Great Britain - When two pet owners identified their cat as a food thief, the velvet paw reacted immediately.

In a short clip on the TikTok channel "catontheapp", you can see the chaos that the cat presumably caused before making off.

In the video, a cat owner living in the UK holds a polystyrene box containing French fries and mayonnaise.

When she closes the container, it turns out that the lid has been completely scratched and bitten through.

Just as the viewers are wondering what might have happened, the camera pans towards a glass door, behind which the culprit can probably already be seen.

The cat , locked out as punishment, merely responds with a loud meow as it stares into the living room, seemingly unaware of what it has done wrong.

TikTok users loved it - and many found the situation of the British couple, who actually wanted to enjoy the fast food, very understandable.

It is well known that both cats and dogs like to approach their owners' food and help themselves freely. Many users therefore reported similar experiences with their pets.

Other viewers, however, jumped to the kitten's side. "She's outside! She obviously can't be the culprit," joked one user, while another humorously wrote: "Your honor, my client is innocent."

"It was probably a mouse and the cat just wanted to chase it away," commented another user.

By the way: if a cat does something it shouldn't do, it is advisable to give it a time-out by taking it into another room - exactly what its owner and master did in their viral video.