People and their pets

I am very fond of cats and had them for years but I wouldn’t let them get onto the worktop. I wouldn’t cause a scene in someone’s house but would have an excuse ready if invited to a meal there again!

Maybe next time go into the kitchen at serving time and chat or offer to help, and if the cat gets on a worktop, shoo it off gently and say no kitty that's our food, we don't want fluffy food

I wouldn't have done or said anything, to be honest. I'm sure I've eaten food prepared in far worse conditions in the past and lived to tell the tall - what the eye doesn't see and all that...
I've dropped food on the floor, rescued it and served it, for instance. Years ago, I was about to dress some fish for DH's dinner, got the breadcrumbs out and turned round to find the cat nibbling the end of the fish. I trimmed the end, dressed it as usual and he was none the wiser.

I would not have eaten the food.and said why.
If it upset my friend,i would deal with that.

I'm not sure I'd have noticed. It wouldn't have bothered me.

I would have had a convenient poorly feeling and had to leave in a hurry !
Cats and dogs on the floor please , not on the counters 🤢

My friend feeds her cat’s on the kitchen work surface, I’ve never eaten there.

I have had cats all my life and I love them but I have always trained them from kittens not to jump on the counters or kichen table or dining table. They quickly learn not to.

I don’t have cats any more but when I did I was never able to stop them jumping into work surfaces so food was never put directly onto a work surface. Even now everything goes onto a plate. I think it’s easier to contain a dog in a certain area than a cat.

So you won't be visiting a cat cafe then? I love cats but this is a step too far for me.

It wouldn’t have bothered me. One of my previous cats liked to sit next to me at the counter while I ate breakfast. Neither of us came to any harm.

Unless I saw the cat actually licking the food, it honestly wouldn’t bother me.

Our cat (RIP) was forever on the worktop, yowling at the cat food cupboard in the hope of magicking something out - something other than what he enjoyed yesterday, but had just rejected - having licked all the Delicious Jelly off first, of course.

I’ve never been one for going mad with the anti-bac spray and AFAIK nobody’s ever fallen ill.

It wouldn't bother me, but I'd prefer cats to not be on the work tops purely due to their bottoms being in contact with the surfaces 🐈🐈🐈

We've had cats and dogs (horses too) and tbh it wouldn't have bothered me unless I'd seen the cat helping himself from the dishes (and then I'd have just made a joke about it). I keep dogs and cats off kitchen counters, beds etc but hair floats around in the air and does sometimes gets onto food plates etc. No-ones died yet. What I find really offensive is filthy dish clothes being waved around in kitchens, I'm not one for using antibacterial products but I do like surfaces t be wiped with clean cloths!

I went into the spice cupboard the other day only to find the door slightly open and the cat sitting there…

It would have put me off but if they were new friends I probably wouldn’t have said anything. If it was close family or an old friend I might well have commented. I’ve had dogs and cats all my life (just a dog now) and I’m quite laid back with animals around the house but never liked the cats getting on tables or work surfaces & so encouraged them not to do it. I tried never to leave things out that would tempt them to jump up to steal. No one wants cat hairs in their meal.
I recently went to a cat cafe with one of my GC as they had been pestering us to go. I really couldn’t fancy eating anything so I just ordered a drink, couldn’t wait to leave tbh.

Good grief, no it wouldn't bother me at all. I happily kiss my cats around their faces, too. Perhaps if it was a mangy-looking cat, I might think twice.

As for cat cafes - bring them on!

I never allowed my cat on work surfaces, beds, but I get that other people do, so i suppose I'd just pick out any hairs i found.

Mine will try and jump on work surface and I will shoo him off. But ...

I normally sit at the big dinner table in the kitchen when on my computer, and he loves nothing more than come and lie right next to me- and I so enjoy it, I've stopped trying to stop him. I mean, I clean the table well before we eat, and would use clean matts or tablecloth is we have visitors. Just don't tell my SIL, please shusssh.

I think it's really difficult for people who are not "animal" people to understand what we get from our pets. They are incredibly important to me, a constant source of something that I honestly can't explain but they calm my soul. When I've had really difficult times (as we all do) I've been out to see my horse and she's known I was unhappy and sort of sighed with me! It's very weird and I feel awkward writing this but I just think animals can read our emotions and will engage with us, so a bit of fur, the odd lick and a smelly fart if perfectly OK!

It wouldn’t have bothered me in the slightest. Having worked in catering and food factories I’d say that would be the least of your worries. It’s kind of like mattresses in hotels. Best not to think too much about it…

i don't like animals in houses.
i avoid entering such houses.
wouldn't eat there.

When I was a child many moons ago I remember my great aunt allowing her dog to drink the slops from the tea cups. I would watch fascinated while she lined each teacup on the floor so her dog could lap up the remains of the milky tea in each one. My grandfather refused to drink out o her tea cups and would bring his own, telling her he had ''a funny mouth''.Wether she believed him or not I do not know.
My great aunt was an extremely house proud woman and would belittle anyone whom she deemed to be ''a sloppy housewife''but never saw any harm in letting her dog lick the cups because her dog loved tea!

PinkPrincess, that reminded me of a boy I was friendly with at school, at 8 or 9. They had two dogs, a cat and a rabbit - their mother would put a saucer of tea for each of them on the kitchen floor and they’d line up to drink it! I loved going to their house. I only had a tortoise - I did love him, though.