Plumber left red-faced after wrestling client's indoor cat back into their home - only to realise it wasn't their pet

A plumber was left red-faced after wrestling a cat into his client’s home – only to discover that it wasn’t actually her pet.

Scott Mckendry, 47, from Winchester, was called out to a job at Emma Pickering’s home in Hampshire earlier this year and was given strict instructions not to let her cat Bertie go outside.

During the job, the plumber panicked when he realised he’d accidentally left the front door open.

However, he was relieved when he saw a black cat wandering around just outside.

Hilarious footage from Emma’s Ring doorbell shows how Scott slowly approached the cat calling out Bertie’s name.

Pictured: Plumber Scott Mckindry, 47, seen desperately trying to get a cat he thought belonged to his client back into her home

He then quickly grabs the large black moggy and rushes back to the house – only to find the door locked.

As he battles with the lock, the cat starts scratching and biting Scott – while the plumber desperately tries to soothe him.

Luckily, a neighbour witnessed Scott’s struggle and managed to open the door.

But as he goes to place the cat inside, the pair are dumbstruck to see the real Bertie sitting at the bottom of the stairs and looking up at them.

As he continues battling with the ‘lookalike’, Scott then shouts: ‘Oh no, that’s not Bertie!’

The pair then burst into hysterics and the plumber immediately releases the cat – who he later discovered was Alfie from down the road and ‘does not like being picked up at all’.

When Emma arrived home 10 minutes later, the cat owner, 26, was horrified to find Scott covered in scratches.

She explained: ‘Bertie was just inside lying on his back on the floor. He is the most chilled cat ever.

Pictured: Scott’s client Emma Pickering with her cat Bertie, who was sitting at the bottom of the stairs when the plumber finally opened the door with Alfie

Emma said of her plumber: ‘Scott is such a lovely person. I think it is a real testament to his character. He could have easily let go of Alfie but he kept trying’

‘I handed Bertie to Scott once we knew what had happened and Bertie just chilled in his arms. There was no way that cat was Bertie.

‘I have done a couple of double takes when I have been in my kitchen and seen Alfie out and about. But Alfie is much bigger and Bertie has a little white bit on his front.’

After Scott went back to work, Emma realised the hilarious moment would be caught on her Ring doorbell camera – which prompted the plumber to share it on his Facebook business page.

Emma said: ‘I looked at the footage and I can’t even explain how much I was laughing. I was almost on the floor.

‘My husband was exactly the same when he got home. We still find it so funny.’

Discussing the differences between Bertie (left) and Alfie (right), Emma said: ‘Alfie is much bigger and Bertie has a little white bit on his front.’

After Scott went back to work, Emma Pickering (pictured) realised the hilarious moment would be caught on her Ring doorbell camera

However, Emma says she wasn’t surprised by the lengths the plumber went to to ‘rescue’ her cat.

Emma said: ‘Scott is such a lovely person. I think it is a real testament to his character. He could have easily let go of Alfie but he kept trying.’

Scott said: ‘I did my best to protect Bertie. It’s early on in mine and the customer’s relationships so I didn’t really want to lose the cat.

Detailing his failed ‘recsue’, Scott said: ‘He had his teeth through the top of my arm. He was stuck to me. I had scratches all over my head and across my scalp and all up my arm. I had bite marks on my arm.

Scott said he really didn’t want to be responsible for losing Emma’s cat as it is ‘early on’ in their working relationship

‘Luckily I had gloves on and it’s winter so I had a thick jumper on. If it was summer I probably would have just dropped the cat!

‘It turns out speaking to the actual owner, Alfie does not like being picked up at all.’

Afterwards, Scott felt so bad about what happened that he asked Emma to check with Alfie’s owner to see if the cat was okay.

Scott added: ‘The imposter was absolutely fine and appears to be suffering no ill-effects from the whole experience.’