A couple whose bathroom door wouldn't open were shocked to find their new kittens had locked themselves inside.

The cheeky young cats had somehow opened a drawer inside, making it impossible to open the door with the handle.

Hilariously, pictures taken by owner Julee Balko, by sliding a phone under the door, show the mischievous pets innocently staring into the camera.

Balko, from Sammamish, Washington, explained: "I'm a huge animal lover, and although we've fostered over 30 kittens, these two kittens - Dandelion and Bumble - are ours.

"I told my girls when we moved into our home in Sammamish, they could adopt kittens. So we were only two weeks into our new home when this happened, which is why breaking down the door wasn't so appealing to me.

"When you first get kittens, it's advised you put them into a safe space like a bathroom where they can litter-train faster and get acclimated. We also have a huge rescue dog, so we wanted to introduce the animals to each other slowly.

"I thought we did a great job of kitten-proofing the bathroom until one day I went to open it and couldn't.

"My husband, James Alvarez, had the bright idea to put the phone under the door to try to figure out what was blocking it.

"When we saw the drawer and kitten looking directly at us - we burst out laughing.

"We tried sliding different things under the door to close the drawer, and the kittens thought it was so fun to bat whatever we put under.

"Sticks, long pliers, hangers, basically any thin object from around our house that my kids and I could find that would fit in the crack of the door or underneath.

"The hinges were inside the door, so we couldn't access them from the outside, so we couldn't take the door off. The screws for the door lock were also inside, so we couldn't take that off either.

"Every so often, I'd stick my phone under to see if we were making progress. And every time, we'd see something hilarious.

"It took us over an hour to get the drawer closed and free the kittens.

"My husband and I would take turns trying to close the drawer, and I'd get bored waiting for my turn - so I decided to tweet about it. The rest is history.

"The other cat finally got out of the drawer, and then my husband got it closed just right with a wire hanger that we had made skinnier, put under the door, and sort of slapped it closed.

"It's been amazing how many wonderful stories of crazy cat and dog antics have been shared.

"Our cabinets are now taped shut. Also, yes, as many people pointed out, it's a terrible bathroom design.

Balko, an author and freelance writer, recently released her first novel, The Things We Keep, but this quirky incident may have inspired future work.

"My next book actually has a foster dog in it, but maybe after all this, my third book will have a kitten."

This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.

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