All of my animals know better...and when they make the occasional slip, they also know what will happen to them for it.

Oh, that is such a pain, especially if it is a $20 ham! You feel like making a hot dog! Only joking for all those animal lovers.

Hehe, this actually happened one year at the cat hospital (before I started working there)--they had a potluck dinner, and locked it in one of the rooms to make sure the house cats (the cats which are allowed to roam the hospital that are basically our cats) don't get into it. Well, they got in there, anyway, and had their own little Thanksgiving feast until one of the technicians caught them in the act. Ha, wish I were there for that!

I currently don't have a cat and my dogs are very short so I think we're pretty safe. However, the puppy is such a chow hound I could see her trying to figure out how to use the kitchen step ladder when my back is turned. This kind of pet rebellion actually did happen once in our house many years ago but not on Thanksgiving. The culprit was a big fluffy white Tom cat named George who made his move following a Sunday dinner. The baked chicken, just sitting there after everyone had left the table was just too much for the poor guy! Of course, if it happens you can only blame yourself for dropping your guard. Animals, even with the risk of being screamed at or smacked, no doubt still think of it as a quite a coup.

This is why pets are only cute some of the time. I would freak out, then put the whole family in the car and go to McDonald's for Happy Meals.

How many times have I seen this happen. Completely predictable, and also preventable. Humans never learn!

Wash it off? What if it's already chewed up? No cosmetic work can take care of that!

Punt the animal!

No, no, of course we don't mind. We've been looking forward to eating the Thanksgiving leftovers for months.