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Oregon woman publicly shamed her ‘thief’ cat with a hilariously brutal sign — and it actually stopped her from stealing again

She said that after putting up the sign, neighbors mostly stopped by for photos, though a few did reclaim their missing items.

BY HRIDYAMBIKA A MANU

PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO

(L ) A cat with a stolen ball of yarn ; (R) A theft signboard (Representative Cover Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Akchamczuk ; (R) 1001Love)

Cats can be irresistibly adorable, but they also have a notorious reputation for sneaking off with things that don’t belong to them. A four-legged thief kept bringing her owner random items she had “borrowed” from the neighbors. To teach her cat a lesson, she called out her furry burglar in the most hilarious way possible.

Cat eating kibbles | (Pexels | 卓浩虞) — Cat eating kibbles. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | 卓浩虞)

Oregon woman Kate Felmet noticed that her outdoor cat, Esme, often brought home masks, gloves, and other household items. She soon realized that they belonged to her neighbors, from whom her cat was stealing. Deciding to playfully call out her cat's "crime," Kate put up a signboard in her yard that featured a drawing of Esme holding a glove in her mouth. The hilarious signboard read, "My cat is a thief. Please take these items if they are yours."

A cat stealing clothes from a laundry basket. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by diephosi)

Next to the signboard was a clothesline hung with various gloves and other household items her feline had left in her yard. Kate revealed to KOIN that as soon as she put up the sign, her cat stopped bringing any items to her for a week. "I had the impression she was a little mad about it," she said.

A black cat wandering the streets. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | fitopardo)

Felmet revealed that after she put up the signboard, she noticed people coming around to take their belongings, but mostly it was to take a picture of the signboard. "People come by and mostly take pictures, but we had the school bus drive by and take a few pairs of gloves. I’ve been thinking about making another sign that says take a pair of gloves if you want 'em," she explained. According to PEOPLE, Kate first noticed her cat having "sticky paws" when she brought home "11 masks in one day." She added, "I was so delighted that she wasn't bringing me birds, and she got a lot of praise and maybe a few treats for the gifts that weren't recently alive."

The items Esme stole ranged from "bathing suits, knee pads, and rolls of tape to packages of paint rollers and lengths of fabric." But it was stealing gloves that Esme was most proud of. "She brings them separately but almost always goes back to get the second glove," Kate explained. Despite Kate outing her burglary, she never intends to shame her cat's handiwork. "When she brings them, she comes to the back door and yowls, like 'Wooooar!' until I come and tell her she's done a good job," she explained.

According to PetCareRx, a study found that some cats engage in stealing household items as a form of attention-seeking behavior. They may notice that bringing objects like socks or small items back to their owners triggers a reaction, which reinforces the behavior. This suggests that the act is often a playful or communicative strategy rather than mere mischief.