Man sends new neighbor a note after hearing her noisy cat 'pitter patter' all night — but it came with a twist

Lucas (u/gumtoe34 on Reddit) from Racine, Wisconsin, had only met his new neighbor once before he decided to write her a note. The letter, however, wasn't flirtatious as one might expect; in fact, it wasn't about his neighbor at all, but her noisy cats' tippy taps echoing through the walls, and it felt strangely reassuring. Lucas, also a cat parent, left the note at his neighbor's doorstep not as a warning but as a sign of solidarity, born from shared experiences. The man posted a picture of the letter on December 14.

"I have to inform you of your cat. He or she runs around a lot. I can hear the pitter-patter of their feet on my ceiling," Lucas began, trying to sound serious. At first, the neighbor might have been worried reading it, assuming that Lucas was annoyed about her "very energetic kitty" downstairs, but the truth was quite different. The noise didn't irritate Lucas; in fact, he loved hearing his neighbor's cat run around like an uncontrollable fireball. "It’s very cute and brings me a lot of joy when I hear it; tell them to keep it up," he added. Lucas had two cats of his own and had a sign on his door that mentioned, "A spoiled cat lives here." As a 'pawparent' himself, he understood what it's like to own cats, and thus decided to help his new neighbor settle in. "I added a smiley face to the note before I left it at her door. She’s a new neighbor, but I hope this is a lightheaded joke from one cat parent to another," he added. 

Unlike Lucas, not every neighbor is understanding and so considerate to our furry companions. A survey of 1,000 U.S. homeowners by Home Gnome found that pets are one of the top reasons for neighborhood clashes. They found that 16.5% of homeowners are usually unhappy with their neighbors' pets, while 19.4% frequently complain about community noise. Likewise, another survey by Anytime Estimate also revealed similar patterns. Well, the study found that 22% of those who reported disagreements or clashes with a neighbor cited pet-related issues. On the other hand, another 33% complained about noise issues.

Meanwhile, netizens were left overwhelmed with the sweet letter; for instance, u/schals shared, "I always feel bad when my dog plays sometimes… she likes to stomp around with her toys. I asked my downstairs neighbor if he could hear her, and he said yes, but dogs can do no wrong. He always gives her a little treat when he sees her." Similarly, u/maximum_lecture1557 said, "Ok, this might be the best person ever! You'd better let them meet the kitty!"

u/avaricious7 commented, "I love this. Apparently, an unpopular opinion, but I do. As someone who has been the upstairs neighbor with playful kitties, this note would make me very anxious in the first half yet very happy and relaxed at the end, and put some of my stress at ease." u/coopersnoodles wrote, "I always want to text my downstairs neighbor to apologize for my cat practicing being the fastest cat in the world at 6 am because he’s so excited that we’re awake — then I remember her dogs bark all day & I don’t send it." u/rain-on-your-daze commented, "This is quite literally the sweetest note I’ve ever read… I would hang this on my wall to bring me joy instead of anxiety at 3 AM, when my cats are CATapulting across the apartment and doing Olympic parkour from wall to (paper-thin) wall, right on top of my (very quiet) downstairs neighbor’s head. I want to vote for OP as president of epically cute and random, pro-cat acts of kindness."

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