Let’s Chat: The answer is simple

By Linda Tooth on November 26, 2025.

It seems every time I scroll through social media, somebody somewhere has posted that they have lost their cat or they have a wandering cat living in their yard. A little piece of my heart is broken every time a person post that it has been days or even weeks and their cat has not come home and probably never will.

A few things are likely to have happened and I am not going to go into detail and help fuel a fire that has been simmering for a long time but I am going to say this, keep your cats indoors.

By letting your cat out to free roam the neighbourhood you are adding to a growing problem that exists in this area. That problem is cats fighting in the middle of the night, injured or worse yet, dead cats who have been hit by vehicles and left for people to find in the morning, female cats not spayed coming home pregnant, cats being hunted by wildlife living within our region, or worse yet phone calls made to Bylaw to come and pick up a trapped cats(s) who likely belong to someone.

Up until a few days ago, if Bylaw was called they would take the cat(s) to the City of Medicine Hat Animal Pound Services, formerly APARC.

Unfortunately, they have a mild case of feline parvovirus (panleukopenia) in a kitten in their care. According to their Facebook post they are asking the following “We kindly ask the public to postpone trapping or surrendering cats during this period.”

The period they will be closed is 10 days. Where do they go now? The communication person in me is thinking I might have reworded their statement, but the message is now out there and we need to do our part to ensure our cat(s) are safe and looked after.

The weather is turning colder and with that comes a new set of problems with cats who are someone’s pets out free-roaming our streets. Where will they get shelter to help keep warm during the windy and snowy days that are coming.

The answer is clear, keep your cats indoors.

I’m sure I have upset some people and I am OK with that, as we are all entitled to our opinions, but please believe me when I say by keeping your cat(s) indoors you are helping them live a longer and healthier life.

Have a Meowtastic Day and keep reading!

Linda Tooth is a philanthropy and youth support worker, YMCA of Southeastern Alberta