My cat steals from my neighbours

Hi there.
I have a problem with one of my cats. He is a big ball of fluff, very
docile and not aggressive at all but he has taken to stealing from my
neighbours houses.

He does hunt for mice etc but more often now he is bringing home shoes
of all types, handbags, childrens toys and food (pizza, chicked ect).
It is mostly shoes however. The we've admitted to the neighbours that
the cat does this and up until now they have all been ok about it
because we've been returning the shoes but we'd like to get him to
stop stealing before they stop thinking it's funny.

We've never caught him in the act but some of the neighbours have seen
him trying to grab things. He usually does this in the middle of the
night but has been seen in daylight. He is stealing from gardens
mostly but we think he has been into other houses through their cat
flaps.

He has been neutered, is otherwise healthy and we have one other cat
the blood brother of the thief but they generally get on very well.
Both are very large strong cats.

Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

Paul (Scotland).

"Paul" wrote in message
om...
Hi there.
I have a problem with one of my cats. He is a big ball of fluff, very
docile and not aggressive at all but he has taken to stealing from my
neighbours houses.

He does hunt for mice etc but more often now he is bringing home shoes
of all types, handbags, childrens toys and food (pizza, chicked ect).
It is mostly shoes however. The we've admitted to the neighbours that
the cat does this and up until now they have all been ok about it
because we've been returning the shoes but we'd like to get him to
stop stealing before they stop thinking it's funny.

We've never caught him in the act but some of the neighbours have seen
him trying to grab things. He usually does this in the middle of the
night but has been seen in daylight. He is stealing from gardens
mostly but we think he has been into other houses through their cat
flaps.

He has been neutered, is otherwise healthy and we have one other cat
the blood brother of the thief but they generally get on very well.
Both are very large strong cats.

Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

Paul (Scotland).

Keep him inside overnight and let him out in the daytime. He may not be as
likely to swipe things when people are up and around.

W

"Paul" wrote in message
om...
Hi there.
I have a problem with one of my cats. He is a big ball of fluff, very
docile and not aggressive at all but he has taken to stealing from my
neighbours houses.

He does hunt for mice etc but more often now he is bringing home shoes
of all types, handbags, childrens toys and food (pizza, chicked ect).
It is mostly shoes however. The we've admitted to the neighbours that
the cat does this and up until now they have all been ok about it
because we've been returning the shoes but we'd like to get him to
stop stealing before they stop thinking it's funny.

We've never caught him in the act but some of the neighbours have seen
him trying to grab things. He usually does this in the middle of the
night but has been seen in daylight. He is stealing from gardens
mostly but we think he has been into other houses through their cat
flaps.

He has been neutered, is otherwise healthy and we have one other cat
the blood brother of the thief but they generally get on very well.
Both are very large strong cats.

Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

Paul (Scotland).

Keep him inside overnight and let him out in the daytime. He may not be as
likely to swipe things when people are up and around.

W

in article , Paul at
wrote on 8/24/04 5:07AM:

Hi there.
I have a problem with one of my cats. He is a big ball of fluff, very
docile and not aggressive at all but he has taken to stealing from my
neighbours houses.

He does hunt for mice etc but more often now he is bringing home shoes
of all types, handbags, childrens toys and food (pizza, chicked ect).
It is mostly shoes however. The we've admitted to the neighbours that
the cat does this and up until now they have all been ok about it
because we've been returning the shoes but we'd like to get him to
stop stealing before they stop thinking it's funny.

We've never caught him in the act but some of the neighbours have seen
him trying to grab things. He usually does this in the middle of the
night but has been seen in daylight. He is stealing from gardens
mostly but we think he has been into other houses through their cat
flaps.

He has been neutered, is otherwise healthy and we have one other cat
the blood brother of the thief but they generally get on very well.
Both are very large strong cats.

Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

Paul (Scotland).

I guess I would get a locking flap and keep him in at night if that is the
main time he does it. We had a cat that constantly brought home neighbors
clothes of the clothes lines. She finally stopped when she got older. I've
heard of such "thievese" before. It's not like you can explain to him, so I
don't think there is much you can do. I heard of some people that just kept
a box where they put things and the neighbors just came by and got stuff
that they found missing.

in article , Paul at
wrote on 8/24/04 5:07AM:

Hi there.
I have a problem with one of my cats. He is a big ball of fluff, very
docile and not aggressive at all but he has taken to stealing from my
neighbours houses.

He does hunt for mice etc but more often now he is bringing home shoes
of all types, handbags, childrens toys and food (pizza, chicked ect).
It is mostly shoes however. The we've admitted to the neighbours that
the cat does this and up until now they have all been ok about it
because we've been returning the shoes but we'd like to get him to
stop stealing before they stop thinking it's funny.

We've never caught him in the act but some of the neighbours have seen
him trying to grab things. He usually does this in the middle of the
night but has been seen in daylight. He is stealing from gardens
mostly but we think he has been into other houses through their cat
flaps.

He has been neutered, is otherwise healthy and we have one other cat
the blood brother of the thief but they generally get on very well.
Both are very large strong cats.

Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

Paul (Scotland).

I guess I would get a locking flap and keep him in at night if that is the
main time he does it. We had a cat that constantly brought home neighbors
clothes of the clothes lines. She finally stopped when she got older. I've
heard of such "thievese" before. It's not like you can explain to him, so I
don't think there is much you can do. I heard of some people that just kept
a box where they put things and the neighbors just came by and got stuff
that they found missing.

"Paul" wrote in message
om...
Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

Saturation level conditioning.... Go to a charity thrift store and buy up
several pairs of old shoes. Place them about in likely spots for him to find
and retrieve. Keep him very very busy doing this. At some point the novelty
will wear off. When it does you can re-donate the old shoes to the thrift
store.

"Paul" wrote in message
om...
Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

Saturation level conditioning.... Go to a charity thrift store and buy up
several pairs of old shoes. Place them about in likely spots for him to find
and retrieve. Keep him very very busy doing this. At some point the novelty
will wear off. When it does you can re-donate the old shoes to the thrift
store.

Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

I have no idea how to stop this behavior except to keep him in the house. He'll
probably go a little nuts at first.

There was a dog in the news recently who was doing the same thing. It was
stealing small garden statues and such from the neighbors and taking them back
to his dog house.

Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.

I have no idea how to stop this behavior except to keep him in the house. He'll
probably go a little nuts at first.

There was a dog in the news recently who was doing the same thing. It was
stealing small garden statues and such from the neighbors and taking them back
to his dog house.

Mary quoth:
Any ideas how to rehabilitate this moggy.
I have no idea how to stop this behavior except to keep him in the house. He'll
probably go a little nuts at first.
There was a dog in the news recently who was doing the same thing. It was
stealing small garden statues and such from the neighbors and taking them back
to his dog house.

Hmmm. I wonder if I could get him to retrieve me a decent St. Francis...

Priscilla