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?!

My elderly mother (who has experience of this kind of thing) suggests you call the fire brigade.

UPDATE?

@Catsos Sending some sympathy your way - cats are so wonderful, except when they are pulling stunts like this!

I don't have any other suggestions sorry, other than breaking a window and then securing it and apologising profusely to the new owners - I hope you have your cat back with you soon.

Am I the only person who really, really wishes that people posting suggestions would RTFT, or at least all OP’s posts, before suggesting something which has already been suggested by 50 different people? And, in most cases, OP has already explained why she can’t do that, or she’s tried it and met a brick wall etc.

Well I went to bed half expecting the cat to appear at ops house on its own
I have instead woken to a flurry of people who can't read the full thread or at least the ops updates
The repetitive responses which are mostly illegal, been tried or just batshit
Im invested in this thread now
Once the bloody thing is home op ness to either keep it indoors or get a catio/ one of those fence things to stop the bloody terror pestering other homes
I don't want somebody's cat coming in my home

How is a cat tunnel longer than an arm. Surely an arm would be long enough to bend round and open the cat flap?

We had almost exactly the same thing happen a few years ago. My husband and one of the neighbours ending up breaking a glass panel in the back door to get in then we posted a very apologetic note through. I hope you get it sorted. I remember being so stressed.

for safety perhaps?

How about the fire brigade?? Don’t know if this has been considered but they help cats stuck up trees etc!

There is a big difference between a cat up a tree and expecting them to break into a house.

You seem stressed. I recommend meditation before bed

If I couldn’t break the cat flap - I’d smash the bottom window (it’s a cheap UVPC panel) - the neighbours may never forgive you - but probably worth it to free your cat. You could call an emergency glazier to be on stand-by to fix? Have you knocked on all the other neighbours doors to check no one has contact details?

I’ve read the whole thing ..…..

Go into rightmove and find out the Estate Agent, then go onto the local FB group “Does anyone know someone who works for (estate agent), there is an emergency “ - the people who work for the Estate Agent will live in your community.

On a side note, I gave a serious allergy to cats, any owner whose cat entered my property should expect to receive an invoice for a professional cleaning company.

Please keep us updated 🐈🐱🐈‍⬛

@ExtraOnions hopefully you wouldnt have an accessible cat flap in that case?

@Catsos I’m sure the fire brigade sort out trapped animals.

Hopefully the toilet lid is up and your cat will be having a good drink. It’s my cat’s preferred water sauce even if there’s a nice fresh bowl for her 😒

OP, it might be that you're unable to reach the cat flap through the tunnel you described. When my cat did a similar thing, I was able to use a long stick to poke down the catches of the cat flap that hold it locked (they were small black pop up catches that stopped the bottom of the door opening outwards) and at the same time, have another stick with a lump of blue tack on the end to pull open the flap as my arm wasn't quite long enough and there wasn't enough to grab onto. Once I'd done that, I used the first stick to hold up the flap and call my cat out. Is anything like this possible? Failing that, I'd probably get a long piece of fencing post and smash the flap and pay for a new one. Depends on how well you know your neighbours of course.

Not totally sure it work but could you pay to get office copy entries from the land registry, then once you know their names track them down via social media.

OP said she can see the catflap inside by peering through the front window.

Yes, sorry , thanks!

I was thinking there was still some doubt as to whether or not it was a catflap.

I wonder what enticed him in if he usually goes after food?

Curiosity I guess!

Please tell us how you stop a cat going into another house. Such an idiotic thing to say.

You sound like an ex neighbour of mine. I had a cat that would use their door knocker to knock on their door and also go and stare at them through their patio doors. She came and told me to stop my cat doing those things!

I told her I would have a word with him. Couple of weeks later she comes and tells me he is still doing it. I said well I spoke to him but he ignored me. Stupid cow

Strong garden hose should bend enough but also be rigid enough to push the cat flap open . Or can you get your arm in there ?

😂

Everyone talking about sending invoices for damages etc...

The owners haven't secured their house properly to stop other people's cats coming in. That's their fault! They aren't going to be able to bill the OP for cat pee on their carpets. Cats aren't dogs. You aren't liable for them in the same way.

Obviously you'll have to pay for the damage to the cat flap if you can manage to break it.

I think once a free roaming car becomes a nuisance to neighbours the level of free roaming needs to be reconsidered.

I say this as a dedicated cat slave. But one who can’t have downstairs windows open because a male neighbour cat comes in - eats any food in the kitchen (cat or human) and pees in my house.

o don’t mind cats pooing in my garden or sleeping on my plants - but this cat has cost me a fortune in carpet cleaners. I had to throw out a chair because the smell was embedded.

Please tell us how you stop a cat going into another house. Such an idiotic thing to say.

You don't let them leave your own house. I would have thought that was obvious, but apparently not. It's not an answer I approve of, but it does work.

In This situation I would break in and ensure you are willing to pay any cost to repair. You also will need to make the building secure. If it were my house I wouldn’t want a trapped cat inside. It is their own fault he got in. We have a microchip catflap and a local cat liked to tailgate our cat into our house. He was a lovely cat but it clearly was a problem. We added him as a cat programmed on to the catflap but there was no setting on the app to stop a cat from getting in but allow it to get out (only the other way around) and we were worried he would get trapped. The catflap company had to specifically programme that option in for us.