The table is set and the turkey is cooked to perfection — and somehow your cat has turned your intricately folded napkins into a new scratch toy.
Cat parents have a unique Thanksgiving experience; no question about it. If you have a cat around for your holiday celebration, everything from the preparation to cooking to eating comes with a few feline twists.
Here are five Thanksgiving traditions that cat lovers are all too familiar with.
Has your cat ever caused mayhem during a Thanksgiving dinner? What are your tips for cat lovers who host Thanksgiving? Let us know in the comments below!
Thanksgiving Experiences Cat Parents Are All Too Familiar With
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Your Cat Double-Checks All The Thanksgiving Groceries -- Especially The Bags
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As soon as a cat parent walks through the door, Thanksgiving groceries in hand, all their cat wants to do is help them by going into every single bag to "organize."
And by organize, we mean that the cat has to stomp all over the groceries, shove all of the butter and stuffing ingredients onto the floor, and make the paper bag their new abode from which they will plot all of their Thanksgiving antics.
Make sure your surfaces and litter box are clean so nasty litter paws don't get all over your food.
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Any Piece Of Furniture That's Been Lint Rolled Is Now Your Cat's Favorite Hangout
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Hosting Thanksgiving can be a very demanding experience. Your cat wants to keep in line with the high demand by shedding all over the furniture, table runners, and your pristine host outfit that you literally just ran the lint-roller over.
Save your sanity by covering just-cleaned surfaces with a sheet that you can toss in the dirty laundry right before guests come.
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Your Cat Volunteers To Be Your Thanksgiving Sous Chef
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All of those delicious smells coming from your kitchen on Thanksgiving morning must mean one thing to your cat: you're having a hard time making the Thanksgiving feast and could surely use their help.
Doesn't your cat dipping their paw in the gravy add that much-needed punch it was missing? That pumpkin pie would look cuter with one giant paw print in the middle.
If your cat is wreaking havoc in the kitchen, considering keeping them in their own contained space.
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Your Cat May Not Help, But Will Judge You On Your Cooking Skills
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Cats have this uncanny ability to make their humans feel an obscene amount of shame for almost nothing.
As you make your grandmother's cranberry fluff, your cat will look at you with disdain.
You could do much better, and your cat will let you know.
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Your Cat Checks The Food For Poison While You're Distracted Being A Host
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After all of the hard work of preparing for Thanksgiving, it's nice to reap the rewards and mingle with your guests. Your cat knows how important this is to you, so kitty is going to do you one last favor by potentially sacrificing themselves and testing all of the food for poison.
They will nibble at the turkey, lap up the gravy, and maybe indulge in dessert as well.
If you are one thousand percent sure your food is poison-free, save your cat all of this arduous work by keeping the food out of your cat's reach.
