It was 5:45 a.m. when the 88-year-old woman awoke to a noise that she thought was just a pesky neighborhood cat roaming through the shrubs outside her kitchen.

Shuffling into the kitchen of her Porter Ranch home to shoo away the cat, the woman instead found herself face to face with two black-clad burglars.

The duo sprinted out of her sliding glass door, but not before grabbing $100 cash and $100 in gift cards from her purse. "I've had a heart attack before, and I almost had another one," said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for her safety.

"But once I realized that I was all right and they were gone, I was fine. But not really fine, because I had some money stolen."

Although reports of burglaries are down 5 percent citywide from a year ago, police in North Hollywood, Van Nuys and Sun Valley say they've seen a surge since summer began.

Eighty burglaries were reported in Van Nuys from June 21 to July 18, a 51 percent jump from the previous month, according to Los Angeles Police Department reports.

North Hollywood saw a 23 percent jump, from 60 to 74. And the Foothill division based in Pacoima had 57 burglaries, seven more than the previous month.

"There's a tendency for burglars to take advantage of the hot weather, because people keep their windows open," said Cmdr. Harlan Ward, the LAPD's No. 2 for the San Fernando Valley.

Though burglars intent on a target will find their way inside, police say residents should make it as difficult as possible by installing - and using - secure locks on windows and doors.

Police said that the burglars at the home in Porter Ranch initially try to gain entrance through a kitchen door, but found it locked. They got in through the sliding glass door - which the owner said she might have left unlocked.

In an unrelated case, two men were arrested last week after undercover officers caught them burglarizing a house in North Hollywood - their seventh in just two days, police said. The duo entered homes through windows and doors left open at night because of the suffocating heat, officials said.

Though authorities across the Valley's seven patrol divisions share information about crime and burglary trends during weekly conference calls, observant neighbors also prevent burglaries, said Lt. Armando Munoz.

One woman called police Friday after noticing four men loitering in front of a home near Van Nuys and Ventura boulevards and later saw them prowling around another house. They were later arrested on suspicion of burglary, Munoz said.

"The guys coming to homes from cable TV companies or for Sears are moving quickly. They're walking with a purpose. They're not loitering around or looking in a window," said Munoz, who urged residents to copy down license plates of the suspicious cars.

"But if you're a burglar, you're moving slow. You're waiting to see if someone is there."

Police urge residents to call if they see something supicious.

Last week in North Hills, for instance, a resident saw two men come back twice to knock on a neighbor's door in a secluded cul-de sac. However, the man didn't notice when the duo came back a third time and broke in through a bedroom window on the side of the house. The burglars ransacked the home, and got away with four TV sets, jewels, electronics and a safe containing a handgun.

"When I got home, I ran out of the house and called police," said the homeowner, who asked not to be identified. "I feared they were still in the house."

Still, the neighbor was able to provide a description of the suspected burglars - Latinos with shaved heads who were driving a new champagne-colored pickup truck.

While most people think of single-family homes when they think of residential burglaries, police said they've seen an increase in apartment burglaries in the Van Nuys area, said Capt. Tia Morris.

Thieves break in through open windows and unlocked doors while residents are sleeping and grab purses, wallets and small items that they can carry away, Morris said.

"Some people will tell you, 'I never lock my door.' Or they'll say, 'The only time I close my windows is when it gets cold,"' Morris said. "People are also trying to conserve energy and they're leaving the windows open."