r/helsinki • u/R91821243848 • 3d ago
Question Cat spotted in Arabia, is it normal?
Hi! I spotted a light silver-grey, long-haired cat in Arabia today around 8:35 PM. It looked like a medium-sized adult cat with a long, very fluffy tail, possibly resembling a silver Siberian cat.
It ran across Hämeentie towards the football field. It ran off pretty quickly, so I couldn't get a photo, but I've attached the exact location and a sample image.
I'm not sure if it's someone's lost pet. I've seen cats outside during summer, but usually around their homes or gardens.
I want to ask if it is normal to see one roaming around at this hour (pretty dark outside) and in this weather (around 10 degrees) especially crossing a road? Thankfully there were no cars at the time.
I checked some lost cat listings but couldn't find anything nearby (maybe someone who speaks Finnish would have better luck). I don't use other social media, so I thought I'd ask here just in case someone is looking for it.
Location:
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u/PartyWalrus1244 3d ago
There was a notice at k market Toukola about a runaway cat today, may be the same one. Not sure if it was silver or white at the picture.
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u/whatisitmooncake 3d ago
It's probably the lost white short haired senior cat. They've put posters up all around Toukola about it
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u/TUC_Cracker 3d ago
Yeah, it's pretty normal, but good that you posted about it! If someone had lost it or something. Also many cats tend to go on their own adventures and find their way home after.
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u/Excellent_Isopod_178 2d ago
personally i don’t care if someone owns the cat, if i’d see one somewhere i’d try to pick it up and bring it to a local shelter to see if they’re chipped. i don’t think cats are supposed to freeroam outside especially in helsinki
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u/ItchyPlant 2d ago
It's normal in the sense that cats, despite being domesticated, still have a mind of their own. Let them outside and they'll explore, though they usually prefer returning to the humans they trust. This cat may have been out before and learned a thing or two about traffic. But one wrong move and it ends up flattened like a postage stamp.
What's not normal is that Finnish society is generally pretty good at keeping pets safe and under control. After all, their owners are responsible for them. So unless this cat simply escaped, its owner apparently wouldn't mind turning the neighborhood into a street-cat bazaar straight out of Türkiye.
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u/Jijimuge8 3d ago
I don’t see what’s strange about a cat being outside
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u/R91821243848 3d ago
As far as I know, cats aren't allowed to roam freely here, and it's not common to see them outside on their own. I've personally never come across a pet wandering around without its owner before.
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u/SocialHumbuggery 3d ago
That is unfortunately not true for the most part. Cats can roam free except for few exceptions to the sad death of a large amount of innocent critters.
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u/footpole 3d ago
Well you’re not allowed to let them roam on playgrounds, beaches, markets, running trails etc. You aren’t allowed to leave them in a dangerous place either such as in traffic as that can be negligence.
Now I don’t know how you can ensure that unless you live very far away.
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u/SocialHumbuggery 3d ago
Yeah those were the exceptions I was referring to, but as the OP wasn't in any of those areas I didn't feel it was necessary to list them.
Indeed when people let their cats roam, they hardly make sure the cat follows those rules.
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u/English_in_Helsinki 3d ago
Welcome to Finland, or at least Helsinki and very much Käpylä. Unlike everywhere else I’ve lived where cats just come and go most of the time, here there is a significant proportion of people who get their knickers in a right twist about it. They go ballistic. They try and capture cats they see and take them to animal rescue centres. It’s the weirdest fucking thing about this country, bar people being confused as to why you might acknowledge a driver stopping for you to cross on a pedestrian crossing.
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u/pigeonhoe 3d ago
Cats impact local bird populations negatively. Many places where free roaming cats are common have issues with huge stray cat populations that can’t be controlled, and many of those cats do not live great lives. The average lifespan of an outdoor cat is half that of an indoor cat. Modern city infrastructure and traffic is not safe for cats, and the fact that free roaming cats are common in many other cities does not mean that we should make it a problem here.
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u/Jijimuge8 3d ago
Yeah that’s really strange. Why would they want to take them to an animal rescue centre?
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u/English_in_Helsinki 3d ago
Because they are fucking furious about the existence of outdoor cats.
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u/Jijimuge8 3d ago
What’s their logic? I mean I’m not exactly a cat fan but where I grew up cats just roam and everyone has to deal with it.
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u/CatVideoBoye 3d ago
Cats are not part of our nature and kill a lot of birds every year especially during nesting season. With most of our bird species on the decline, it is a bad thing.
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u/whatisitmooncake 3d ago edited 3d ago
Unfortunately there are a lot of free roaming cats around Kumpula and Toukola (I run into them every day on walks with my dog) as there are a lot of detached houses in these areas. So they probably roam all around Arabia, too, as it is an adjacent area.