# Cat takes a couple of laps from your beverage before you shoo it away. Still drink it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875 "2016-01-22T11:51:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/21 "2016-01-22T20:05:03Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t think I’ve eaten a single meal at home that didn’t have at least one cat hair in it and my hipster doofus of a cat regularly sleeps on my face, so no. it wouldn’t bother me at all. “ **Hipster doofus of a cat** ” made me literally LOL. Eh, it’s my cat. She’s fine. I’d drink the milk and totally have. I see no difference between that and if I had a toddler and the toddler drank the milk. I would actually be more grossed out about the toddler germs. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/22 "2016-01-22T20:06:31Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Thank you for your consideration. You’re my main source of fiber, dude!😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/23 "2016-01-22T20:09:31Z")
No. It was because Hestia started drinking out of my bedside water glass that I gave her a little bowl of water on my nightstand, just for her. Now she complains if it’s not there, or not full. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/24 "2016-01-22T20:35:32Z")
I answered “Other”. In this particular case it’s “No, but only because I hate cats.” That being said, my dog friggin’ loves to lick the mouths of beer bottles and is surprisingly good (he’s a big oaf) at being sneaky about it. Dork of a dog. I still drink the beer. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/25 "2016-01-22T20:52:13Z")
I regularly feed my dogs and cats scraps right off my own fork while eating dinner. My cat loves when I eat cereal because I let him sample the milk from my spoon. He occasionally sleeps right next to my face and likes to wake me up by licking my eyeballs. Whatever germs he has, I have. We’ve been sharing them since he started living here. He licked a bit of my milk? Who cares? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/26 "2016-01-23T14:10:21Z")
If it’s something I really, really want, and I can’t easily replace it, I may scoop a bit out and then drink. Otherwise, I pour it out and get more. Though this has only happened with dogs, not cats for me. My cats never did all those snooty cat things I always see described online. No jumping on my keyboard, no getting on the table or knocking things over, and no jumping on me to wake me up. They did scratch up things and urinate where they shouldn’t, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/27 "2016-01-23T14:45:23Z")
Our African Grey has a play area in my man-cave. The water dish doesn’t lock in place, so he spills it for fun. My workaround involves offering him a drink from time to time from my copper Moscow Mule mug. When I think he might be thirsty, I fill the mug with water and offer it, saying, “wanna drink of water?” He takes a few drinks and then I drink the rest. We’ve reached a point now where _he_ says, “wanna drink of water?” signaling me, his trained primate, to get him a drink. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/28 "2016-01-23T15:22:18Z")
Not liquid milk, but I regularly share my vanilla ice cream with Havoc and whipped cream with Caelan then continue using the same spoon to feed my face. Pixel and Brindle don’t like dairy at all, so they never bother to ask for any. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/29 "2016-01-23T15:41:30Z")
All of the time: whether it’s Link eating out of my bowl or him getting a drink of water from my glass. Or the cockatoo wanting whatever I have. But those 2 are special because one is almost 15 and the other is almost 30. The rest of the horde get treated but don’t get to treat themselves. I got used to sharing by having 3 boys. And they made much yuckier backwash than either of the 2 special critters ever have. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/30 "2016-01-23T17:00:34Z")
I’m not sharing a drink with an animal that licks its own butthole. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/31 "2016-01-23T17:50:09Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I’m not sharing a drink with an animal that licks its own butthole. Would u share a drink with a woman who would lick yours? Also that would be painful for a cat with its rough tongue. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/32 "2016-01-23T17:54:17Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Would u share a drink with a woman who would lick yours? No, because she’d be arrested for assault. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/33 "2016-01-24T06:54:30Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/34 "2016-01-24T10:27:37Z")
My husband used to go to bed with a glass of water on the nightstand, for when he woke up thirsty. He’s a sound sleeper and I’m an insomniac, so I heard when the cat got up there and took a few sips of it. (In multiples of three; that’s how he rolls. Lap-lap-LAP. Lap-lap-LAP.) After a couple of weeks of this, I told him about it. Now he uses a glass that has a lid. I think it would be pretty much the same if it had been the dog, except the dog probably would have knocked the water glass over. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/35 "2016-01-24T18:11:59Z")
Sure, I’m probably ingesting cat germs anyways. My cat [Buffy](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Guinastasia/Kitties/buffylemonade.jpg) used to drink my mother’s lemonade all the time. Maggie routinely tries to steal my food. If I threw out everything my cats stole from me, our grocery bill would go through the roof. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/36 "2016-01-24T19:43:33Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Would u share a drink with a woman who would lick yours? > > Also that would be painful for a cat with its rough tongue. First, don’t make assumptions about gender. Second, I know mine was clean before he licked it. Third, are you suggesting that cats don’t do this? The rough tongue is what makes it such a good cleaner. I’m with **Elfkin**. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/37 "2016-01-24T20:13:49Z")
Dog licks are the best preventive of scaring there is. Dogs & cats do not die from self cleaning but humans can’t regularly survive injesting their own waste. A few minutes after doing it, their mouth is relatively free of that set of germs I have been told. 72 and not dead yet. I find my pickishness about food cleanliness is in direct relation to how hungry I am, how much I want that food item and the possibility of food replacement. I have found that necessity has changed how many peoples see stuff like this. Isn’t it great we live in a time & place where we can be picky if we want. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/38 "2016-01-24T21:00:58Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > … > > I find my pickishness about food cleanliness is in direct relation to how hungry I am, how much I want that food item and the possibility of food replacement… yeah, probably this. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/39 "2016-01-25T06:13:12Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Yeah…its not been in places a dogs (or a Kardashians) tongue has been. There is NO place a dog’s (or a Kardashian’s) tongue has been that a cat’s tongue has not been. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875/40 "2016-01-26T18:31:22Z")
Depends on whether he also sneezes in it. He’s terrible at judging where the milk surface is, and often ends up with his nose in it. Then he sneezes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-takes-a-couple-of-laps-from-your-beverage-before-you-shoo-it-away-still-drink-it/743875.md?page=3)