Zoot alors! Cat’ll do nicely

For Margaret and Donald Lincoln, getting into a state of confusion about their favourite pâté has taught them an important life-lesson – they need to check the packaging of their cat food more carefully!

Angela Holloway has been shopping for mum Margaret and step-dad Donald (pictured, above) throughout the pandemic, but usually separates the pet food from the rest of the shopping before it is put away. 

But the 59-year-old was totally bamboozled last week when her mum told her she had enjoyed ‘a really lovely dinner of absolutely gorgeous pâté and baked bread’.

It turns out the Sheffield couple, who now live in France, were eating what they thought was the latest locally produced pâté with their family – but no one noticed the cat on the packaging.

The culinary faux pas – which thankfully didn’t leave a nasty taste in the mouth – was only discovered when 80-year-old Margaret found the tin and suddenly burst into laughter.

The family moved to France in 2015 and admit reading the French labels can still prove tricky – though Angela thought the feline picture on the tin was enough of a giveaway.

She said: ‘Honestly I nearly wet myself. I was absolutely howling with laughter.

‘My mum started laughing then my sister started laughing. My sides were splitting, my mouth was hurting, I was laughing that much.’

Gourmet

None of the trio became ill from eating the tuna-based food, which was meant for pet cat Aggy.

The family, who live in the Charente region, say they are having to find alternatives to British produce after Brexit affected trade.

Angela said that she can no longer buy meat and cheese products from the UK, including her parents favourite, Shippam’s paste, and is on the hunt for good alternatives.

She added: ‘Obviously, living in France, it’s quite hard, we kind of have to work out what something is. And I do try and split it up for her – that’s the cat [food], that’s the dog [food] and things like that – but sometimes she gets it a bit cockeyed.’

Though the cat food-cum-pâté proved to be a surprisingly popular change from Shippam’s Paste, Angela says her mum will be extra vigilant in the future.

‘Luckily it was gourmet,’ she added. ‘I think she’ll look twice for a cat on a tin now.’