mew year's eve

it's the end of the year. time to have some fun! be safe out there tonight while you party it up.

don't get too carried away with any string, though, or the authorities will have to be called.

happy new year!

the real 'simon's cat'

now we know the inspiration for simon's "cat man do."

food glorious food

well lucky us! some friends of ours had about 4,800 cans of pretty good cat food left over and asked us if we knew anyone who might be able to use it. well, what do you know? a few groups came to mind right away.

we hope friends of ferals and happy cat enjoy the food. eat up!

meet duke

this happy cat is a one-of-a-kind creamsicle with a bit of a sad backstory: duke was hit by a car and lost part of his jaw, after which he was surrendered to dchs. he is fully recuperated and doing fine, bouncing off the walls, eating like a madman and occasionally sticking his tongue out at us for fun.

if you're looking for a young cat with lots of energy and a goofball personality, this is your guy.

contact the happy cat club of madison for more info or stop into the monroe st. store to meet him.

santa lucy claws

hope everyone had a merry christmas and safe travels during the wild, wisconsin weather.

oh, and lucy thanks you for all the cookies that were left out for her the other night, they were nom'd with glee. though she said next year she'd like more donuts.

time to enjoy 'boxing day,' whatever that means.

new simon's cat - "snow business"

check out the simon's cat website for everything simon's cat, including a neat iPhone app.

undercover mousers

another favorite toy around here is undercover mouse. a mechanical-arm swings around under a nylon canopy, mimicking the natural movements of mice, or human feet (best prey at 5am).

dottie and lucy are both big fans - as are cleo and fiona.

lucy and the turbo track

the turbo track. one of the coolest new toys around, and apparently lucy's new favorite hang-out spot. it's a re-confingurable track that can be made into a brand-new toy just by rearranging its pieces into different shapes - very cool for kitties who get bored easily and like to change it up a bit.

laid back kitties will probably play with it like this, while the goofy nutters will go all out like this guy:

fat cats

all this talk of obama and the 'fat cats on wallstreet' has us thinking of garfield and pepper and all the other large and lovely felines, not corporate greed.

a steak house store kitty was mistakenly cat-napped but returned safe-and-sound. steak? morty and lucy are drooling with jealousy.

los angeles is considering an ordinance that would require all recovered pets in the city shelter to be microchipped when retrieved by their owners.

in totally un-related news, who knew octopuses (octopi?) could run so fast?

cat poetry

morning - mary oliver

salt shining behind its glass cylinder.
milk in a blue bowl. the yellow linoleum.
the cat stretching her black body from the pillow.
the way she makes her curvaceous response to the small, kind
gesture.
then laps the bowl clean.
then wants to go out in the world
where she leaps lightly and for no apparent reason across the
lawn,
then sits, perfectly still, in the grass.
i watch her a little while, thinking:
what more could i do with wild words?
i stand in the cold kitchen, bowing down to her.
i stand in the cold kitchen, everything wonderful around me.

merry christmas from the gang!

pictured here is the whole crew. feel free to click on our smiling faces to see a bigger pic and a fantastic set of elf ears. we all got together over the weekend to celebrate another great year at MadCat. we've come a long way in the last seven years; we've grown and changed, tried new things, and had a lot of fun. one thing that has always remained the same is our commitment to the people and cats of madison. we're here for you and we're here because of you.

thanks, madtown!

happy holidays to you and yours from the whole gang.

monorail cat in motion!

feral cats and ninja rats

duluth adopted out its first feral cats, giving them a second chance at life. see, even in non-no kill cities, having faith in the community and relying on the kindness of strangers can save countless lives. maybe this is the first step to initiating a real t-n-r program that will save so many more.

in other cat news:

allerca, the company behind the supposedly "allergy-free cat" that bred and sold cats for thousands of dollars a pop, is going out of business.

UK comic, Russel Brand, says he won't move to the states to be with his gf, katy perry, unless his kitty can come, too.

the brits don't have the only mass-tranist-loving felines; boston's subway kitty, kenmore, has a new, less noisy, home.

and last, but not least, the ninja rats have arrived. nikki luvs hers because she thinks of herself as a bit of a samurai. her claws agree.

i can make sno angul

so did anyone out there join in on the epic snowball fight that took place on bascom hill yesterday? what a way to spend a snow day!

in other snowy news, dchs wants to remind you to check your car for any cold kitties who may have tried to snuggle up to your warm engine. in these cold temps it's best to keep your furried ones indoors, preferably cozied up near a fireplace with a cup of hot cider and a good book.

in science-y news, a team of thinkers got together and used their own biased rating system to officially declare that dogs are better than cats. how passe. this kind of us-against-them thinking is another reason why so many cats are killed in shelters every year. all creatures should be loved and respected for what they are, not what they are not.

snow day!

snomg! this storm has brought the city to its snow-pants-covered knees. the roads are wild, the banks are high and even the plows are getting stuck. with all that fun going on outside, we thought it best to close the mineral point road and monroe street stores at noon today. the willy st. location will remain open until 6:00pm for all of your kitty needs.

now go outside and make a snow-cat, get in a snowball fight, catch some flakes on your tongue and above all, stay safe.

this is madison in winter, folks. isn't it beautiful?

glamour puss

these kitties must have the raging fire of a thousand suns hidden beneath their wigs. that blue one is awful cute, though.

mirror mirror

though they are mother and son, morty and lucy don't often choose to hang out together. this is a lovely candid moment of the two coming together in the holiday spirit and passing an afternoon on the counter. don't you wish every job came with a couple of cats?

if you haven't heard, diamond foods recalled their premium edge brand of cat food. it's mostly sold on the east coast and is not carried by madcat. now word is out that it was manufactured in the same south carolina plant as the recalled dog food that contained aflatoxin back in '05. looks like someone's got some explaining to do.

this is just another reminder to always blow on the pie.

icees, cat cams, and poinsettia myths

madison had it's first big snowfall last night and nikki isn't too happy about it.

another kitty who had a bad run-in with the white stuff is named icee. he was nearly frozen to death when rescued and brought into a colorado animal shelter. read the story of his miraculous survival here. shelters across the country are performing little miracles everyday. with every adoption is another life saved.

a recent cat-cam experiment documented a cat's normal day at home through photos. the results were very interesting; contrary to what we might think, the cats only slept about 6 percent of the time.

and thanks to a comment from feline underground reader, kevin, we've done a little research on the toxicity of poinsettia plants. it turns out that there are different ideas as to whether they are toxic at all. there is evidence that it is all overblown and stems from the 1919 death of a 2-year old child, wrongfully assumed to have eaten poinsettia leaves. even the aspca's toxicity chart has it listed as both "toxic to cats" and as "irritating to the mouth and stomach, sometimes causing vomiting, but generally over-rated in toxicity." huh. good to know. it's still something to keep out of reach, though, if you don't want to find any christmas presents from kitty on the carpeting.

break-dancing robot!

this little guy has moooves!

counting the days with dottie

looking for a fun christmas gift? need to keep track of your busy life? just happen to love our store cats?

well stop into any of the madcat locations and pick up the 2010 MadCat Calendar featuring the furry five of the madcat crew: morty, lucy, nikki, gabby and dot. we've never attempted a calendar before, but with all the great pics we've snapped over the last year we just had to give it a try.

the best part, aside from all the cuteness, is that all proceeds are staying in the community and going to the happy cat club. it's a win-win for you and the homeless kitties of madison!

can seized pitbulls be rehabilitated?

remember the huge bust of the dog fighting ring last july? it was the largest crackdown on animal abuse that spanned five states and involved hundreds of dogs. now, time magazine is asking the question "can attack dogs be rehabilitated?" it's a good question and one worth considering when "normal" dogs are euthanized in shelters across the country every day. the long answer involves prevention: reducing poverty, increasing education, spay/neuter and more breed-specific training. the short answer is yes. in a no kill nation we don't solve our problems by killing them.

check out the national pit bull rescue center for more info on the demonized dogs and the efforts to end their abuse.

for local rescue info, including adoptable pits, check out the midwest area pit stop.

fancy felines and dapper dogs

have a dog with a serious case of mustache-envy? need a little tom selleck in your life? well, fret no more, doggie mustaches are no longer just wishful thinking. the future is here, and it's mustachioed. morty's a little jealous.

it's poinsettia season, folks. make sure you keep those, the holly, and all poisonous plants out of reach of curious kitties.

take a look at what is possible the best, and scariest, picture of a tiger ever. we'll have to try the meat-dangling photo trick with our fearless beast, miss nikki madcat.

daily dose of adorable - "surprised kitty"