(UPI) A show-stealing house cat in Mississippi got its 15 seconds of fame after turning up in the background during a report of a "large cat" on the loose.

Fox 13 reporter Scott Madus shared video of the cat's opportune appearance in the background as he reported about a loose mountain lion in Hernando.

"There's been spotting of a cougar... and that's not it, that looks like a house cat," Madus said as he turned around and pointed to a gray tabby calmly sitting behind his shot.

The camera zoomed in on the stone faced cat resting in the grassy area behind Madus as the words "large cat spotted" appeared on screen.

"Apparently a lot of people are talking about the cat who stole the show. If you missed it, here ya go," Madus wrote on Twitter.

While the tabby went viral, the {link:real "large cat" remained on the loose after being spotted by David Sluder of Southaven on Wednesday afternoon.

"I happened to see something out of the corner of my eye. Initially, it wasn't out of the tree line when I saw it," Sluder told the Clarion-Ledger. I thought it was a deer or coyote. When it walked out I realized it was a big cat. That's when I started taking pictures and shooting video.

Despite frantic comments on his video, neither Sluder nor local biologists believe the cat is anything more than another large house cat.

"Biologists look at it differently, we look at distinguishing characteristics to identify," Rick Flynt, a biologist with Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, said. This is not a panther or cougar or mountain lion. It's a house cat. You can look at the erect ears. The position of the ears gives it away. Pointed tips; that's a house cat every time.

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