To break into my new neighbours house *THREAD 2*

[Catsos]

Following on from my thread yesterday https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4881905-to-break-into-new-neighbours-house-serious-question-not-trolling

to update all of the lovely people who are trying to help me rescue my cat who has got himself stuck in an unoccupied house.

Updating very shortly

How can you not picture a 90° bend?!

My neighbour has one, they certainly do exist.

Why are people like you even on this thread? The OP asked for advice on getting her cat home, not posts from a bunch of people who obviously don't know the first thing about cats, and appear to have nothing better to do than lecture others about how they should house theirs.

No, OP asked about whether she should break in to her neighbour's house, with no mention of cats at all in the title; and she posted it in AIBU and not The Litter Tray.

You can hardly expect people who don't care about cats to be psychic and ignore a thread that appears to be about burglary/trespass/neighbour disputes on the grounds that they happen not to be fond of cats.

Plus, the thread is about cats to OP, but it isn't to the neighbours who've had their house damaged and who may also not like cats (if the cat flap is a remnant from the previous home owner) - to them, it is indeed about an unwanted and unauthorised entry leading to damage of their property.

Yep, they make cat leads believe it or not 😀

I do go places but love living inside, my dog loves to go places, forests, beaches, new walks, dog play park, but loves living inside.

Pushing unwanted views? Cats affect other people which is why people have their views. It's more like you're pushing your unwanted cats on neighbours. I don't have unwanted cats coming into my house anymore thank God because I have a dog but prior to that they were a nuisance climbing in the window.

Before those cats moved in, I always had stray cats who loved to live under my shed when they have kittens. I feed them, and help to catch them for a charity which would neuter and spay them. I don't mind strays and will help them to have a comfortable life but it's the neighbours ones climbing in the window and getting on the beds that gross me out. It's such a horrible entitled attitude to think oh well cats will roam, if he goes onto my neighbours bed tough luck.

Well this has been a very entertaining thread.

Glad you got your cat home OP.
And I’m sure you are worried about the home owners reaction.

They may go apocalyptic at discovering cat piss, damaged paintwork and ham in the
vents and stinking crab sticks - I still can’t believe you actually did that with the ham and forgot to clear up the crab sticks.

If it’s any comfort, something similar happened to us last year, but we were the home owners with an intruder.

We had gone away for a week and my sister sent me a picture of a random cat sitting on our kitchen window.
He was there for 3 days. He was not stuck, He got access through the dog flap and could have easily left at any time.

Then she came across a FB post about a missing cat and so she sent a message and said she was sure it was sitting in an unoccupied house kitchen window.
The cats owners managed to coax the cat back out and when we came home they called to profusely apologise and brought us flowers and wine and offered to clean up any mess left behind.
I declined the offer even though the house reeked and I found cat turds behind the sofa.

I don’t particularly like cats, although OPs is particularly handsome but what was the point in having a go at them about it ? We acknowledged we should have blocked the dog flap up.

Hopefully your neighbours are understanding.

I don't want cats in my garden because I have birds and guinea pigs and the neighbouring cat used to constantly eye them up before we got a dog who thankfully hates cats and doesn't allow any to come over the fence.

Mumsnet is full of alleged cat-lovers who then start threads about their cats disappearing or being run over. If it's your pet (rather than a stray cat) then you should keep it safe instead of putting your pets in harms way. Anything can happen to them while they roam and it doesn't sound like many cat owners are that bothered.

@Threenow
I also helped hand raise kittens as a child and had cats (which free roamed) hence why I had to hand raise them as the mother was killed.

Just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean I know nothing about cats. I don't like neighbours cats in my house or the entitled attitude that cat owners have to it. They annoy my dog if they're in my garden but that's fair enough. I just don't want them in my house. And I would hate to ever make my neighbours annoyed or upset by letting my cat (if I had one) roam into their house. Some people are also seriously allergic to cats and need epipens.

I’m glad to be read you managed to rescue him OP.

I think I would have told the RSPCA that he was in immed danger so they’d have helped!

I do think you should catproof your garden though. It isn’t cruel. We make our gardens kid safe, rabbit safe, dog safe. Your cat does need your help as he could have died. Having your house and garden is more space than many people have. It is enough for your cat.

Im sure the rug can be cleaned and you can remove the ham and crab sticks and wash the vents and walls or have them repainted if necessary. However large the rug is to clean, will be less than the cost of replacing broken windows.

Sorry but this is such an outdated view... perhaps you're showing your age with this mindset 😉. Cats are perfectly happy as indoor pets - I currently have two that came as strays from a life on the streets that are thriving indoors, but unfortunately, a lot of cat owners are too lazy to provide the stimulation they need... Strange that people who purport to care about their pets so much have no issue putting them at risk of being run over, hurt by random people/animals. contracting fatal diseases like FeLV etc... as well as all the wildlife they needlessly kill. But you do you I guess 😀

You made my heart skip a beat there as I thought you were saying the cat communicated with you after it passed and told you how miserable it’s life as an indoor cat had been.

Sounds like your cat voted with its feet …um…paws.

OP - what on earth would you have done if they’d been on holiday for two weeks and there was no builder to contact?

I really hope your new neighbours are cat fans because despite being a full blown cat lover, coming to my new home and finding it scratched, pissed on, with two day old crab sticks in the bedroom and ham in the vents I’d be fucking livid.

Yes I know cats roam, and some of my neighbours cats like to visit me if the door is open but it sounds like your boy is quite the cat burglar… Do any of your neighbours attempt to prevent him breaking in?

I hope you manage to smooth this over with them. *has terrible visions of them having a security camera you’ve not noticed that has caught your antics but not the reason for them and it likely ending up on YouTube/this thread making the Daily Fail.

@Catsos So glad your naughty boy has been released.

Hard to beat a jolly Irish builder. 😀Good luck with your new neighbours today.

Lying in the dark alone and guffawing at the thought of a) you, carefully posting ham into an air vent in a newly renovated house and b) someone you’ve never met pretending they’re not annoyed about it, it’s tremendous, like something out of Friday Night Dinner, actual tears.

OP, I am a cat appreciator as well and the entertainment value of your ever-increasing ingenuity (combined with the photos of the big handsome fella sitting looking back at you as you calculate whether or not you can throw a bird table through a double-glazed window) would make up for a puddle of piss. I’d offer to pay too, that’s the decent thing to do, and I can see why the puddle would be an issue, but essentially cat-flaps are just a hole in a house, small creatures can get in (and he did try his best to go on a bag 😬)

You're missing my point that I've made several times, that maybe it would be hard or impossible to transition the current generation of cats, but that anyone who takes on a kitten could raise them as an indoor cat.

Genuine question: how do you keep indoor cats in and stop them escaping through windows or doors left open? Do you have to keep everything shut even in warm weather?

We once had an indoor cat but that was because she hated going outside. She was a rescue Siamese (they are a bit odd) and had come from a city flat. We often used to leave our back door open and she would just ignore it. Obviously she had to have a litter tray. She liked my parents fair-sized walled garden though. When we moved to a flat with my DH's work she was ecstatic

He very, very rarely barks. I actually thought he couldn't because I didn't hear a single bark out of him until 6 months after I got him. That was due to a pesky cat sitting on our windowsill at night time when I forgot to close the blinds 😆I can't remember the last time he barked, but if he was a problem or regular barker I'd sort it out because I wouldn't want to annoy my neighbours, just like I wouldn't annoy them by letting my cat roam into their houses.

Well that's what neighbours who want to keep them out are expected to do.

Well done on getting your cat back OP. I nearly died laughing at the crabsticks though.

Hope you and your new neighbours can laugh about it someday too.