Elderly couple shocked to discover ‘absolutely gorgeous pate’ was cat food

The family were left howling with laughter at the mishap.

A mum ‘howled with laughter’ after her elderly parents asked her to buy them more ‘gorgeous pate’ – only to discover they had eaten a tin of cat food.

Angela Holloway has been shopping for her mum Margaret Lincoln and step-dad Donald Lincoln throughout the coronavirus crisis, but usually separates the pet food from the rest of the shop.

That meant the 59-year-old was confused last week when her mum told her they had eaten ‘a really lovely dinner of absolutely gorgeous pâté and baked bread’.

The Sheffield couple, who now live in France, were eating with Angela’s sister Beverly Weston – but no one had noticed the cat on the packaging, and they struggle to read French labelling.

Upholsterer Angela said that when 80-year-old Margaret showed her tin – which they had finished off completely – she 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.’

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

Though Margaret and Beverly, 56, saw the funny side, 95-year-old step-dad Donald was less amused.

She said: ‘His face was aghast. He [jokingly] said “What are you doing? Trying to poison me?”.

‘My mum had absolute astonishment on her face and because I was laughing she just had to laugh as well, it’s like – oh my god mum what have you done?

‘She said she enjoyed it. She said it was lovely!’

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

Angela explained 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 proved to be a surprisingly popular change from Shippams Paste, Angela says her mum will be extra vigilant in the future.

She added: ‘I’m trying to replicate [products they like such as Shippams Paste]. I shall be watching [out] in the future. Luckily it was gourmet.

‘I think she’ll look twice for a cat on a tin now.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE : What actually is catnip and is it safe for my cat?