Neighbour just rung doorbell at 2.30am!

[greywolfie]

I'm now wide awake and fumming. She rung twice so I opened the front bedroom window as I worried it might be an emergency. Women stood there on her phone in tears and I thought - oh, she could need help.
My husband is on his way down to.open the door.
Then she says...."my cat is in your garden"
I mean - FFS!
I said "well your cat will get out of our garden"
"Really?"
"Yes. If your cat is still in our garden in the morning we will bring it back"
Shut window.
Husband then opened the door and she started telling him about the damn cat- I yelled at him to shut it.
He wanted to go out and get it but I said that was mad and would encourage the over protective cat mother to do it again in future.
For reference, we have 2 elderly cats that very rarely scale the fence. One night one got over very late and was struggling to make it back (we have stuff by our fence that would've also helped her bloody cat up, if he cared - but their side is just the bare fence). I was a bit worried but would NEVER have rung their bell in the middle of the night! About an hour later our old lady regained her energy and made it back.
AIBU to go round in the morning and point out you don't ring people's doorbells for this reason? It's batshit right?

Only time will tell

FFS she just needs to shake a bag of Dreamies from her back door, job done!

🙄

I think this is a consequence of the growing anthropomorphism of animals. We've forgotten that it's an animal with its own instincts and its own rules. The cat will set its boundaries not our garden fences. You see it with the mental people posting pictures of cats on facebook because a strange but perfectly healthy looking and well fed cat is in their garden (?!?!?!) Have we just forgoten that cats still have a lot of their wild instincts and that they actually domesticated us not the other way round?

I have a neighbour like this. Not quite 2am doorbell-ringing, but she's an alcoholic, and we regularly see her on our private courtyard, screaming and running around after her dog who's escaped from her front door yet again. She also keeps very odd hours as she doesn't work, so keeping the rest of us around her awake.

Unless the cat was in absolute immediate danger, e.g. about to be eaten by a huge dog, then yes she could have waited. However, once you were up, you might have just seen it through and retrieved the cat for her, as she was clearly very anxious. A little goes a long way sometimes. However, my total sympathy, as that would have freaked me out at that time of the morning.

This is batshit. Anyone sane would think "I can't possibly wake people in the middle of the night and panic them for anything less than life or death emergencies".

I too would be furious at being woken up like that, but would also be hugely anxious, convinced someone had died - therefore more annoyed when it turned out not to be that. It's not remotely kind of her to put you through that! I completely disagree with the people saying you should have pandered to her anxiety - not the best thing for her and just sets you all up with a precedent for the future.

I would be putting a note through her door today saying please don't ever wake us up in the middle of the night unless you or we are in immediate danger. If the cat was injured in your garden and she had no way of getting it without waking you, that's different as a one off. But it wasn't that! She's way out of order.

I'd be livid too, but I'd probably remind them they don't want their cat in my garden, I don't want their cat in my garden, maybe they should get a catio.

I am with you op. I like my sleep and unless the cat was in immediate danger I would rip anyone ringing my doorbell at that time apart.
It's ridiculous thing yo do at 2:30 and 5:30 am ffs

That's absolutely ridiculous. I would have words with her the next day. So rude and inconsiderate. I can see you were still.wide awake almost an hour later. Id be fuming too.

All those parroting "be kind" like they're aiming for a Nobel Peace Prize – if OP had done it this once, what was to stop neighbour coming round every time the cat went AWOL? This isn't an indoor cat, but one that clearly happily roams. When does "be kind" end – the fifth time she knocks the door at 2.30? The tenth?

I do lots of favours for my neighbours, especially the elderly one two doors down who I adore, but even I draw the line at a 2.30am rescue mission for a cat that's perfectly capable of getting itself home.

This. And then you post about. Non issue let he get the cat go back to bed slightly irritated and forget about it

If it’s an indoor cat that has escaped, I understand why she was so upset and I would definitely have allowed her to collect her cat.

If my indie cat escaped (yes, I have one), I would ring a neighbours door bell at night to get him back safe. Not ideal, but we’d all live to tell the tale.

She's bonkers. Does she not understand how cats operate?

Waking you twice is unforgivable. I'd be keeping a baseball bat next to the front door ready for her next visit.

Fuck that at half 2 in the morning.

If you let her get away with it once she will do it again. And keep doing it.

Not an indoor cat. Just a selfish neighbour.

I would suggest she is on something...

I’m assuming it’s usually an indoor cat that got out, and she was very worried.
Yes, it’s annoying to be woken in the night but hopefully/surely this was a one off, I absolutely would’ve helped her.

How would you have done that when the cat wasn't in the garden! 🤔

Maybe it’s a house cat that escaped ? I think you started an issue where there isn’t one . If it happened several times yes I would be upset but once ? It’s your neighbor keep it friendly

At 2.30am?

Insane behaviour. Her cat was probably trying to make a break for it. Poor thing. She sounds mental . Cats are very able to have a good walk and visit all sorts of places . Its natural. I would have also be furious if she knocked before 7 am .

Is this her first time owning a cat? It doesn't "understand" gardens? Maybe suggest to her she keeps it inside if its going to make her that anxious. I wonder if she's trying to teach it to stay in its own garden 🤔 😂

OP has already said that she sees it out often so definitely not a house cat.

It isn't friendly to wake someone up in the middle of the night unless it's an actual emergency.

Ohh these cat women are batshit at the best of times. My mums neighbour, knocked on our door asking if the cat is in our garden, she was told no and that we haven’t seen the cat, she wanted to come into our house and go in the garden and check her self, she also wanted to check our house incase the cat got in and was hiding, this is a neighbour that lives behind us, my brother rightly told her you won’t be checking our home or the garden for that matter. The audacity of these ppl.