Hi,
My neighbour got a cat a few months ago and it enters in my flat every time it finds an open door and window. I couldn't stop it doing this and I don't want to keep the windows close always. I already spoke with my neighbour and nothing changed. It entered two times today and I am very annoyed with the situation as I don't like animals inside the house and have to clean after. I discussed with her tonight, even if I like her, as I was very angry . I don't know what to do. Any advice how to deal with this?

Give it a one off shock, nothing too cruel. Have you tried shouting at it and chasing it off? Or, how about squirting it with a water pistol?

I shouted at and once launched my slipper.  Infact now it is afraid of me but it even tries to enter more. Maybe it has some kind of psycological disorder. I will try the water pistol. Thanks.

Not to be unsympathetic, but I think its really sweet (although I have a cat that I love to bits!). Cats usually hate strong citrus and pepper smells, so try to get some kind of lemon spray and use it on the window through which the cat normally enters and that might convince him not to use it... water pistols are the usual trick though!

A water 'puss'-tol could be your answer! Hope you don't have too much of a 'cat'astrophe.......meow!

How strange! This recently happened to me - a cat jumped through the tiny window in my study and scared the hell out of me. I had to clean the room from top to bottom, because I'm very allergic.

There is not a great deal the owner can do, she isn't going to keep her cats in her house so there isn't much point confronting her about it. I would advise getting a water pistol (something quite forceful), and spray them next time visit, cats apparently hate this. Also put metallic things (cans, CDs) across your window sills.

I'm going to put screening on my window...although I've not exactly figured out how I'm going to do this yet.

this happened to me too - i was cleaning my teeth when this paw appeared around the corner of our window and i nearly swallowed my toothbrush! fortunately our bathroom has windows that tilt inwards rather than open the conventional way so it couldn't get in. i would definitely hang something in the windows that rattles such as cd's on a string, i'm sure that would scare them off. otherwise you'll have to hang around by the open window waving a water pistol all day! as has already been said, there's not much point talking to the owner as they can't really stop their cat from going where it likes. cats also hate the smell of orange peel so any sort of orangey smell around the windows should work (you can get orange-smelling furniture polish which might do the trick!)

Hi,
Could you temporarily borrow a dog? I know you are not keen on animals in the flat but a few days with a dog in the house and the cat will get the message. I had a similar problem with a neighbour's cat and it drove me mad - especially when it started terrorising my cats, causing my cats to spray in the house and sleeping in my bedroom. Basically, if you want to stop it coming in you need it to associate your place with unpleasant consequences - ideally directly with entering the property than with you per se (otherwise it might just learn to avoid you and enter when you are not about). The more unpleasant the circumstances, the quicker it will learn. In my case, I shut a cat-hating terrier in the kitchen and set the catflap to let the cat in but not out (where the cat was entering overnight) so that the cat entered, got a tremendous fright and then was trapped in the room with the dog (it could get away from the dog by sitting on the worksurface but it couldn't escape the barking dog). This worked very well. Obviously this is not going to work for you but this might: try getting a metal tray and place it under the window that the cat comes in, on the window set up some sort of contraption e.g. stacks on 1p coins if the cat has to jump high, cannot see these in advance and will definitely knock them over and onto the trap and it lands on the window sill. As it does, they will scatter onto the metal tray and make a god awful noise which will be very aversive.
Out of interest, is the cat entering because the neighbour kicks her cat out for the day and doesn't provide a way for the cat to get back into her own home? This is often a reason why cats go into neighbouring properties. If so, it might be worth broaching the topic with her.

Hi Blueberry, my neighbour is not working so she is at home all the day and leave the door open for the cat. It can get back whenever it wants. I liked the idea of the dog but unfortunately don't know anyone that I can ask.

I had a similar problem once with a stray/unloved cat. One day I accidently pushed it out of a 1st floor window - I felt very guilty but the cat never came back.

Incidentally, it's true, cats do land paws downwards, and it wasn't harmed!

I had the same problem a few months ago. A random cat kept using the cat flap to let itself in and bully our cat, which admittedly is a bit of wuss for allowing it, but I guess that's what you getting for cutting its balls off. Anyway, whenever I found it lurking about the house it seemed in no hurry to leave - shouting certainly had no effect. I found that a sprayer, like the kind of thing used for kitchen/bathroom cleaners etc, filled with water had a good effect. There's nothing much you neighbour can do about it, as cats are completely uncontrollable and its cruel to keep them locked up all day. I've no idea what mine gets up to when it goes out.

Definitely keep a water pistol or a plant spray bottle handy. Repeated target practice on the cheeky mog won't hurt or harm her, and she'll soon learn to leave you in peace.

We have two indoor cats ourselves - beautifully polite house trained girls who moved to the UK from the USA with my partner. However in our 'close' (Scottish term for the shared hallway and stairs that serve tenement apartments) there are a number of very friendly outdoor mogs. That means they're clustered around my feet when I come home and am letting myself in... I usually have to distract them to get in without causing an encounter between them and our flee-less indoor girls.

I think the water pistol may be effective but you'll get water in your flat.
my son used to play with BB guns, maybe u can get one, just to scare the cat.

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There was a product called 'prickler strips' in one of those innovations-type catalogues that came with my tv guide yesterday. It's plastic strips with pointy bits on one side, that you're supposed to stick onto surfaces like walls and fences to stop cats jumping up and walking along them. I thought they looked a bit vicious for cat's paws, the equivalent of metal spikes used to stop pigeons lingering on window ledges and crapping on people's heads, but presumably the strips aren't sharp enough to injure anyone's cat.

Missspacey, I had loads of wasps coming in a window a few years ago and my mum got me a kit for keeping keep insects out. It consisted of fine mesh, a bit like that used for petticoats or ballet dresses so almost invisible, and strips of velcro. It was the wrong size for my window so I didn't use it, but a normal muslin curtain and strategically placed bits of discreet double sided sticky tape kept the buggers out. Maybe the sight of a curtain or fine mesh blind would stop a cat trying to come in? It's the sort of problem solver you get in those innovations catalogues, full of inventions you never knew you needed, and probably don't, on the whole, but sometimes they're sensible!