cats (or dogs) eating off of our dishes

On another board I am on a couple of ladies are freaking out at the thought of their dogs eating from their plates, so I wondered if any of you allow your cats or dogs to eat off your plates.

I cannot see what the big deal is as we wash our dishes after but as I said these ladies are having the heeby geebies about it!

Yes, it is probably gross to have animals eat off people dishes. But I regularly use people bowls for kitties, since I am fostering sometimes I just run out of clean animal dishes! LOL!

I wonder what they would think about when the cats snitched from my Chia tea, and I finished drinking it anyhow. I mean, its not like any old animal did it, it WAS my own kitty! I don't eat after the dog, though!

I don't allow my animals to eat human food, unless it's something healthy like carrots for my dogs, but the actual idea of it I wouldn't mind. I know some people that won't wash their animals' bowls with the human's bowls, but I do that too! Not a big deal to me....

It doesn't worry me at all!!

I'm happy for my cats to share an icecream with me!! (They don't get much, just a few licks! )

When my Corkie was alive we frequently shared my bowl of raisin bran cereal. I would eat enough cereal to make a place where there was a lot of milk and she would drink the milk and I would finish off the cereal. Missy will do that too! Never bothers me at all so I was so surprized to read that it bothered these ladies.

I would prefer my cats not eat directly from my plate. They aren't even supposed to get any people food. But since Lucivar has taken to drive by sandwich munchings I've had to learn to live with it. If I trashed every sandwich he'd taken a small bite from I'd starve. That cat is fast too. I take a bite and all of a sudden I have a guest in my lap who quickly snatches my lunch. They also drink from a bowl from our dinner set. They all go through the dishwasher anyway.

Kitty will lick the plate after I put it in the sink. I don't give her table food because I don't know if it's good for her. She hasn't had any problems just licking the plates, though. I figure I have to wash them anyway. It doesn't bother me too much.

Originally Posted by jane_vernon

It doesn't worry me at all!!

I'm happy for my cats to share an icecream with me!! (They don't get much, just a few licks!

)

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Haha I let my cats do that, too. And the dog sometimes gets a couple licks, too.

At my house eating off moms plate is aokay provided she aint eating off it at the same time.... Dogs and cats have far less bacteria in there mouths than humans do ..

I just let my one cat Hobbs eat from a people plate for his canned food. I also let him lick a tiny bit of milk at the end of my cereal bowl. Blueberry just gets hard food in her cat bowl, so no prob there. I have three dogs and their way bigger slimier tongues on my plate grosses me out , so I never feed them on my plates.

I use our dishes all the time for giving them wet food or tuna.

And I regularly let them lick my ice cream as well as well as the dog. a few people generally go 'Ewwwww' but I don't care..

The dog we had while I was in high school and college would share ice cream with my father every night. Same spoon, never an issue. (Felicia was very good with it, she would scrape the ice cream off the spoon with her front teeth if it didn't slide off. ) They also shared candy canes.

Ophelia likes to lick the veggie butter from our plates when we are finished. It's never much, but she likes it. The cats also get first dibs on hubby's nighttime glass of milk. (Good thing neither of them is lactose intolerant!) They don't drink much, and it doesn't bother either of us.

I guess it all depends on how much you love the little critters. Quite frankly it grosses me out more to share food with a slobbery toddler than with the family cat or dog - but that's because the kid isn't mine.

Originally Posted by Beckiboo

I wonder what they would think about when the cats snitched from my Chia tea, and I finished drinking it anyhow. I mean, its not like any old animal did it, it WAS my own kitty! I don't eat after the dog, though!

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And to think dogs have cleaner mouthes than people!! I try not to give my kitties human food... and I don't let them eat off my plate... at least not until I'm done with it. Honestly, I'm one of those people that is a little grossed out by it... but not enough that I'd throw away a whole sandwich... and believe me... Toulouse (my 6-month) is also a master of the drive-by munching... only in his case it's more like careening.....

Originally Posted by jane_vernon

It doesn't worry me at all!!

I'm happy for my cats to share an icecream with me!! (They don't get much, just a few licks!

)

Click to expand...

same here, if i'm having an icecream i always let them have a lick, iv'e never even thought about it really and i'm healthy, they also have used the bowls and plates, only when there's chicken or fish scraps, i'll just put the bowl down and let them finish it off....i never tell guests though

i also catch pandy drinking out of my glass a lot of the time, only when i'm having chilled water with ice or milk....and i'm not throwing that away just because she wanted to share, i actually started to put ice in theie water feeder but she still wants the glass!

i think some people just go overboard with germs and stuff...there's germs everywhere and the only way to avoid them would be a very boring life...no thanks besides, my cats love sharing with me

my dog anassa also shares with me, especially icy poles and ice-creams....i make sure she hasn't licked anything gross first though

I think it's disgusting, frankly. My cats have their own stoneware dishes that are just as nice as mine, so there is no reason to have them eat from my dishes. Besides, they get vet quality cat food, so I don't see the reason for them to eat human food.

That said, Lex does have a penchant for stealing chicken from my plate if I'm not looking, so I will give in and give him a little.

Originally Posted by sharky

Dogs and cats have far less bacteria in there mouths than humans do ..

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Is that before or after they lick their butts?

My wife used to refuse to let the cats lick our plates. Now, she lets Peekaboo do it. Spoiled little runt!

I have never had any difficulty with the family critters cleaning up the human plates. Don't steal my food while I'm eating it, thanks, but none of them has ever been disposed to do that, anyway. The dishes all go in the dishwasher. What's the big deal?

My cats and dogs eat off the plates after I've finished. My dog gets EVERY single plate that food has touched. She loves it.

I've never minded pets licking a dish AFTER I'm finished eating. If we've had bacon, Opie will jump up onto the stove and lick the skillet (after its cooled). The dishes are all run through the dishwasher, before being reused anyway.

I've also had several cats who would drink out of my water glass.