Actress Stacy Haiduk had everyone purring at the Daytime Emmy Awards Sunday night thanks to a very furry accessory, one that appeared to be a cat fashioned into a purse with a chain strap.

But die-hard fans of daytime hit The Young & the Restless knew exactly what was going on: Haiduk brought along her stuffed feline costar, Mr. Kitty.

"The ones that didn't [know the show], they thought it was a purse and asked me how it opens up, which was a little bizarre!" Haiduk tells PEOPLE Pets. "I put a beautiful little bow on it with a chain from an old antique purse that I found. I rigged it so it could stay on me because it's expensive!"

The actress plays Mary Jane Benson (a.k.a. Patty Williams) on the show, a mentally unstable woman who has a past involving Jack Abbott (played by Peter Bergman) and spills all her dark secrets to her stuffed cat. Since the feline is such an important part of her role, Haiduk thought it would be a kick to bring it along. People at the ceremony "thought it was the coolest thing in the world," she says. "Then they thought it was my pet from home, that when it passed away I got [stuffed]. It got a lot of heat out there!"