By Scott Roblin

City crews say cats living inside catch basin have vacated

Feb 19, 2019 | 5:46 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A family of cats huddled inside of a catch basin over the last few days have vacated the drain, at least for now.

On social media, a flurry of posts were made recently about a mother cat and her kittens that were heard inside of a drainage gate off Northlands Gate NE.

Medicine Hat Municipal Enforcement confirmed the cats weren’t in any immediate danger and the feral animals were being fed regularly.

They also had concerns about the mother cat’s aggressiveness when a passerby tried to pick her up, with Municipal Enforcement supervisor Heather Trail saying the animals know their environment.

“As soon as the environment starts to change and she realizes it’s no longer safe, she will move those kittens somewhere else,” said Trail. “She’ll be smart and she’ll get them out of there in time.”

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It seems as though that may have happened already, as City of Medicine Hat staff were able to remove ice around the grate so it could be opened freely and found no visible cats in the catch basin.

Seeing as the cats could return, they are advising people to contact the Medicine Hat Fire Department who are trained to enter the confined space.

Trail said these cases of cats being found in perceived dangerous environments aren’t that uncommon in Medicine Hat.

“We’ll have those reports where somebody has found a cat in a garbage bin or something, and people will assume that the cat was placed in there,” said Trail. “Actually, the moms just found that to be a safe, warm place in the boxes and cardboard, so I mean it does happen. Of course, spring is coming and we’re going to have a lot of cats that are on the loose and they need to be taken care of.”

She added it’s vital that cat owners spay and neuter their pets to make sure these type of situations can be prevented in the future.

“Now, we’re going to have another mother and then she’s got a litter of kittens that we can’t get a hold of, and they’re just going to end up breeding,” she said. “And so, it just carries on. We just really need people to take it seriously and understand that this is result of when they fail to spay or neuter their pets.”

Anyone who sees the cats reappear in the catch basin can contact either the local fire department at 403-529-8282 or bylaw enforcement at 403-529-8481.