Owning a pet is a huge responsibility.

That's something which many of us may have heard from our parents growing up, if we ever told them we wanted a pet.

One father in China, however, took this a step further, putting in an Oscar-worthy performance as a cat to demonstrate to his daughter the realities of owning one.

This was showcased in a clip that was first circulated on Weibo, and has since gone viral.

The video, which was reposted to TikTok by user "137601900qq", has garnered more than 1.7 million views as of August 26.

@137601900qq8月21日，山东济南。女儿想养猫，父亲亲身示范养猫后果，不能说惟妙惟肖，只能说一模一样。♬ 原聲 - 丽丽

According to the caption, the hilarious incident took place in Jinan city, within China's Shandong province, on August 21.

What the man did

This apparently happened after the man's daughter told him she wanted a cat.

The clip starts off with the man crawling on the kitchen top on his hands and knees, while his daughter watches on.

He stares at the girl while slowly using his hand to push a bowl full of ingredients off the counter.

It falls onto the ground, and the contents scatter everywhere.

Then, he paws at the stream of water flowing from the running tap two or three times, just like what a curious feline might do.

The clip then cuts to a scene in the living room, where the man is on his hands and knees on the sofa while his daughter sits next to it.

He then arches his back and appears to make a yowling sound.

This causes his daughter to turn away, with a look of annoyance on her face.

Undeterred, the man continues the act, even clawing at the air a couple more times before the video ends.

Online users respond

The man's realistic acting subsequently earned him plaudits from online users in the comments.

“What a talented dad," one user wrote.

“That's a complete cat performance," another added.

Some were tickled at how he portrayed the mannerisms of an aggressive cat.

Cats that feel threatened may display hostile behaviour like staring or facing an enemy, hissing or growling, and arching their back.

"In the second scenario, it's like a cat with its fur bristling," one pointed out.

To which another replied, "With this kind of dad, who needs a cat?"

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Top image from 137601900qq / TikTok.