The neighborhood cat has a housebreaking problem

Meet Cleo, a cat who is simply obsessed with stealing her neighbors’ personal items, from t-shirts to mice, but not the kind a cat would normally have: computer mice.

“He took a computer mouse that was still in his pocket,” a neighbor told a CBS affiliate KENS 5.

“He often brings clean, folded laundry,” said his owner, Jeanne Wheat, who pulled an array of laundry items from a basket found on her kitchen floor.

“I want to apologize because some of the items he brought home – particularly a pair of really nice women’s shapewear – are quite expensive,” she noted.

“We were traveling this summer,” Jeanne said, “and he got pretty crazy about stealing.”

“A couple of neighbors told me he climbed into their house through their window.”

He was even seen crawling onto the sunroof of a car and was caught on video in his home with other people’s belongings.

“We didn’t notice they were gone,” one of the neighbors said with a laugh. “She would tell us he would bring things home.”

Cleo’s owner washed the stolen goods and made them available for return.

“I apologize on his behalf,” she says. “Please look at his loot and get your things back.”

A veterinarian at the Houston SPCA notes that she has seen this condition in cats before and there may be an explanation for it.

“I’ve seen it before with cats developing substrate affinity, meaning they have an affinity for certain types of materials.”

“I chastised him a little because I thought we could kick the habit, but then I realized it was a losing battle. He’s basically a teenager.”