The friendly neighborhood UPS guy dropped off a perk from Klout this last Friday — a sample box from Merrick Purrfect Bistro. Let’s see what’s inside!

The actual box within the shipping sleeve. Tasteful colors and design. Skewing female. Can’t go wrong with a cat wearing a chef’s hat. Let’s see what’s inside!

Bonus message on the flap. Good thinking. Sounds yummy. Keep going!

The box contains a card from Klout, a letter from W. “Mittens” Bloomfield, a delightful little blue tablecloth, two bamboo plates, a bamboo sporklike object, a pink kitty collar, a can of Merrick Purrfect Bistro Beef Wellington, a can of Merrick Purrfect Bistro Chicken Pâté, a bag of dry Merrick Purrfect Bistro Healthy Adult Chicken, and a little menu booklet.

Can’t wait to take it inside and see what Cricket and Vixen think of these new numnums. But should I buy them little cat berets first?

Even before I can get things ready, Vixen has decided she likes the little tablecloth. A good sign. Meanwhile, Cricket hangs out on top of a nearby kitchen chair, watching.

I set both cans down on the floor and Vixen sniffs at the Chicken Pâté, so that’s the one I crack open and dish out on the plates. After setting the plates down on the tablecloth, Cricket hops down from the chair and leaves the dining room.

After a bit of coaxing, I get Vixen to approach the plates. She looks up at me, not quite sure what is going on. I shouldn’t have promised her a beret.

After more coaxing and strategic use of a laser pointer, I get Vixen to check out the food. She takes a sniff and…

…tries to bury it like a turd in a litter box…

…and walks away, probably to see what Cricket is up to.

Conclusion: Kudos to the Merrick marketing team for the excellent thinking and execution that went into this sample box. Unfortunately, the actual product didn’t quite have the desired effect with my finicky felines. I also gave the dry food a shot, which Cricket also ignored. Vixen tried with the dry, but the pieces were too tiny for her to get into her mouth (she’s missing some teeth) so all she was able to do was moisten them with cat slobber and bat them around the kitchen floor like tiny little hockey pucks. If the pieces had been larger, then I think Vixen would’ve enjoyed a tasty treat. SO THERE’S HOPE!

Thanks for sending me the Purrfect Bistro gato goodies, Merrick. You made an excellent first impression with me, and perhaps with a little reformulation, my kitties will be impressed as well.