Why is my neighbor's cat obsessed with my apartment?
Bored or cold cats often dart inside or stick their paws under doors simply because they want new companionship. Letting them in creates a stressful dilemma, as you have to constantly worry about them peeing on belongings, triggering family allergies, or crossing ethical boundaries with the actual owners.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1letting the cat in for a short, supervised visit before ushering it back outDid this help you?
- 2Letting the cat inside secretly and washing the bedsheets to manage family allergies.Did this help you?
- 3Asking the neighbors directly for permission to spend time with the cat.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“The cat is ~14 years old and is bored out of its mind. It uses every opportunity to be with my family.”source ↗
“My father is unfortunately allergic to it, so it can’t be in the house too much, but lately it has gotten cold, so the fucker uses that opportunity to sit outside in the cold and look through the windows in our front door with huge eyes. I just can’t bear the immense guilt tripping skills this cat posseses, so i have to let it in.”source ↗
“But what about the ethics? I would be a bit mad if someone silently kidnapped by pet. At the same time i don’t imagine the owners give a fuck about it.”source ↗
“my next door neighbors cat is obsessed with my apartment shes always trying to dart in and sticking her paws under the door.”source ↗
“I don’t mind and Ill let her in for a bit but i get nervous she’ll get into something or pee on something so i usually usher her out soon.”source ↗
“Ive never seen a cat do this and i don’t know why she wants in my apartment so bad”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Neighbor demands kittens from stray cat I feed
- 3Is it okay to feed someone else's outdoor cat?
- 2Should I move my senior outdoor cat to an indoor apartment?
- 3Will my cat get depressed leaving a multi-cat home?
- 3Roommate's cat likes me too much and makes them jealous
- 7How to stop indoor cat from constantly crying at the door after escaping