Quick, someone get Norris a reality show. This klepto cat is a goldmine of juicy material: By day, he’s an adorable, two-year-old tabby from Bristol, U.K., doing whatever it is that felines do (purring, sleeping, being cute). But by night, he turns into a cat burglar extraordinaire who pilfers bath mats, cleaning supplies, pizza and even bras (naughty!) from his neighbors on quiet Ruby Street in Bedminster, proudly showing off the loot to his owners. Imagine all the secrets he could uncover if they give him a TV series: Murders! Forbidden trysts!
Sadly for us lurkers—and luckily for his poor neighbors—”Naughty Norris’s” owners, Richard and Sophie Windsor, have been cracking down on his behavior. But not without first recounting his nightly outings to the news media.
“He first started bringing things in from the recycling bins when he was about one,” Richard, 26, a graphic designer, told the Bristol Times. At first it was just the odd item—but over the last four months, he has really started to up his game. “Initially it was dusters and dish cloths but this has now intensified to clothes, including bras, pants, T-shirts and jumpers.” Once he even “brought home half a pizza, an unopened tube of gravy paste and a German sausage,” the paper reports. Maybe he thought Richard and Sophie were hungry.
Norris likes to get attention for his looting, too. “He brings his stolen items in and then meows and meows to announce he is back so we will go and see what he has brought in,” said Richard. “Sometimes he will go out multiple times during one night.” (In the U.K., the BBC points out, it’s very common for cats to come and go as they please, like humans—unlike in America, where we often put our pets in kennels, or at the very least behind locked doors.)
The couple has finally decided to put a stop to his madness and reunite their neighbors with the stolen swag—starting with a letter apologizing to the neighborhood. “If you’ve ‘misplaced’ anything of any monetary value and would like it returned then please give us a nudge on [email] or [telephone number]. We’ll have a dig through his growing hoard and drop them back to you. Apologies if you’ve been affected. Best wishes, Rich and Soph.”
“At first we thought it was funny,” Richard told the Bristol Times. “But as his stash grew and the items were getting bigger, we thought we needed to return them. It is not as if they are high-value items—but they all belong to someone. So far we have been able to reunite a number of items—including a towel set, some oven gloves, a bath mat, some baby clothes and some running gear—with their owners. Fortunately all our neighbours have been very good natured about it and think it is funny. At least now they know where to come if something disappears mysteriously.”