A woman was left 'howling with laughter' after her elderly parents innocently asked her to buy the 'gorgeous' pâté she'd previously got them - only for it to transpire they'd accidentally eaten a tin of cat food.
Angela Holloway, 59, had been helping out mum Margaret Lincoln and step-dad Donald Lincoln during the pandemic by doing the shopping for them.
But the upholsterer was left baffled when her mum told her they'd enjoyed 'a really lovely dinner of absolutely gorgeous pâté and baked bread' last Wednesday (12 May), asking her to buy it again.
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It wasn't until her 80-year-old mother showed Angela the tin that it dawned on her what had happened - realising Margaret, Donald and Angela's sister Beverly had eaten their way through an entire tin of cat food meant for their cat, Aggy.
The family are originally from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, but moved to France in 2015, and admit that reading labels in French can still be tricky - although Angela pointed out that the cat on the label should have been a bit of a giveaway.
Recalling the moment, Angela said: "Honestly I nearly wet myself. I was absolutely howling with laughter.
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"My mum started laughing then my sister started laughing. My sides were splitting, my mouth was hurting, I was laughing that much.
"I couldn't stop laughing, honestly - I was going to wet myself - for a good ten minutes."
Thankfully, the small tin of tuna-based pet food had been split between three people, meaning no one became ill - on the contrary, it seems, with Margaret describing it as 'absolutely gorgeous' while asking her daughter to buy it again.
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Margaret and 56-year-old Beverly saw the funny side of the incident, while 95-year-old Donald was a little more shocked.
Angela, who is married to husband Paul, 60, said: "His face was aghast. He [jokingly] said 'What are you doing? Trying to poison me?'.
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"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!"
After relocating to the Charente region in France nearly six years ago, the family often find reading French food labels difficult.
Angela said she tries to split the shopping up for her mum, but 'sometimes she gets it a bit cockeyed'.
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Because of Brexit, Angela is no longer able to meat and cheese products from the UK - including Margaret and Donald's favourite, Shippams Paste - and often tries to find French alternatives.
She said: "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."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy NewsTopics: Food, News, Animals, Cats