll talk about pastor Sheryl Ruthven, her cat rescue Eva’s Eden, and how, according to former members and reporting, a small Washington church turned into a high‑control doomsday group where cats were believed to be divine beings carrying 144,000 souls through the apocalypse.  From blood‑tinged rituals and “Divine Magdalene” claims to a cross‑country “Exodus,” family estrangements, and the Investigation Discovery episode that blew the story up, this one is part true crime, part “what the hell did I just hear.”  Content warning: cult dynamics, spiritual and psychological abuse, possible animal neglect, and mentions of violence

https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/coverstory/apocalypse-meow-how-a-cult-that-believes-cats-are-divine-beings-ended-up-in-tennessee/article_78fc2367-5596-5a7a-ad8e-edae8c83a594.html 

 

https://www.cultnews101.com/2016/09/apocalypse-meow-how-cult-that-believes.html 

 

https://www.realclearreligion.org/2016/09/09/apocalypse_meow_a_cat_cult_in_tennessee_273944.html 

 

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2016/9/8/why-bob-smietanas-apocalypse-meow-story-on-an-end-times-cat-cult-really-is-the-cats-meow 

 

https://catsofcapetown.com/2025/03/04/the-curious-case-of-the-doomsday-cat-cult-a-shocking-saga-of-family-faith-and-felines/ 

 

https://whatcom-news.com/evas-eden-cat-rescue-makes-news-in-tennessee_50126/ 

 

https://www.facebook.com/IsThereACultInColumbiaTN/ 

 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/us/shows/who-sheryl-ruthven-do-details-the-curious-case-of-subject-explored