Is your cat a scoff-claw? She isn’t alone. Using estimates from the American Veterinary Medical Association (based on population), there are around 30,000 pet cats in Madison. But only slightly more than 1,000 feline friends — a little over 3 percent — are in compliance with city law, which requires owners pay an annual $15 licensing fee per cat ($20 if it isn’t spayed or neutered). Michelle Reamer of the city treasurer’s office keeps track of pet registrations. She says getting people to license cats is, well, like herding cats.
“It actually seems to keep going down. I have never seen 2,000 cats registered,” says Reamer. “I think people figure if it’s a house cat, they don’t need to do it.”
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway posts pictures of her cats Pippin and Kitty on Instagram nearly every “Caturday.” Are they registered with the city?
According to data obtained by Isthmus, there is a “Pippin” and a “Kitty” registered in district 12 — which includes the Eken Park neighborhood that the mayor calls home. The mayor’s office didn’t exactly let the cat out of the bag. But Natasha Holmes, executive assistant to the mayor, tells Isthmus it’s a “safe assumption” those are indeed Rhodes-Conway’s pets.
The law imposes a $5 late fee if cat owners fail to license their pet before April 1 of each year. However, enforcement of the licensing ordinance — let alone the late fee — is lax. Cat owners do technically face a penalty of $20-$200 if their unregistered cat is nabbed.
The city doesn’t make it easy to license your cat online. The registration process requires creating an account on the city’s hinky Licenses & Permits portal. Be prepared to upload documents showing the cat has been vaccinated for rabies and spayed/neutered.
The aldermanic district with the most registered cats is on the near west side, district 11, with 88 felines. District 8 on campus has the fewest registered felines, just 10. The city-wide average among Madison’s 20 districts is 51 licensed cats. The most popular cat names in Madison — at least those registered in 2019 — are some version of Sam, Oliver and Lily. Shout-out to cats with exceptional monikers: Croissant, Bologna, Lil’ Seymour, SnowFang, Genghis Kitty, Sgt. Skidmark and Meatloaf.
Source: City of Madison
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In comparison, 30 percent of the estimated number of dogs— over 12,503 pups — were in good-standing with the city in 2018. John Hausbeck of Public Health Madison and Dane County says cats have to obey the same rules as pooches.
“You aren’t allowed to have an animal off your property without it being under your control. The only way to do that with a cat is to put them on a leash,” says Hausbeck. “If you’re taking a responsibility for a cat, an animal that’s part of your family, you need to provide for them and not let them loose in the urban wild.”
Hausbeck is well aware that some might find the idea of walking a cat on a leash “ridiculous.”
“The current premise that cats need to be outside at night — to do their cat thing — is outdated. And not in the best interest of the cat, honestly,” says Hausbeck. “There are cars, coyotes, all sorts of different situations out there that a cat can get into trouble with.”
Cleaning up after an outdoor cat presents its own challenges. Public Health “frequently” gets calls about unattended cats relieving themselves on other people’s properties.
“That is a nuisance. And from a public health perspective, it is an issue having feces lying around,” says Hausbeck. “Somebody has to eventually clean it up.”
In addition to licensing laws, the city and the county require cats to wear a collar with an identification tag (with owner name, address and phone number) at all times — even when the cat stays indoors full-time. Hausbeck says this is intended to help get lost pets back home.
“When we pick up dogs, the owner usually comes around looking for them pretty quickly. I’m not exactly sure why, but we don’t see that with cats,” says Hausbeck. “Shelters end up having to re-home cats more frequently — which they can do legally if an owner doesn’t surface within four days.”
If there is one ordinance Public Health would like every cat parent to follow, it’s vaccinating for rabies — a requirement in Madison and most municipalities in Dane County.
“Bats are the most common carrier for rabies,” says Hausbeck. “And since bats can enter homes sometimes without being noticed, a pet cat can be vulnerable.”
A cat that is allowed to wander the neighborhood is at an even greater risk of being exposed to rabies.
“Dogs getting rabies used to be a big deal. People were getting exposed and dying of rabies. So that’s when we started seeing dog licensing and leash laws enacted,” says Hausbeck. “Fortunately, we don’t have that same issue with cats right now. But do we really want to wait until we have a resurgence of rabies before we do something about [vaccinating] cats?”
