Be honest - after a few pints (okay, a LOT of pints), have you ever looked at a can of Pedigree Chum or Whiskas and wondered whether the meaty chunks in jelly may actually be a secret taste explosion?
Whereas most of us would shake our heads after entertaining the thought (yes our pets may like it but they also lick their bottoms, leaving us to question their barometer of taste), food blogger Colin McQuistan decided to test the theory out.
In his blog, he writes that he tested the cat food (the brand was Felix) a whopping four times to check for consistency and texture and that the bottom line was that it was "horribly disgusting."
Surprisingly, the jelly wasn't the most gross bit. "I can reasonably say it is one of the most horrible things I have ever eaten. It tastes of chicken, yes, but there is something so very very unpleasant about it I almost vomit; it has a very burnt-rubber undertone and the chicken is chewy and tough; it is slightly sulphorous and the jelly is slightly more palatable than the chicken bits in so far as it doesn’t provoke such a strong vomiting response."
On the basis that "they eat cats in China", he opted to cook it a la stir fry.
"I have an gherkin (fresh), some sugar snap peas, ginger garlic, soy sauce, cumin, Yeungs Concentrated Chinese Curry Mix, sweet chilli sauce and Felix As Good As It Looks Cat Food With Chicken In Jelly.
"I first add the ginger, garlic and chilli into a pan for a couple of minutes to soften. I then add the vegetables, the cat food and the sauces and flash fry for another 90 seconds. At this point I was expecting the frying cat food to smell unbearable but interestingly it doesn’t give off any odour when cooking."
If you're expecting Colin to have stumbled across some innovative dish that means you can eat the same dish as your cat, you will unfortunately be disappointed.
He pronounced it as "1% edible", adding: "There are nice enough flavours from the spices, vegetables and sauces but the cat food lends a weird flavour and horrid texture to the dish: I can still taste that sulphurous and burnt rubber and I feel a bit ill. The dish also makes my mouth produce an alarming amount of saliva so I end up drooling all over the place."