TacoCat Creations

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Madison, WI
TacoCat Creations

Cat fashion and fully stuffed catnip toys handmade with pride in Madison, Wisconsin. If your cat doesn’t respond to catnip, give ours a try! Drop us a line!

At TacoCat Creations, we have one obsessive focus - making cool stuff for cats and the humans who love them. And we have a pretty good track record, too - for the past seven years, our catnip toys have been driving cats crazy across the US and beyond. Each one of our cat toys is hand sewn and individually stuffed with super potent catnip purchased in small batches from a farm or grown right in our

backyard. We have built a reputation for making catnip toys proven to drive your cats crazy. Just check out our social media! From our large fully-stuffed MadRats and NerdRats, to our small MewMice, our super-durable RuffRats and refillable Fizzle Stix kicker toys - we have a catnip toy for every preference. Lounge around on one of our NipMats (available in two sizes!) or add catnip to the hidden pocket in the top for extra fun! Also featured is our unique line of DapperCat bowties and collars. Each collar and bowtie is sewn by hand - not glued - ensuring they stay sturdy and beautiful. Available in a wide variety of colors and patterns, we’re sure you’ll find something to complete your cat’s look. Rounding out our merch are fun cat-themed t-shirts, stickers, buttons, and magnets that are great to add to your collection or give as gifts. And you can feel good about your TacoCat purchase too. We’re not some big corporation. We’re a female/minority-owned small business, and all of our products are proudly made by hand in our home studio located on the east side of Madison, Wisconsin. We’re a small team of people totally dedicated to making cats happy. It’s the best part of our job, and we’re pretty good at it too! Owner Meagan Porter’s devotion for cats and over 25 years sewing experience led her to found TacoCat out of a need for high quality and unique cat toys in a dog-saturated market. Graphic designer and business manager David Van lends his talents to making our products look beautiful and keeping the wheels turning at TacoCat Studios. Together we supply a handful of small retailers across the US, run an online shop, and bring cool cat stuff directly to the people through one of our many local events. Interested in bringing TacoCat to your shop? Got an idea for a custom order? Wondering where we’re going to be next? We’re happy to help.

12/21/2024

We are all set up for our Holiday Open Studio Hours! Come swing by for your last chance to shop with us in purrrson for 2024. We'll be here Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 4pm.

Our Studio is located at 931 E. Main Street, one block from East Washington in Madison, Wisconsin. Building entrance is on S. Brearly - ring #15 and I'll let ya in. Ample free street and lot parking available.

Hope to see ya here!

12/20/2024

Hey TacoFans! Dave and I are still planning on opening our studio doors for last minute holiday shopping this Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 4pm each day. We haven't been working much this week but we do still have some stock on your cat's favorite toys, great gifts for the cat people in your life, and calendars of course.

Our studio is located at 931 E. Main Street in Madison. The entrance is on S. Brearly, buzz #15 and I will let you in! Then just follow the signs to our studio. Plenty of free street parking and off street parking available.

If you're not able to visit us in person, and don't mind receiving your order after Christmas, our website is fully stocked. Dave added a bunch of new patterns of NipMats, XL Mats, Krinkle Mats, and MadRats too. If you've been holding out for new styles, now is the time to check it out.

Dave and I work our butts off year round, and November and December are especially crucial to help us get through the slower start to the year. We have no events planned until February, and events are a huge part of our income.

As of right now, we have spent over $4600 this week at vets trying to save our Baby's life and also saying goodbye to him. The previous week, we spent nearly $700 confirming a cancer diagnosis for Cleo, and I've yet to see a bill for her euthanasia but I expect it to be $400-$500.

I would not have made any of these decisions differently. And all of these bills will get paid no matter what. But if you find yourself out and about this weekend and want to swing by our studio, or if you feel inspired to do some online shopping on our website www.tacocatcreations.com, please do.

A few people have asked if they can contribute to these bills, and we are so grateful for their offers. Direct donations can be sent to my personal Venmo @ mewporter (last four digits 6324) or PayPal at [email protected].

And lastly, thank you to all of our TacoFans who have helped so far, whether through orders, donations, or even just your kind words and phone calls. We would not be able to take good care of our clowder or ourselves without you. 💜

12/20/2024

We lost our sweet Finley, aka Finn, aka The Baby on Tuesday evening, almost exactly one week after we had to say goodbye to our beloved Cleo. While we lost them both to kidney failure, ultimately it is much more complicated than that. Cleo's issues were brought on by gastrocarcinoma and large cell lymphoma, a tumor in her stomach that had spread and caused other complications. Had it just been regular kidney disease, it likely would have been a different story and treatable.

Similarly, it was not standard kidney disease that caused problems with The Baby. Based on information from his internal medicine doctor, who paneled with other specialists around the country to clarify their diagnoses, The Baby had Granular kidney disease, a more aggressive and complicated form that attacks the very filtration elements of the kidneys, as opposed to their pathways. This means two things; 1) he was likely born with or developed kidney issues very early in life, and 2) there is little to nothing that can be done to slow or stop its progression if it's not caught very early. As we've mentioned before, cats are extremely good at hiding problems and if Finn was ever uncomfortable or in pain it was never apparent, and he never needed any other attention that would have uncovered these issues.

Our sweet little three-year-old Baby spent his whole life as if he knew he had a limited time with us. He was loud, energetic, curious and so loving in the time we had with him. We took him for walks nearly every day, he spent hours on the porch watching people and birds go by - The Baby made more friends and enemies than any human I've ever met.

When we first met Finley he was pulling out his fur, had some minor health issues and was very stressed out. We weren't sure what our little deaf Baby needed but we were determined to give him the best life we could, so we took him home and got to work. Shortly after his arrival, The Baby was making friends with the other cats, snuggling with us and even started learning tricks! The more time he spent here the more a part of our family he became, getting close to pretty much everyone and winning over anyone he met instantly.

Teaching Finn tricks led to running him on an exercise wheel, which led to us harness training him to wander around our front and back yards with Fizzle, which led to him wanting to go on mile-long walks around the neighborhood. I have so many fond memories of The Baby meeting people, kids, dogs and the odd squirrel. He was so intensely curious and outgoing, he just wanted to see and do everything - I think he even liked riding in the car with us.

Our Baby meant so much to us. He loved his routines- morning snuggles, evening naps, getting taken out to patrol the neighborhood every night. And now we have to go about our lives without those routines we'd become so comfortable in. Finley was such a big presence in our lives and left such a deep, lasting impression on us that I'm not sure how long it will take us to feel normal again.

All of which is just to say that we love The Baby so dearly, and we know he touched all of you, too. We can't thank you all enough for letting him and us into your hearts. For enjoying Finn and sharing in so many joyous, funny, lovely moments we had with him in such a short time. Our hears will never be the same but we appreciate all of you that are hurting with us; We love you, and we will continue on.

12/17/2024

Finn, our sweet Baby, has end stage kidney failure and likely has had failing kidneys for some time. Despite regular medical checkups and two devoted parents, he had no signs that anything was wrong until the last few days. He is struggling with anemia, and to complicate matters he has a rare blood type. A blood transfusion is not available for our sweet Baby, and it is not likely that he will make it through the night.

We've made the decision to say goodbye tonight and are currently covering him in kisses and snuggles as he rests on his warm heating pad.

Thank you all for sharing our sweet Baby with us. There will be no TacoChat tonihht. Please keep him in your thoughts as Fiona, Olivia, Sput, Fizzle, and Cleo welcome him on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

12/17/2024

Finn the Baby update -
(pic is from shortly after he was adopted)
TL:DR - some positive news

We checked in with the vet last night and this morning. He did really well overnight and has been eating, drinking, and using the litter box. No vomiting or diarrhea. And they said he is adorable. 💜 He has an ultrasound scheduled for noon and we plan to visit around 1:30pm.

The vet last night said that he has acute kidney failure and they are working to stabilize him and also to find the cause of the failure. Finn is only three years old and kidney failure is not normal in young kitties. They have him on IV fluids and a catheter as well as anti nausea meds and pain meds.

Some good news is that they did an echocardiogram and found that his heart murmur is not a high risk for anesthesia (the initial incident that kicked this off was that I noticed a bad tooth and brought him in for a consult for a dental, bloodwork was done and found that his values were way out of whack) and that the murmur likely became more pronounced because of his current anemia.

The causes they are looking at for the kidney failure are lymphoma, FIP, or just having genetically bad kidneys, but they are not ready to say one way or the other. They expect to run more tests today so hopefully we have answers soon. Eating things they should not ingest can cause kidney failure in cats but it does not sound like the doctors think that's what happened here. And Dave and I don't think so either, we are always very careful and the Baby isn't the type of kitty to eat things he's not supposed to.

I was reading online that 50% of cats recover from kidney failure. I know its the vet's job to be realistic and not give us any false hope, but I feel like as his human its my job to hold out hope for him. I've gotten a few messages from people whose cats went through kidney failure at a young age and recovered. So I am hopeful.

Thank you everyone for your sweet messages and thoughts for our Baby. It means so much to us. We are planning on checking in on the TacoChat tonight (Tuesday) as we missed last week and we miss our TacoFamily. So hopefully we'll see you live on Facebook at 7pm CST and we'll let you know if that changes.

A few people have asked if they can help with the vet bills, which are substantial. Ordinarily we would say we can handle this, but the low end of the estimate is $4300 and the high end is $7300. They expect to keep him at the emergency vet for a few days while they work to stabilize him and find the cause of the acute kidney failure. And we haven't gotten the bill for Cleo's euthanasia and cremation yet. We would appreciate any help at this time if anyone is able. My personal Venmo is (last four digits are 6324) and my personal PayPal is [email protected] . No pressure to send anything, all of your sweet messages that you are holding us in your thoughts already mean so much. But I just wanted to address it for the few people who asked.

Our website is also fully stocked up and I have been shipping out packages every day, going into the studio has been a good distraction. I am trying to get you all of your packages by Xmas and your patience is appreciated. If you don't mind waiting until after Xmas for your TacoCat goodies, we will probably run a sale on the website later this week so stay tuned.

We are not sure at this time if we are going to do in person shopping at the studio this weekend. I would like to try since seeing all of you gives me so much joy and energy, and sitting on the couch crying in my robe is just giving me headaches and wrinkles. It all really depends on how the Baby is doing so I promised to keep you all updated.

Lastly I just wanted to say that everyone at Passion for Paws, Madison Veterinary Specialists, and Comforts from Home have been incredible throughout this really difficult time for our clowder. MVS has been patient and amazing and is taking such good care of our little boy. Thank you to Dr Kay for sounding the alarm that something was wrong and for always being there for us. And thank you to Dr Pike and Sean for calling to check on us. We truly have the best veterinary care team and we are so lucky.

💜 love you all so much

12/16/2024

I'm sorry to bring you more bad news but please keep our sweet baby Finn in your thoughts. Some poor bloodwork caused us to bring him to the emergency vet this morning. He is in kidney failure. The docs there are looking for the cause, potentially lymphoma, while they stabilize him but the prognosis does not look good. Dave and I are absolutely gutted. Finn the Baby is only three years old.

Please hug your sweet sweet babies for me today. I can't write anymore.

12/15/2024

Just a heads up that our holiday ordering deadlines start TOMORROW! Place your order by Monday night to have the best chance of receiving it USPS Ground by Xmas.

DID YOU KNOW - if you subscribe to my Mewsletter, I send you a discount for 10% off your order? And we always have free shipping over $35, no code required.

Time to stock up for all the good kitties on your list!

12/15/2024

It's our last official market of the year! We're hanging out with a bunch of awesome vegans and veg-curious at the Madison Vegan Pop-up!
Come say hey, we'll be here till 4!

12/14/2024

We are having SO much fun at NerdMade Madison! Check us out and Chewy too at the Wisconsin Masonic Center in downtown Madison until 4pm! Free street parking and free parking in the adjacent garage off of East Johnson - and the event is free to attend too! Come support nerdy artists and makers AND scoop up the most unique gifts around. Win Christmas AND Shop Local at the same time!

12/13/2024

You can find us at two more holiday events in Madison this weekend!

Nerd Made: Madison is back and this time, it's the Holiday Edition! Organized by a small group of local nerdy maker friends (including Dave!) this curated event is a labor of love for the Madison geek and nerd community. This event features 40 makers and their favorite fandoms showing up with artwork, jewelry, stickers, prints, soaps, bath and body products, pottery, dice, and so much more. Hope to see you there this Saturday, December 14 from 10am to 4pm at the Wisconsin Masonic Center. This event has parking available and is free to attend.

This Sunday, we are a last-minute add to the Madison Vegan Holiday Pop-Up Market at the Goodman Center. There will be tons of great vegan food vendors, several non-profit organizations to learn about, and of course yours truly slingin your cat's favorite toys. We'll be there from 11am until 4pm - hope to see you there!

12/13/2024

After losing both Fiona and Fizzle in 2022, it feels like Dave and I should be pros at handling death. But in a way knowing what you're in for is almost worse because you also know the hurt never gets better, you just get farther away from it. It's a waiting game, and in between there's just deep ache and the constant reminder that someone is missing.

The little things are almost unbearable. For instance, I used to wake up early to make sure I had enough time to give Cleo her meds, snuggle her, and see if she wanted to eat a little before breakfast. Now I'm still waking up early and just kind of wandering around the house. We used to run out of cat dishes because we fed her several times a day, now there's room in the dishwasher. We have a collection of can lids because she would only eat a little from several different cans throughout the day. Now we don't need them. Putting her medication away. Washing all her blankets. Her spot on the couch is empty and I hate it.

Our friend Ami wrote the other day, "you may not have gotten to spend the rest of your life with them, but they got to spend the rest of their life with you." In my sadness, I am trying to focus on what an immense privilege it is to be loved by a cat, to be their caretaker, and to be there for them in death is just as much our responsibility as it is to be there for them in life. It's part of the deal, and as sad as I am now, I would do it again just to get to spend 15 more years with Cleo.

Our small businesses have two employees and we're both of them, and this is the busiest time of year for us. Even though it feels like time has stopped, the world has not actually stopped moving. I can't make a habit of crying in the arms of my wholesale clients. I have to pull myself up and go to events, respond to messages, write my newsletter, post cute cat pictures. And maybe that attempt at normalcy will be good for me because few things bring me greater joy than my job and our TacoCat community.

Before Cleo died, I told her that there are so many people who love her, people she doesn't even know and will never meet. How many cats can say that? Thank you for all your condolences over the past few days. Thank you to everyone who has called to check on me. Thank you to Meredith and Jammie for the beautiful flowers. Thank you all for pulling me through my grief. And thank you for sharing my kitty with me.

12/10/2024

Cleopatra "Cleo" Van Porter was set free from her earthly body this afternoon, Tuesday, December 10, 2024, after a brief and courageous battle with large cell lymphoma. She received many soft pets and forehead kisses in her last weeks and days, and she passed quickly surrounded by her loving family. She was about 17 years old.

Cleo was adopted on October 5, 2009, from Mounds in Sun Prairie. Her humans originally showed up to meet a different black cat, who did not like them. But Cleo never stopped yelling from her cage near the floor as soon as she set eyes on Meagan; Cleo knew immediately that she had found her people.

The three of them and her older sister Fiona lived in a 500 square foot apartment in downtown Madison for a year until upgrading to swankier accommodations, and it was there that they welcome into their family Cleo's best friend, a six-week old kitten named Oscar.

Cleo had apparently been waiting her whole life for a small orange minion to do her bidding, and she continued to dote on him even when he grew into a 16 pound gigantic baby. They were inseparable for the next 14 years, playing, grooming, wrestling, and snuggling, much to the relief of older sister Fiona.

Cleo was always the boss cat of her clowder, and it was her duty to make sure that her humans didn't neglect their snuggling and doting duties even while they were in the middle of growing and running two businesses. She was a strict snoopervisor but fair. Her persistent snuggle breaks were always appreciated, especially as the years wound down into her seniorhood.

Despite her vigilant exterior, Cleo had a fun side as well. She often located and relocated her favorite toy, the spongey goofball, carrying them around the house while singing the song of her people. Cleo performed this important ritual nearly every day, even through the last weeks of her life.

Even until the end, Cleo was the most beautiful cat any of us had ever seen. Her fur never lost its softness, and she stayed silky until her last breaths. She loved being brushed and her fur was all black except for one pure white splotch on her belly. Her bright green eyes shone with intelligence. She was and is irreplaceable, and we her clowder already feel the weight of her absence.

Cleo's humans are eternally grateful to her Veterinary team starting with Dr. Amanda Pike from Comforts of Home, who has provided unparalleled care to Cleo for the majority of her life. We are so fortunate that you were here to help guide her on to the next stage of her journey. We are only able to provide such excellent care to our clowder because of your guidance.

We are also grateful to Dr. Kietra Kay from Passion for Paws, who never gave up trying to figure out the source of Cleo's mystery symptoms over the last couple months. Your persistence and compassion have been so so very much appreciated.

We would be remiss if we did not mention Cleo's godparent, Finn Porter, whom Cleo loved so very much. We depend on Finn as a third parent to our clowder, and we would not be able to do what we do without their love, support, and friendship. Thank you for always being there for our kitties.

And thank you to our TacoFamily as well. It has meant so much to get to share our clowder with you, to know that you mourn with us, to know that you knew Cleo and she was special to you. Thank you for being a source of strength to us these last few months and always. Thank you for your advice, your kind words, your hugs. We never imagined in building a silly little business that we would also build a community as well. We are so grateful to you, our family.

Rest in Purrs, our sweet Cleo. Your job here on earth is done. We hope you march into kitty heaven and take over the place, just as you did that tiny 500 square foot apartment so long ago.

12/10/2024

Hey TacoFam. We are canceling tonight's TacoChat. Unfortunately our sweet Cleo started to decline yesterday afternoon. The vet will be here soon to help her cross over the Rainbow Bridge. A longer remembrance will be posted later. Hug your kitties tight for us. We love you.

12/10/2024

The holiday season is already in full swing and it's a good idea to get your orders in early! I made this handy dandy little image to remind you of our ordering date cut offs for expected delivery by Christmas. These deadlines were created from the USPS guidelines and they also give us a couple days grace for processing.

Dave and I and our friends at USPS are hard at work every day, but sometimes the Priority Mail package that was supposed to be in Milwaukee in two days gets re-routed to New York and takes a week to arrive (yep it happened) - so order early!

Pickup at our studio on the east side of Madison is also available seven days a week.

12/09/2024

Sara says their kitty Ivee has been feeling down after the passing of her sister sweet Indigo. A new NipMat is bringing her comfort during this heartbreaking time. 💜 sending much love to Sarah, Ivee, and the whole family. I'm so glad something I made could help Ivee feel better.

12/09/2024

THANK YOU!!! to everyone who stopped by to visit me at The CRAFTY Fair this weekend! This event has always held a special place in my heart because it's what inspired me to give craft shows a go with my little TacoCat business. I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't picked up holiday gifts for my coworkers at the 2016 Holiday Crafty and said to Dave, hey I think we could do this! It has been an additional joy and privilege to help the incomparable Rosy with the event the last three years, and also I love that my booth is right by the entrance so I can greet every person who comes in. 🥰🥰🥰

This year felt a little extra special because Dave and I have been going through some hard times lately, both with car troubles and kitty health issues, and also it's no secret that sales are generally down for your small business friends everywhere. TacoCat hasn't been immune to this either, but this weekend was a great reminder of the amazing community we are so fortunate to be a part of. So many of you stopped by and asked about how our sweet Cleo was doing and commiserated on our TacoVan repairs too. We both felt so very supported and that means so much to us. From the bottom of our hearts now and forever - thank you for being our TacoFam. 💜

12/08/2024

It's a double header for TacoCat! Meagan is having fun in Madison, but if you're out by MKE and still looking for some stocking stuffers or a gift for the furry ones in your life, you're in luck!
I'll be eating amazing vegan food and selling cat toys at the old Pabst brewery today until 4, come check it out!

12/08/2024

It's DAY TWO of ! Hope to see ya at the most epic holiday event in Madison, we'll be hanging out at The Goodman Center til 2pm!

Address

931 E. Main Street Suite #15
Madison, WI
53703

Website

http://www.tacocatcreations.com/

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TacoCat Studios Holiday Shopping now open for business! See ya here at 931 E Main St until 4pm today!

Weekly TacoChat - Happy December!

The TacoVan rides again! Two rides in a tow truck, one axle from a junkyard in Arizona, a new alternator, and many many cold hours of labor in our driveway later, Goldie the TacoVan is back on the road. Thank you to my dad, Finn, and Dave for all your work getting our wheels back, and thank you SO MUCH to our friends Mary and John and Anne and David for loaning us your vehicles while she was up on jack stands during our busiest month of the year. Your generosity made it possible for us to keep going, and we appreciate it more than you know. And thank you to all of our TacoFamily who heard our cries for help and responded with orders and even Venmos, all of your kindness helped ease our financial burden and mental anguish while we got her functional again. 💜 We are so grateful to have the support of our community now and always. Next up - the Volvo!

Weekly TacoChat!

Weekly TacoChat!!

Open Studio Hours today til 4pm!

Weekly TacoChat!!!

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Our Story

Each one of our cat toys is hand sewn and individually stuffed with super potent catnip purchased in small batches from a farm or grown right in our backyard. If your cat doesn’t respond to catnip, give ours a try! We have built a reputation for making catnip toys proven to drive your cats crazy. Just check out our social media!

From our large fully-stuffed MadRats and NerdRats, to our small MewMice, our super-durable RuffRats and refillable Fizzle Stix kicker toys - we have a catnip toy for every preference. Lounge around on one of our NipMats (available in two sizes!) or add catnip to the hidden pocket in the top for extra fun!

Also featured is our unique line of DapperCat bowties and collars. Each collar and bowtie is sewn by hand - not glued - ensuring they stay sturdy and beautiful. Available in a wide variety of colors and patterns, we’re sure you’ll find something to complete your cat’s look.

TacoCat Creations

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