The cats fed on pet food produced at the C & D Foods plant in Edgeworthstown, which is owned by the former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, have been getting a special treat of late.
Thousands of pike from Lough Sheelin, reputed to be one of the best trout-fishing lakes in the world, have been sold to the food plant for processing.
The factory has been buying surplus pike from the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board. This year the surplus amounted to around 3,000. This is about half of the freshwater predators removed from Lough Sheelin to protect the brown trout stocks there.
The remaining 3,500 pike removed from the lake were transferred to Lough Key, Lough Gara and Lough Acrick in Co Roscommon, according to a report in the Longford Leader.
This year, for the first time, the pike which have been relocated have been tagged so fisheries officials can monitor their progress in the midland lakes.
Before the resettlement plan began in the 1990s, all the pike which were removed from Lough Sheelin were killed, and this resulted in the deaths of between 6,000 and 8,500 fish annually.
The Shannon Fisheries Board regional development inspector, Mr Matt Nolan, said he believed the board had no choice but to cull the pike from Lough Sheelin.
"It is one of only 15 trout lakes of its kind in the world and we would not be doing our job properly if we did not protect the trout," he said.
He said pike feed on young trout when they reach a certain stage of development and this, combined with pollution factors, put the trout at risk.
"Any pike which are not resettled in other lakes where there is a lot of coarse fishing, are sold off for pet food," he confirmed.