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worrying about being broken into - am i just being paranoid?

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  • loulou123
    loulou123 Posts: 1,183 Forumite
    Would you be able to bring the cat to your mum rather than vice versa?

    Great idea, but unfortunately not, as step dad very allergic to cats and cat doesn't travel well - its a 35 mile journey...thanks though.
  • FatVonD
    FatVonD Posts: 5,315 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    We has an attempted burglary last summer when we were out all day at a festival, thank God we didn't want to see the headline band as we came home and disturbed them!

    Ours had used our garden shears to try to prise open the back door/punch out the lower panel and when that didn't work, to cut a hole in the lower panel(!) so be careful what you leave around, the average druggie isn't going to come equipped but will use whatever is available to try to get in.

    We went away for a weekend a few weeks ago and, though ours are outdoor cats, we shut them in because I was worried something might happen to them on the road and we wouldn't be around to get them to the vets. But then I was worried they wouldn't be able to get out of the way of burglars if they broke in so we ended up keeping the kitchen door shut but with the cat flap still open so if anyone came in they could get out! Kind of the opposite problem to yours!
    Make £25 a day in April £0/£750 (March £584, February £602, January £883.66)

    December £361.54, November £322.28, October £288.52, September £374.30, August £223.95, July £71.45, June £251.22, May£119.33, April £236.24, March £106.74, Feb £40.99, Jan £98.54) Total for 2017 - £2,495.10
  • loulou123
    loulou123 Posts: 1,183 Forumite
    We always make sure not to leave tools etc out, but our neighbour has a shed full always unlocked, so not too much we can do about that!

    If anyone comes near front door, our cat runs under a kitchen cupboard - its her 'bolt hole' so she would without a doubt hide, but if front door was left open, I think she would freak out and run outside - once intruders had gone.

    FatvonD - must've been scary to disturb the intruders?
  • Cat501
    Cat501 Posts: 1,195 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    If I'm going away, I try to put it about beforehand that my brother is staying in the house while I'm gone - make out that he'll enjoy having a place to himself for a change. I shout "bye" when I leave, and if there was anyone hanging about outside I'd say "oh damn, forgot to tell Dave/Mike/Sid about that parcel, you know what he's like about answering the door" or something along those lines, and run back in for a couple of minutes. Maybe these are obvious dupes that the burgling community know well, but I guess they can't be sure :/
  • toniq
    toniq Posts: 29,340 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I had a break in approx 11 years ago,ruined my peace of mind, even after moving.

    Best and cheapest thing we done was to get *BEWARE OF THE DOG* stickers, placed on front, side and patio, doors.

    The sticker has a fierce alsation outline, our dog is a small fluffy bundle.

    Homebase does the stickers for a few pounds, even stuck on a window should be a good enough deterrent.

    x
    #JusticeForGrenfell
  • adelight
    adelight Posts: 2,658 Forumite
    toniq wrote: »
    I had a break in approx 11 years ago,ruined my peace of mind, even after moving.

    Best and cheapest thing we done was to get *BEWARE OF THE DOG* stickers, placed on front, side and patio, doors.

    The sticker has a fierce alsation outline, our dog is a small fluffy bundle.

    Homebase does the stickers for a few pounds, even stuck on a window should be a good enough deterrent.

    x

    ooh do you reckon you could use a cheap spare phone (most people have these don't they? £10 ones) and set alarms during the day with the alarm sound being a dog bark? maybe a bit elaborate but you never know :D
    one of my neighbors has the dog stickers and hand written signs saying things like "beware dogs, do not open gate or throw over parcels", sounds menacing but she has two mini yorkies.
    Living cheap in central London :rotfl:
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