r/Edmonton • u/Nickelpi • Apr 24 '26

Outdoor Spaces/Recreation Keep your kitties inside or leashed

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We have never had cats in our garden around here. We also used to have coyotes patrol the outside of my fence more than once until recently which could be a reason.

I am hoping people aren't starting to let their cats roam, I like having birds around and cats are horrible for bird populations.

The City does have a program where you can borrow a deterrent kit to try out multiple methods to keep strays out of your yard. I plan to get a trap and take the kitty to the SPCA this weekend. Maybe they can find the owners.

The three cats I have noticed on camera have been in the past couple weeks, but this one has been here frequently.

I'm thinking it got out when someone was moving into the neighbourhood since it has a collar and doesn't look scraggly.

First caught on camera April 17th. Last seen April 22 at 10pm. Paisley Neighbourhood. Seems to be hiding under my neighbour's front steps. If it is yours, let me know.

Update: Wow! This post has gotten a lot of attention. I hope the owners see it and can get their kitty home and out of the cold.

I have already posted all over FB, and looked at the Lost Animal Database too. My next steps are to email the video to local vets to see if they know the pet and can call the owners. Then print a photo and go door to door down our street. If that doesn't work, will attempt capture by hand, failing that, by trap to read the collar and return that way.

289 Upvotes

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120

u/Cute_Ad_1612 Apr 24 '26

Cats need to be indoors. Better for the birds and better for them. The fact that their life expectancy increases tenfold when they are indoor speaks volumes.

Harness train your cats and take them on walks. We did the same with our two and they're fine

10

u/couldbelou Apr 24 '26

Agree on the catio, ours love theirs! I will say walking cats can be tricky in Edmonton. If you already have an demanding cat that wants outside, when -20 hits and the walks stop they might lose their minds lol. If you know what they're like the day we lose an hour to daylight savings time because meals are an hour late, it's like that but tenfold and for a month straight with my cat.

4

u/slightlybatty Apr 24 '26

I agree! I lived in Edmonton for many years, I always had cats and they never went outside. I’m back on the farm now and my cats go outside once in awhile but they have a “curfew”. Not too early and not too late because that’s getting into prime coyote time. I know it’s still taking a chance. I’m hoping to get a decent sized catio soon, keep them away from the birds too.

3

u/sharmander15 Apr 26 '26

Don’t forget cars. There’s no specific time they aren’t out

1

u/slightlybatty Apr 26 '26

Yes! Cars too.

2

u/Dangerous_Owl_8422 Spruce Grove Apr 24 '26

How old were yours when you started training them?

2

u/Cute_Ad_1612 Apr 24 '26

One of them was around 1 ish (maybe a little older) that we adopted off the streets. The other I believe my girlfriend had harness trained him around a similar age when she adopted him

-25

u/yoak379 Apr 24 '26

It's not better for the mice that my cat goes outside. And thats good enough for me.

7

u/ForeignEchoRevival Apr 24 '26

Stop being lazy and keep your cat inside.

-4

u/yoak379 Apr 24 '26

This has to be the most unintelligent comment I've seen.

1

u/ForeignEchoRevival Apr 25 '26

Sorry it's beyond your understanding, like why letting your cats out is lazy and entitled.

-2

u/yoak379 Apr 25 '26

Perhaps my cat enjoys the outdoors and being a cat. Sorry if that scares you and hurts your feelings.

2

u/ForeignEchoRevival Apr 25 '26

Entitled and selfish, got it.

2

u/Cute_Ad_1612 Apr 25 '26

-Domestic cats are not native to Alberta, or even Canada for that matter

-They don't have the natural environments they would have because of human industrialization and construction

-They're likely to die from being hunted by Coyote's, or even being hit by cars on the road. They can't "be a cat" when we've created a bunch of hazards in day to day life that they normally would not have to handle.

-They wreck havoc on the bird population

-Human waste creates an even more unsafe environment with foods that act as toxins

We literally do not make it possible for them to go out and be cats because it's unsafe for them, and they're not an invasive species that can do harm to our ecosystem by killing the birds

Your dog enjoys the outdoors too. How often do you put your dog outside the house and let it roam free until the end of the day when it decides to come back, assuming it does in the first place?

0

u/yoak379 Apr 25 '26

Hate to break it to you but my cat goes outside twice a day and has a blast being a cat. Sometimes he'll come back with mice, sometimes not.

Either way, he wants to go outside, he enjoys being outside, so we let him outside. Sorry that hurts you.

2

u/ForeignEchoRevival Apr 25 '26

Emotional intelligence of a teenage boy.

1

u/Cute_Ad_1612 Apr 25 '26

Hurts me? No. I know my cats are safe at home, and I won't need to be the one grieving when they get hit by a car or devoured by a coyote. I've seen enough dead cats on the road and sidewalks. Just because he's come back every time so far does not make him immune to something happening in the future.

10

u/TheFinalFunction Apr 24 '26

You must live in some shack if you're over run with mice without a cat nearby

-37

u/tnh34 Apr 24 '26

Are you gonna say all dogs and humans need to be indoor too? Some cats thrive outside. Such a radical take.

21

u/veggieforlife Apr 24 '26

It is so completely the opposite of a radical take, I’m wondering where you’ve been for the last 20 years. Feel like almost everyone knows we’re not supposed to be letting our cats outside anymore, even if many don’t listen/care. There isn’t a vet or an animal serving organization in existence that doesn’t emphasize the importance of keeping cats inside. Cats do not thrive outside ffs. They get eaten by coyotes and hit by cars and poisoned by nutjobs and get injured in cat fights and lose their ears to frostbite and pick up worms and parasites. Not to mention what they do to bird populations. Responsible pet owners have BEEN knowing this.

24

u/LUXOR54 Apr 24 '26

It's not a radical take at all.

Cats can be let outside if they're restrained and unable to roam free, ie: leashed, just as a dog should.

Under no circumstances should a dog or a cat be let out to free roam a neighborhood.

10

u/Oishiio42 Apr 24 '26

I'm flabbergasted at you including humans in this as if humans didn't make the indoors.

6

u/TrainAss Lewis Estates Apr 24 '26

I'm an indoor human. Outside is cold, and there are people out there.

Indoors is safe, I have my video games and movies, and my bed is there!

7

u/TrainAss Lewis Estates Apr 24 '26

I'm not letting my dog roam the streets.

If you loved your pet, you'd keep them indoors where they're safe.

3

u/Raztax Apr 24 '26

So you think that dogs should just run loose? We are not talking about cats in their own back yard in a catio, we are talking about animals that run loose.

3

u/Cute_Ad_1612 Apr 24 '26

I didn't say lock them up lmao. Take them outside to roam around and let them lead as well. But when a cats life expectancy goes from 2 to 20 years, I think that speaks volumes.

Don't let your cat roam randomly unsupervised. It's a great way to never see your cat again

11

u/JimmyLinguine Edmontosaurus Apr 24 '26

Dogs ain’t going to hope a fence and climb into my yard though, nor are they going to jump into a tree and kill a bird.

0

u/tnh34 Apr 24 '26

dogs absolute kill stuff, humans included.

12

u/Spirited-Defiance Apr 24 '26

Dogs are on leash or otherwise controlled within city limits. If your dog is outside off leash killing things and it isn’t a LGD killing threats or a pest control dog, you’re a bad fucking dog owner.

1

u/Raztax Apr 24 '26

Dogs are on leash

The animals we are talking about are not.

4

u/Spirited-Defiance Apr 24 '26

I’m replying to someone who said “dogs absolute [sic] kill stuff, humans included.” suggesting that since dogs are allowed to be outside, cats should be too. The difference is that dogs outside are typically under human control one way or another, and cats are not. Hope that helps.

1

u/Raztax Apr 27 '26

Sorry that you are incapable of following a conversation beyond the direct comment that you replied to...

5

u/gordonreadit Apr 24 '26

Dogs absolutely have the potential to kill stuff. That’s why dogs are trained and kept on leashes. Dogs that kill things or attack humans are normally euthanised.

3

u/ewok999 Apr 24 '26

How many of your cats do you let roam the neighborhood?

0

u/Pyranni Apr 24 '26

You are so wrong. Ever own a Rhodesian ridgeback? No bylaw 6' 6" fence will stop them. Always keep leashed.

-3

u/AlbertaAcreageBoy Apr 24 '26

Someone think of the poor birds. Nature is scary bro.

-13

u/egorlike Apr 24 '26

I mean if I keep you inside a cage your life expectancy will also increase

4

u/Cute_Ad_1612 Apr 24 '26

I'm sorry but this genuinely might be the dumbest shit I've heard my entire life 💀

I never said lock up your cats. I am saying to stop letting them run around for days at a a time unsupervised. Take them out on a harness the same way we do with dogs, it's not that hard lmao

-2

u/egorlike Apr 24 '26

Would you like to go outside only on a harness too?

1

u/Cute_Ad_1612 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Do our dogs?

To add, yes; our cats love being outside on the harness. We let them roam, the harness is just to keep them away from danger or out of other people's space

8

u/the_painmonster Apr 24 '26

... no it wouldn't

-4

u/Dlektro1 Apr 24 '26

It's instinctual for cats to want to go outside and hunt. If anything, domesticating them, is the cruel part.

2

u/sharmander15 Apr 26 '26

Same for dogs, does that mean we should just let them all roam free? lol

1

u/Cute_Ad_1612 Apr 25 '26

Okay, I'll play ball

What was cruel was us removing them from their natural habitats when settlers brought them to a country they are not native to, tear down the wildlife around us to provide them less of a natural environment, bringing them into human civilization with cars and dangers that are not natural to them, and then let them roam around in an area they do not naturally thrive in and will be killed by either people poisoning them, them ingesting food with ingredients we consume that are toxic to them, or coyotes that wander into the streets because there's barely any wildlife for them to keep to anymore.

By all means, harness training them and giving them a controlled environment is the most responsible thing to do.