A vigilant house cat helped thwart a residential burglar in Marinwood, setting off a neighborhood manhunt that ended early Sunday morning with no arrests.

The crime occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m. Saturday, when the residents of a Deepstone Drive home were woken by the hissing of their cat. One of the residents went to the family room to discover a burglar in dark clothes climbing through one of the windows, said sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman.

The burglar fled and the residents called 911. Sheriff’s deputies searched the neighborhood and a Novato police dog was brought in to track the burglar’s escape path. Meanwhile, the sheriff’s department activated its phone alert system to advise residents to stay inside.

The search dog tracked a scent through the yard to its apparent terminus at the curb of Heatherstone Drive. Investigators suspect the burglar ran to a car there and escaped, Pittman said.

No similar cases were reported in the area overnight and the investigation is continuing. Anyone with information can call the sheriffs department at 499-7245.