We buy some extra-fancy Shimane cat food for our cat, but it looks pretty tasty to us too.

You may know about our Japanese-language reporter Yuichiro Wasai’s recent attempts to transform his physique and nose hair, but you might not know is that he’s also a loving cat owner. So while he was out and about on a recent shopping trip, Yuichiro decided to splurge on a special treat for his kitty and picked up some premium cat food.

But on his way home, he started to wonder “Can I eat this instead?”

This might sound like Yuichiro’s diet-weakened spirit crying out for any kind of edible indulgence, but that’s actually not the case. See, what Yuichiro bought wasn’t dry cat food, but a 700-yen (US$6.75) can of Shimane Prefecture-based cat food maker Nekko’s Nekkocan series, specifically its canned saba/mackerel for cats.

But how is mackerel for cats any different than mackerel for humans? Mackerel has long been a part of traditional Japanese cuisine, so maybe Yuichiro could keep this treat for himself.

Removing the lid revealed a sight not unlike cracking open a can of tuna, with flakes of fish packed in water. But the real luxury came when Yuichiro plunged his chopsticks into the can…

…and pulled up a huge chunk of mackerel!

Then it was time for the moment of truth, so he popped the mackerel into this mouth, and was startled…

…at just how normal it tasted!

▼ Yuichiro eating cat food

If anything, it was almost too normal. For-human Japanese recipes usually also involves adding miso, salt, or vinegar to the mackerel, but those sorts of flavorings aren’t necessarily good for pets, so the mackerel Nekkocan forgoes them and delivers the straightforward, comparatively subtle flavor of the fish itself.

Not being doctors, we’re not making any guarantees about possible long-term effects of making Nekkocan cat food a regular part of your diet, but at least in terms of how it tastes, yeah, you can eat it…well, kind of. Though the flavor isn’t a problem, another issue came up…

…because Yuichiro’s cat quickly noticed he was eating some mackerel, and started insistently meowing for a bite of the fish, making our reporter feel incredibly guilty for not sharing until he just gave the whole can to the kitty.

So in the end, can you eat this cat food? Yes, but if you do have a cat in your home, odds are you won’t be able to eat more than one bite.

Photos © SoraNews24
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