Nuri My Favorite Mom From Spain, Says--

I had my "American mom" (Alice) and her sister visiting us for a few days. It was great seeing her again, She's such a nice person. We talked a lot about the time I spent in San Francisco and I remembered a funny story. I had only been in her home for two days and we were all in the kitchen (she had 5 kids and 4 house cats). At some point, everyone got busy and Alice said: "Nuri, watch the cats". And I did a great job. I took the word literally and I watched the cats jump up the table, get a taste of leftover breakfast and run all over (funny American tradition, I thought). So I shouldn't have been surprised when, in my home, I asked her to keep an eye on my girls only to find my 18 month old girl on the table getting all messy. "It's payback time!" she smiled...
PD: I just remembered also when Alice and her husband were driving with me to their home just when I arrived in SF. They said: "We live in the Presidio"... and they didn't understand why I looked puzzled. Well, in Spanish presidio means jail...


ADDENDUM--

Q. Can I feed my cat table scraps?
From Franny Syufy,Your Guide to Cats.FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
A. I strongly advise against feeding your cat table scraps for several reasons:
Some human foods are toxic to cats, even in small amounts, such as onions or chocolate.
Most human food is either too highly spiced, or too fat-laced to be good for cats. Even though the food may smell appealing, tummy aches or vomiting might be the end result.
A cat regularly fed human food will either lose his taste for his own food, or be too full to eat it. Either way, he will lose the essential nutrients, including taurine, so necessary for cats to survive and thrive.
Allowing cats to eat "at the table" is creating your own home-grown monster. You may find your guests appalled at having a cat at the table, and your cat will be miffed at being banished.
In the case of holidays like Thanksgiving, I suggest feeding your cat a meal of his own food directly before your guests arrive.