Austin Pets Alive! | Maddie's® Cat Adoption Center (Ringworm)

Maddie's® Cat Adoption Center: Treatment and Care for Ringworm Positive Cats

Maddie's® Cat Adoption Center: Treatment and Care for Ringworm Positive Cats is designed to treat cats with ringworm, as they would have likely been euthanized in other shelter settings.

FAQs
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The Austin Pets Alive! Ringworm Program rescues cats and kittens at risk of euthanasia for having ringworm, treats their skin and mends their spirits, and adopts them into loving homes. It is the program’s mission to educate on and advocate for these underserved cats, reduce the stigma of ringworm, and save as many lives as possible while putting the Fun in Fungus.

Maddie's® Cat Adoption Center: Treatment and Care for Ringworm Positive Cats opened in 2010 as the APA! Ringworm Adoption Center and, on average, treats 250-300+ cats per year in addition to hundreds more through our foster system. The center takes in ringworm-positive cats from all across Texas! Although ringworm is just a simple fungus that is non-fatal, can be easily treated, and can be cured within a few months, it is a death sentence in many shelters across the country.

APA! believes that cats with ringworm are highly adoptable pets and that their lives matter. Potential adopters just need to receive some education and resources related to the fungus! Instead of holding cats with ringworm until they display no more symptoms, our philosophy is that animals heal best in a home setting where they’re surrounded by love and support, so we adopt cats straight out of our Maddie's® Cat Adoption Center: Treatment and Care for Ringworm Positive Cats and provide ample counseling on how to continue treatment at home (lime sulfur dip and oral medication).

Intimidated about taking on a ringworm cat in your home? In 2018, more than 550 ringworm cats and kittens went home with their forever families to complete their treatment; those families took the chance and put a little extra work in up front, and now they’re enjoying a lifetime with their new fluffy, fungus-free family member!

Maddie's Fund awarded APA! a grant to renovate existing shelter space to make it purr-fect for these special felines, #thankstomaddie.

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Program Achievements

The Ringworm Adoption Center has housed and treated more than 1,917 cats since 2016. 702 of those cats were treated in 2019.

Just over 1,655 cats with ringworm have been adopted out from the center since 2016.

Not a single cat has died in the city of Austin for having ringworm since the APA! ringworm program was established in 2010.

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