Cat in neighbour's apartment (UKfilter)

Post date: 2018-01-12 09:10:15

Our lovely cat has managed to sneak out of our apartment. He also seems to have managed to sneak into our neighbour's apartment - we can hear him meowing through the door. But the neighbour hasn't been home for a few hours - what do we do now? We're in the UK. Cat picture and details inside!

Our cat (this is him) is a ninja and sometimes manages to sneak out of the apartment when we come home without us noticing - we have no idea how he does this, but he's lightening-fast and his fur is a similar colour as the carpet in the hallway... sigh. We live in a house with 10 rental apartments, and we're in the UK.

Here's our reconstruction of what happened today:
- I came home at ca. 5pm, and he probably must have slipped out of the apartment when I came in.
- Didn't notice he was missing until I wanted to feed both cats an hour later and only one of them showed up!
- Went searching for him in the apartment and the communal hallway.
- Heard him meowing through our neighbour's door - he must be inside the neighbour's apartment (this was at 6pm). Neighbour is not home.
- Posted note to neighbour's door, thanking them for keeping our cat safe and to please contact us.
- Called landlord to see if they have our neighbour's phone number, but no luck (different landlord).
- Neighbour hasn't been home so far, it's now 8pm.

Best case scenario: neighbour had some errands to run and will be back in a couple of hours.

Worst case scenario: our ninja cat managed to sneak into neighbour's apartment without neighbour noticing, when neighbour left for a 3-week holiday or something. Ahhhhh!

If the neighbour isn't home by, say 10pm, what do we do? Like, how does this actually work? Do we call a locksmith? But they won't let us into an apartment that isn't ours, I suppose. Do we call the police at their non-emergency number? Something else? UK-specific advice please.

Thank you! Will post moar cat pictures when cat is back!

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