When a woman in Sichuan, China, left home to play mahjong with friends, little did she expect that the first floor of her loft unit would be burned down just moments later.

Her cat accidentally turned on an induction cooker when it stepped on the touch panel, sparking a blaze on April 4 that cost her 100,000 yuan (S$19,200) in damage, Chinese media reported.

After receiving a call about the blaze from the property management staff, the woman quickly rushed home.

Her golden British shorthair cat, named Jingoudiao, was found covered in ash in a cabinet upstairs, the South China Morning Post reported. It was not hurt.

The woman has since shared her story on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, where viewers can donate to their favourite streamers.

She said she is making her cat work to pay off its “debt” through live-streaming sessions, ET Today reported. 

Videos of her cat have since attracted eight million views from netizens swooning over her cat’s adorable looks.

While she called her cat an “arsonist”, she said she also bore some blame.

On April 13, she posted on social media a letter of apology, signed with her fingerprint and her cat’s paw print.

She said that she should have turned off the power to the induction cooker and urged others to be cautious of kitchen fires.