Our Story
We're Passionate About Improving the Lives of Cats.
MAD Cats is an all-volunteer organization passionate about serving the community and domestic cats in our region. All cats deserve to lead full lives.
Our vision is a future where no family has to give up their pet due to lack of resources
Unfortunately, many people aren’t aware of the suffering that comes from rampant feline reproduction among cats living along side us in our communities who lack specific owners or oversight. These "community cats" often serve valuable roles on farms and other businesses–however overpopulation can lead to poor conditions where they are undernourished and/or afflicted with disease, injury, and predation by other animals. By treating them as good neighbors and providing them with loving care, we are able to significantly improve their health and wellbeing.
We focus our efforts on:
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Reducing the birth rate of community felines to prevent overpopulation--and needless suffering due to malnutrition and disease.
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Rescuing abandoned, abused, neglected, injured, and homeless kittens and cats. When neighbors alert us, our volunteers leap into action to trap animals in need and bring them in for the medical care, socialization, and nurturing they need to prepare them for adoption.
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Providing foster care. MAD Cats is a "foster-based" rescue, meaning our foster kittens and cats live with our volunteers. These felines are cared for in local foster homes while they await their forever homes. All are spayed/neutered and vaccinated prior to adoption or transfer to our partner rescues and humane societies.
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Helping neighbors care for their cats. Many "owner surrenders" to shelters are because owners can't afford to feed their pets. MAD Cats volunteers deliver approximately 300-350 lbs of dry food per month to caretakers of our managed colonies where all the cats have been S/N and vaccinated, as well as cat owners in need of food support to help them keep their cats in their home.
Our group of dedicated volunteers work hard to help our neighbors and community control the local cat population. We put over 200,000 miles on our MadCat van in our work to rescue, spay/neuter, foster, and feed our communities cats. Our volunteers provide trapping, transportation, carriers, whatever is needed. We provide education through social media and community events throughout the year.
2018 - Madison County Cats Founded
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Focus began with Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR)
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Grew from 219 cats spayed/neutered in our first year to 1,200+ in 2024
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Launched a home-based foster program for kittens under 8 weeks:
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Provided care, vaccines, socialization, and lots of love
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Adopted out kittens once they reached 2 lbs and were fixed
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2024 - Increase Demand
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July 2024: A spike in domestic SN requests followed a social media campaign
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By December, waitlist stretched into May 2025
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To ease pressure, we spayed/neutered 60 community cats in January 2025
A Symbol of Care:
Community cats with clipped ears have been spayed/neuter.
2022 - Expanded to Domestic Cats
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In 2022, we began offering spay/neuter services for pet cats
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Discovered domestic cats significantly impact the free-roaming population
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Started with 20 cats/month and created a program coordinator role
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Learned the importance of safe, clear transport guidelines (yes, we’ve seen cats arrive in laundry baskets...)
Currently
Guided by research and the Cat Pyramid (a Community Cats Podcast)
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Our primary program is now spaying/neutering domestic cats
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TNR remains a vital secondary program
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Special focus: Female cats before spring kitten season, whether owned or free-roaming
