A volleyball-playing feline was picked to star in a national TV advert after seeing off competition from thousands of gifted animals . Tortoiseshell Mimi became an internet sensation after her owner uploaded clips of her playing the sport to Facebook . The 30-second-video was shared by thousands of people around the world and features the one-year-old cat playing with 15-year-old Joshua Teague . Joshua ’ s dad Phil , 56 , a computer programmer , bought the cat with his wife Christine , 45 , when she was eight-weeks-old in December 2013 from a seller who lived in Birmingham . Mimi was picked to star in the TV advert , which was broadcast last Wednesday ( 15 ) , after Phil shared the video with the Pets at Home Facebook group earlier this month . He said : 'All the family were really excited to see the advert . Mimi the cat appears in a 30-second video showing her unique ball skills . 'We had everyone around so we could watch it together and we told all our friends that it was going to be on . ' I am really proud that our video was chosen out of thousands of entries . 'It was completely by chance that I uploaded the video on to the Pets At Home Facebook page . The cat is seen playing volleyball with 15-year-old Joshua Teague in the hallway . Mimi was picked to star in the TV advert after Phil shared the video with the Pets at Home Facebook group . ' I just saw something on there asking people to share videos and pictures of their pets so that ’ s what I did . I didn ’ t even realise it was a competition . 'The video showed Mimi playing volleyball with my son where he would throw the ball at her and she would keep batting it back . ' I had no idea it was competition so I thought it was a joke when I received an email on April 1 saying our video had been chosen for a national commercial . Mimi is seen in the video batting the ball back to Joshua every time he throws it her way . 'This kind of thing just never happens . 'She is a very talented cat . She has done many times since . ' I think she could get her own TV show . ' Administrative assistant Christine said : ' I didn ’ t even know Phil had uploaded the video on Facebook so I thought it was an April Fools ’ joke when he told me about it . 'We normally just skip the adverts when we watch programmes but we made sure to watch this one . 'Although she ’ s only in the advert for a few seconds , it ’ s nice to see her on it . ' I never thought when I filmed the video that it would end up on TV . '
A clip of Mimi playing volleyball was uploaded to Facebook . Cat saw of competition from thousands of gifted animals . Family received £20 voucher to buy treats for their cat . Owner said 'family were really excited to see the advert '