Bella attacks letters as they slide through the mail slot in her door.

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Britain's postal service threatened to stop delivering a family's mail because of their cat

Bella allegedly scratched and nipped postal carriers who were sliding mail through the door

CNN  — 

Bella the cat’s family says she’s always been a sweet and loving pet, but the kitty has apparently become a menace to the British postal service.

Matthew Sampson of Patchway, United Kingdom, said he got a letter from the Royal Mail warning that it had done a risk assessment and would stop delivering mail to their house in 14 days unless they did something to restrain their cat.

It turns out Bella attacks letters as they slide through the door’s mail slot. In the process, she nips and scratches the fingers of unsuspecting postmen and women.

Sampson said he has had Bella for about three years and only discovered the problem recently when their postman mentioned it to his partner, Laura Lowe.

Bella poses with her family

“She’s a really nice cat and hasn’t bitten anybody,” Sampson told CNN.

It’s unclear if Bella hates the mail, or if she really, really likes the mail, but either way, something had to be done.

Fortunately, a amicable solution was reached in time.

Sampson is buying a new external mailbox. He said the Royal Mail offered to pay for it and apologized for the hassle.

“I didn’t expect an apology because at the end of the day, if my cat is injuring them, they are within their rights,” he said.

A spokesman for the Royal Mail says incidents involving cats are pretty rare, but animal attacks are a real risk for postal carriers. There were about 3,000 dog attacks on U.K. mail carriers between 2014 and 2015.

For now, the postal carriers of Pathway can breathe a little easier, and Bella will have to find something else to do with her days.