Neighbour just rung doorbell at 2.30am!

What a stupid selfish cow she is! And how can she see the cat in the dark!

I would have helped. Presumably it’s an indoor cat who got out somehow, since you said she was visibly distressed. An indoor cat won’t necessarily find their own way home. I don’t think I would have rung on a neighbours door at 2:30am, but I would be in bits if it were my indoor cat so I have sympathy. I’m sure the responses here would all be very different if we were talking about someone crying and asking for help for their dog.

If all members of my household are safely at home and my phone is working for people to call me, I am not answering my door at 2.30 am for anyone. Your neighbour is supremely selfish. Unless she knows you keep late hours, at that time of night it's fair to assume she'd be waking you up.

It is not unreasonable to be cross at 2.30am when you are woken up needlessly but as DH was already downstairs and willing to get said cat, I think it was a bit unkind to tell him not to. Of course I would tell your neighbour that this would never happen again and how unreasonable it was!
If you usually have a good relationship with your neighbour, I probably would have done it this one time. You never know when you might need something unreasonable....but it wouldn't happen twice.

Ring, rang, rung. Now which one is correct? I am fuming that you do not know...
As for cats, well they do their own thing, do they not?

Nope, not being woken up at 2:30am over a bloody cat.

YANBU op.

Gosh all the people on the thread telling OP to ‘be kind’. You’d think hardly anyone on mumsnet had a job requiring them to wake up at, say, 6am and maybe drive an hour to work. You know, the sort of normal thing people do in order to pay bills.

I’d be livid if a neighbour knocked on my door at 2.30am because of her cat. Utterly livid.

I think it is unreasonable to write 'fumming'. Hence I have voted unreasonable.

Is your neighbour always a bit nuts? Our cats go out every night, and I have no idea where they go. They're cats....

Why didn't she just try coaxing her cat home?🤔

Yanbu she will do it over and over again if you indulge her. Ringing te doorbell is crazy behaviour! Although id check the garden in the morning to see if she broke in. I wouldn't put it past her to try that.

I had a new neighbour who i exchanged WhatsApp numbers with. She asked me literally every other day for about a month if I'd seen her fucking cat at night.

In the end I told her to get a cat flap if she was so worried, since he was clearly an explorer (and he would sit and cry at the door for hours if she went out or was asleep and didnt let him in). I told her I don't really pay attention to cats in my garden to report on it - sorry. Then ignored the next 2 requests for cat stuff. She got the hint and now only messages if its more urgent about something else.

"It's half past 2 in the morning!! Get your cat if you must but please don't knock on my door or wake me up about it again!"

It's bonkers to knock a neighbour up at 2.30am for any reason other than life or death.

Is it an indoor cat that's escaped, or is it injured? I'd be annoyed but would have let her get the cat.

This.
Cats have the right to roam and frequently do at night (I am not a fan of predatory cars btw). What was she bothered about?

She was unreasonable, but since he was already down there i wouldn't have stopped him grabbing the cat. She's clearly very anxious to have been that worried about the cat

By this time everyone was up and your DH was downstairs with you yelling for him not to go help and now you are on here, the night is ruined lol. I would’ve done it this time, but told her never again.

Nope, OP was quite right as loony tunes from next door would have definitely been encouraged to harass and bother OP again in future. And they'd have lost more of their own precious sleep time while loony tunes faffed about.

Now she knows she'll be told to eff off and will think twice.

And it's desperate doormat behaviour to #bekind to loons who have no problem being super unkind to you - as the neighbour was. She's a nutter.

I'm completely with you op, I'd have been fuming if the neighbour was banging on the door for something so silly, I'm not longer a cat owner but they do wander and do whatever they want! Deffo go and knock in the morning and let her know she was being ridiculous

🙄 FFS

I think the op was kind. I'd have given her a few choice words and told her where to go! At that time of night it's crazy. I'm fuming for you op.

To all the people saying op should have got the cat then it would have been sending out the message to this woman that it's okay.

I would have been nonplussed at why on earth she thought it was ok to ring your doorbell at 230 am for anything less than life or death, eg your house was on fire.

id expect an apology and a promise not to be so ridiculous ever again.

How neighbourly of you.

Would I have been irritated at being woken up?
Yes.

Would I have helped her and the cat?
Yes.

YaNBU to be annoyed that she woke you at 2:30

YABU to boss your DH about, if he was willing to get the cat its not on for you to not let him. As you're thinking of going round today to say not to call again anyway there was no harm while DH was up to get the cat