Cat going into neighbour's house

[User280905]

We've got new neighbours, they've been there about 6 weeks.
Our last neighbour encouraged our cat to visit their house. Fed it treats, made it a bed. We had words, it was upsetting the kids that he was trying to steal our cat. But he was elderly and housebound so we sort of reluctantly shared the cat after a fashion. It always came home to eat and sleep, he never gave it food, just treats.

Now cat keeps going into the house and the new neighbours are quite cross with us, asking just to make it stop. They are spending loads on their house and don't want a cat messing it up.

This morning it climbed in through an open window while they were out and set off their burglar alarm. They came home and found it asleep on their bed.

What can I do? I told them they could spray it with a water pistol? Just keep putting it outside? But they're not keen to pick it up to put it out. Fair enough, I wouldn't want to pick up anyone else's cat either.

What's reasonable here? I don't know what to do.

Yeah, there's nothing you can do. Other than keeping it locked in.
I used to live in a dormer bungalow and often used to wake up with next doors cat on my bed.
Annoying as it is for them, you've given them good advice and it's up to them to keep their house secure.
Make sure it's microchipped so you get it back in case they call it in as a stray.

Can you keep it in for a few weeks?

I'm thinking that's not very practical unless you use the time to cat proof your garden. I wouldn't be wanting to use a water pistol inside my house though I happily do this to keep the cats out of our gardens.

Keep it inside or on your own property for a few weeks to reset the habit, maybe?

They should keep their windows shut.

You need to cat proof your garden to keep him in. Or try providing them with all the various cat deterrents that are available and see if that works.

Telling them to squirt water at the cat inside their house is a ridiculous suggestion, and I wouldn’t want to pick up a strangers cat either. YABVU to think that your suggestions are enough, you need to solve this problem yourself.

We can't cat-proof our garden, that's just not practical. There's loads of cats in the neighbourhood, I don't know if the old guy fed any of the others tok.

We can attempt to keep the cat inside for a while but there are 5 of us coming and going all day long and she'll be desperate to get out now the weather is warmer. I'll definitely try to keep her in during the day, I'll do that from Monday when the kids are back at school, it will be much easier to keep the doors shut. No chance we can manage that over the weekend.

If they tell me she's there I will go round and get her out. I don't know what else to do.

Cats break in to other people’s houses, it’s a fact of life. I’ve regularly found random cats in my house over the years. They need to get a lion, or some lion shit from the zoo. Apparently that’s a deterrent.

Your options are to keep it locked in, cat proof your garden or only allow it out in a catio or something. I’d be worried about the neighbours taking matters into their own hands if you allow it to continue. We’ve got a neighbour that’s anti-freezed every single cat on our street, they’ve all died apart from two. They’re now only allowed on leads in the garden (funnily enough I’ve just came off a thread where people was calling someone a lunatic for leashing cats to their neighbours fence, there could be a good reason why though).

Tell them you'll have a word with DCat

@fairylightsandwaxmelts “They should keep their windows shut.”
what a ridiculous thing to say!! Why on Earth should they keep their windows shut because of someone else’s pet?
they’ve a right to enjoy their own home.

@User280905 you need to keep your cat on your own property. This is your responsibility. Don’t be anti social.

Well, last time I checked, cats have the legal right to roam which means owners aren't responsible for what they get up to when they're out and about.

Therefore (legally speaking - morally is another matter) she doesn't actually have to do anything to stop the cat from roaming and exploring other people's property. We've had cats jump in through our windows more than once, and they got into our old house loads when we left the back door open in summer.

Also, if you go out and leave your windows open wide enough that a cat can jump in and out, you're putting yourself at risk of getting burgled and I suspect your insurance wouldn't pay if they discovered you went out and left the windows wide open.

Buy them some anti cat sprays and one of those sonic things that cats can hear. And a motion activated water sprinkler that can be placed wherever the cat gets from your property to theirs. There’s plenty you can do to show willing if you don’t want to be a horrible neighbour.

I dont want this to be a debate about cats roaming, I just wondered if any other cat owners had any other suggestions. I'm going to keep her in every day next week to see if that makes any difference. It might not but I can try. I am not keeping her inside for ever though.

I wondered about suggesting those cat repeller things that make a sound cats and dogs hear. Does anyone know if they are any use? I would buy them for them.

I've just been out bringing in the washing and overheard a loud conversation between new neighbours and the family over the back who have 3 cats. It would seem the elderly neighbour gave their cats treats and they have all been visiting the new neighbours too. I've tried to be constructive about it, other neighbours are getting quite ratty from the sound of the convo. I've come indoors but I can hear their voices still.

Am now feeling more sorry for new neighbours and will keep our cat inside for the rest of the night once she comes in for her dinner.

Imagine buying a new house and then being plagued by almost the neighbourhood cats looking for treats. It is awful. I hadn't realised till I heard them talking over the fence there.

The woman down the road used to feed the seagulls and they all nested on her roof. The roof was absolutelt covered in droppings. Her family jetwashed the roof when they went to sell but the seagulls came back. Nightmare. They've gone now, or at least there are way fewer of them. New people hired a guy with some kind of bird of prey during nesting season to discourage them.

Wonder if that works on cats?

Cats are part of life. Whether people agree with it or not, they have the right to roam and therefore will get in to houses via doors and windows if they get the chance, especially if people in that house have fed them and fussed them.

I would just tell them to remove her when she comes in, and to spray her with water if they spot her in the garden. It won't take long for the cat to learn not to go there if she no longer gets food or attention for doing so.

There's not much you can do. It's all on them to discourage it. We had a cat that found a second family across the road. It was a retired couple who kept opening their back door at 6.30am during a long heatwave. She started letting herself in and once the heatwave was over she was there yowling at them to open the door every morning. She headed home at 8.30am for food. It was quite sweet but I'm thankful they didn't sell up while she was still alive. Dread to think what new owners would make of a loud visitor at 6.30am. She was like clockwork.

Just tell them he is currently grounded and buy her a water pistol. Our ndn kept a Fairy bottle of water on her window sill. Dcat never even went near her window after a few dousings!