A family woke up to find a surprise addition to their Elf on the Shelf setup: a massive poo left behind by their cat, Tilly.
Mum Katie Wright, 34, thought she had created a fun festive prank for her children Oscar, four, and Kiera, two, to find in the morning.
Katie set up the trick just before heading to bed, posing the elf on top of some sugar, chosen to look like fake snow.
But as the elf created snow angels in the sugar, 14-year-old cat Tilly was a little confused.
Mistaking the spread out sugar for a litter tray, Tilly did what she thought was right and left a giant poo next to the elf.
Katie, an executive director from Brackley, said: ‘It’s only my first year doing the elf as my eldest is only just four.
‘Oscar has really enjoyed it though and we’ve taken it easy knowing we probably have a decade of elf placements ahead of us.
‘So when I saw online someone do the snow angel elf, I thought that would be nice and easy.
‘It only took five minutes so I took a picture and headed off to bed.
‘In the morning Oscar came running into my room asking to find the elf and raced downstairs.
‘But the minute we walked through the dining room, the smell was overpowering.
‘My first thought wasn’t that is was anything to do with the elf – I picked Oscar up, worried we were about to step in something.’
Katie found herself looking frantically for the source of the smell – but the truth became clear as she approached the cooker.
‘The smell got stronger and I saw it,’ said Katie. ‘A GIANT poo with the elf.
‘I screamed but my son luckily just laughed and shouted “poo on the kitchen”.
‘I was a bit frantic – I knew Kiera was on her way in and there was a giant poo to keep them away from.
‘So I was flapping a bit and all of a sudden the cat jumped back up and started shuffling the sugar and I thought “oh god she’s going to wee too” so I chased her out the cat flap and suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.
‘Oscar thought I was crying and started saying “it’s ok mum”.’
Katie snapped a photo and shared the incident online – and thankfully she was able to laugh about the mishap.
The post went on to be shared more than 37,000 times.
So at least the family can thank Tilly for making their first attempt at Elf on the Shelf memorable.
Katie added: ‘I posted online and it went mad.
‘I suppose it is funny – it looks as though my Elf on the Shelf for the day was a giant poo.
‘Not exactly mother of the year as I had to swear Oscar to secrecy when he went to school later that day.
‘Tilly, our cat is a diva – she’s really not liking of human company.
‘She was ok and would accept the odd cuddle pre-children but she’s really never forgiven us for having the children.
‘It didn’t help that we’ve been renovating this big house and have just moved in so she’s had a litter tray for a month.
‘She was probably just desperate and really, she’s just an old lady that wants to be left alone.’
Has your pet made an attempt to destroy Christmas? Share your story by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
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