To break into new neighbours house *serious question, NOT trolling*

[Catsos]

Name change as I don’t want neighbours to recognise me😭

I have a cat who has a bit of a reputation on our street for forcing his way into neighbours homes by breaking open their cat-flaps to steal their pets food. He’s been doing it for years, not much I can do about it besides keeping him in which he would hate. Anyway….

Here is the problem..

This afternoon I realised I hadn’t seen him for nearly 24 hours (very unusual for him). I went out into the street to look for him when I spotted the bloody buggar in the window of the house two doors down!!!
This house was recently bought by a couple who are living elsewhere while they are renovating it. I have briefly spoken to this couple once, and they mentioned they have cats, so I assumed they have already had a cat-flap installed which he has broken into.

I was really confused why he hadn’t come back out, so I peered through their front window and spotted the catflap which he must have entered through. It’s one of those “smart” catflap brands which only opens if the cat has the right microchip. So he’s managed to get in, but now he can’t get out as his microchip isn’t unlocking it. I can see his muddy scratch marks on their newly painted wall besides the catflap, so he’s obviously been trying to get back out 😩😩

So here’s the even bigger problem…

As i’ve said, the couple who own the house are living elsewhere while renovating it. So there is nobody here to let him back out. I usually see them visit the house every week or so but I don’t know when they will be here next and he has already been inside for around 24 hours.

I’ve already spoken to all of the neighbours and nobody has contact details for them. I did think I could contact the estate agents who their house was on the market with to try and get their contact details but as it is the bank holiday they won’t be open until Tuesday - which means he will have been trapped for 72 hours inside their house.

What should I do?! Do I try and break in, get my cat and then secure the property as best I can and explain what happened when they are next here? That sounds like a really bad start to a relationship with them but then my cats trapped inside, presumably without water?!

OP isn’t doing their best at being a pet owner! If they are then they need to give it up as a bad job, get rid and give pet a responsible home 😬

I don’t really care if it pisses you off, this is another life relying on OP who is letting the cat down daily.

Perhaps. The problem is the bank holiday really putting a spanner in the works. Google says cats only can survive 3-4 days without water. Tomorrow will be Day 2.

It’s too dark now to do more but tomorrow I will try the locksmiths suggestion and see if I can poke something round the bend of the catflap tunnel.

I won’t sleep tonight with worry 😪 I’m glad it’s entertaining to some of you - for example the poster who suggested I drop boiled eggs down the chimney. I know you are mocking me but in my desperation the crabsticks did seem like a good idea as I thought the strong smell would attract the cat into the room.

But message received, I won’t try and push thinly sliced ham through the bathroom window air vent. I am just feeling desperate and am not thinking straight. My neighbours are basically all elderly and I don’t have anyone here to help. It’s extremely stressful :(

Thank you for all of the suggestions, I’ll make a list of them to try tomorrow incase the locksmith won’t come out.

Surely bashing the cat flap really hard with a broom would break it? Trying to imagine a cat flap which is on such a bend you can’t do this.

I think I'd break the catflap if they're not there tomorrow. You can't leave your cat in the neighbours house really, I mean not just for his health but imagine the damage he could do in that time

OP are you sure the door to the room with the window you put crabsticks through is open? Maybe the cat can't access that room?

I'd break the smallest window you can get through yourself. There is no point breaking the smallest window because the door of that room might not be open . You need to break the window of the room the cat is in.....but only if you have enough money to pay for to replace the window asap along with any other costs e.g. their alarm (which doesn't seem to be on) might need to be refitted etc.

I presume you have tried to set off their alarm? They will be notified and will come to the house if it goes off?

OMG. I am wetting myself @Catsos trying not to laugh, and I just can't let myself laugh when your poor pussy is stressed (and potentially in danger, although I know you would break a window or door before you let her get into that sort of condition), and how stressed you are too.

So please OP come back with an update as soon as possible, before I break into hysterical laughter and really do myself a mischief! 🙏🙏🙏

Mouldyfoodhelp · Today 22:29

Go away.

What about asking on a local fb group if the owners of x address can get in touch, or anyone who knows them?

Quite aside from the hillarious “I’m feeding my cat crab sticks through the windows and ham through the vents, as hillarious as it is to suggest people hire locksmiths to break into their neighbours’ houses, if a genuine OP posted that her abusive ex had been round while she was at work and had hired a locksmith to open the door so he could enter her property nobody would be suggesting that the locksmith was perfectly ok to do so. And yet people on here seem to think that a locksmith should just open the door, that it’s not a problem that they don’t need to see any proof that the OP has the right to access the property.

This thread is keeping people’s attention because there’s an amusing story behind it, but it’s not amusing that any locksmith will apparently open a door for anyone who asks for it to be done, and that might well include the ex partner of many of the posters here who have escaped abusive relationships.

I don’t really care that people think I’m harsh. This thread will likely be gone by morning anyway.

But some of the messages in it are disturbing, and I imagine that anyone who has escaped DV might well be upset by the realisation that her ex could enter her property as and when he wanted because a locksmith would be happy to do so for him.

@Maireas You win the internet today 😂

I was wondering what being a Star Trek fan had to do with anything.

"If I were not a consummate professional, and an android, I would find this entire procedure insulting."

Call the police or fire brigade. You can’t
break into someone else’s house but
they can.

My cat once broke into a house via a cat flap into a conservatory, then through another cat flap into the main house. He then knocked over a washing dryer stand and got blocked in. Lucky for him there was a dripping tap and a huge bag of cat biscuits. The owners were on holiday and called us 3 days later - we had put flyers through doors look Ming for him.

So they are resourceful hopefully he will drink toilet water or something!

It may be dark but surely you have a torch or your phone a light to photograph the tunnel in the wall and the window latch? If the door to that room isnt open why did you put food and water in there?

Can you either get through the small window or reach in and open a bigger one if you can break the latch? Front doors may need a key to open the door even if you broke any glass in it, but you can sometimes reach in small windows to open large ones.

If you have a metal washing line prop, you might be able to bend it a bit for the cat flap. Take some pictures of it for us tomorrow, I've never heard of a cat flap with a bend. Also, what about the window vent? Could you break it off and open the window? Personally, I'd ring a locksmith and explain. If this doesn't work, I'd be calling the police/RSPCA again. Maybe bending the truth about how long the cat has been trapped might help?

This will blow the flap wide open OP. Get a fire extinguisher and poke the hose bit round the corner then pack in as much towels as possible to form a seal. Pull the handle on the FE and bingo build up of pressure and off comes the cat flap. We unblocked a toilet like this on Spain once... works like a charm. But be warned when it happens it happens quickly and not particularly cleanly.

Aaaawwwwww. You two sound match made in heaven 💘

What about the letter box op?

I haven't read all 28 pages OP, but I have read your posts, so apologies if I'm repeating what someone else has said.

I was trying to think what I'd do if this was my cat. I think I would post in all the local facebook pages to ask if anyone from the estate agent could contact you and that it's an emergency - at least that way you're not publicising an empty house. And see if anyone can point you in the direction of people who work at the estate agent and send them a message begging and pleading for them to get in touch with the house owners.

Also I wonder if there's a way to bypass the catflap's microchip controls. Is there any way you can see from the outside to get into a battery compartment? Anything like that is probably on the inside but it might be worth a look.

op sounds really entitled, just like her blooming cat.

Hurrah! Is this the first sighting of 'entitled' on the thread? I predict a post soon saying:

'You don't seem to like your cat very much, & it probably hates you. I don't know why you're even together.'

id break the window that i saw my cat in and pay the damage.
rspca ( from past exp are useless) id not leave my cat there.
then make him
a house cat. He will get used to it.

I have no suggestions but i am so curious to see how you he the cat out.

I suspect puss can't access that room OP. He must surely be able to smell the crabsticks. The bank holiday might work in your favour, maybe the owners will pop by tomorrow to do some work. Maybe pop a note through the door tonight just in case they do. I'm wondering if you ring a locksmith tomorrow whether it might be better to be economical with the truth over the phone and they might be more inclined to help you once they are there and see your predicament? Good luck with it all. I've got two cats of my own, they are indoor and one got out last year and it was such a worry so while a few jokes have been made I do know what a worry it is. Do keep us updated xx

@Catsos I am so sorry, I started this thread ages ago, and we started watching a film, so I didn't see your latest up-date, I shouldn't have let you know how hilarious this post would be if it weren't for the difficult circumstances. You will get your cat out in time, but maybe you should call the fire brigade, they might be able to grt someone througj an upstairs window, or be able to break open the cat flap? Good luck, I have everything crossed for you! xx