“I’m not going to eat something an animal’s licked": Wife refuses to eat MIL's food after her cat licked it, then calls her out for the serious lack of hygiene in her home

Author image for Blake Seidel
Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Aug 2, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Cats are going to do what cats are going to do. You can try your best to make them follow your hooman rules, but in our purrsonal experience, the cats that listen 100% of the time are purractically non-existent. 

Maybe you got the one trainable cat born every year, and they can be influenced, but as cat owners our entire lives, we've never successfully "trained" a cat like you can a dog. That being said, our cats still know they're not allowed on the kitchen counters and will get down when we tell them to. They still get up on them, though.

We also do things that non-cat lovers would consider gross, like kissing our cats on the mouths, but we would never serve food that our cats touched. Maybe you can do it when you're home alone and no one cares except you, but never around others. And you know what? That's not even the grossest part of the story about this mother-in-law. She has a litter box… in her kitchen.

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  • 01
    'I wouldn't eat something another human just licked either'
    via Зображення користувача Vova Shevchuk
  • 02
    My mother-in-law lives in a flat with six cats and a dog. We went over there recently for lunch, and as usual, the cats. were everywhere - including on the dining table, where the plates, cutlery, and starters. were already laid out.
    via DreamFundBox
  • 03
    At one point, I saw one of the cats lick one of the starters. I immediately took the cat off the table, picked up the plate with the food it had licked, and brought it into the kitchen, assuming it would be binned.
    via DreamFundBox
  • 04
    A few minutes later, my MIL came out holding the same plate and said, "I've already taken off the bit that was licked - it's fine to eat now." I said, "Sorry, but I'm not going to eat something an animal's licked."
    via DreamFundBox

  • We love cats and we do a lot of “gross" things with our cats - like let them sleep in the bed with us, and kiss them all over. But we never eat. something after our cat has had it. If anything, our cats can have the last bite. Sharing is caring, but even we have our limits with our cats.

  • 05
    She seemed a bit put out, took the plate back into the kitchen, and chucked it.
    via DreamFundBox
  • 06
    This isn't the first time I've felt uncomfortable there. The whole flat smells strongly of animals - you can even smell it out on the landing. There's a litter tray in the kitchen, where the cats do their business, and then they jump up onto the kitchen counters and the dining table. I find it incredibly unhygienic, but I usually bite my tongue out of respect.
    via DreamFundBox
  • 07
    ]] [[
    via pixelshot

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 08
    In this case, though, she hadn't seen the cat lick the food - I had. So she had no idea which bit was affected and, honestly, it felt like she just pretended to sort it out so we'd still eat it.
    via DreamFundBox
  • 09
    I didn't raise my voice or make a scene - I just calmly said I wasn't going to eat it. But she clearly took it badly.
    via DreamFundBox
  • 10
    A A for refusing to eat it and for being disgusted by what I think is a serious lack of hygiene in her home?
    via DreamFundBox
  • 11
    goddinggg 19h ago Stop going there to eat (or maybe for anything)... Eat and hangout elsewhere. Problem solved.
    via goddinggg
  • 12
    NojaysCita 19h ago . NTA remotely. Cats in litter boxes (in the kitchen?!) then jumping onto counters and tables with soiled litter paws - It's beyond unhygienic. I wouldn't eat anything there or anything your MIL brings elsewhere.
    via NojaysCita

  • This is why cat people get these clawful stereotypes, because we do things like this. Well, we don't do them (around people), but now it seems that others do. Guys, this isn't the way. The trick to getting people to like cats is to show them that you can be normal and still have cats. If you show them how weird we are from the start, they'll never convert!

  • 13
    Appropriate_Sky_6... • 19h ago I have 6 cats. I'm honestly amazed at the level of comfort of certain people with pets. The litterbox for one in the kitchen is so gross. And yes my cats climb the
    via Appropriate_Sky_6571
  • 14
    countertops but I always disinfect before and after I cook/eat. Also I let my cats. lick certain things but I would never serve to that to a guest. That's just weird.
    via Appropriate_Sky_6571
  • 15
    Lazy_Instruction572 19h ago . 'You can't eat at everybody's house.' NTA
    via Lazy_Instruction572
  • 16
    International-Fee255 19h ago NTA I would not eat in that house again. Gross.
    via International-Fee255
  • 17
    J_Shar 18h ago NTA I have two cats and one constantly jumps on the table, so when we have guests over we lock the cats in the bedroom and disinfect the table and counters before cooking and serving food. I would never expect anyone to eat food on a surface with my cat on it!
    via J_Shar
  • 18
    Additional-Dirt4203 19h ago • NTA, time to invite her out to eat instead of going to her home to eat. My grandmother was like this and once I had the choice, I never ate at her house again.
    via Additional-Dirt4203
  • 19
    Cheezburger Image 10536008704
    via Africa images

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 20
    OkControl9503 · 18h ago . NTA. I have two cats and two dogs. When it comes to the kitchen, my cats are trained to never ever get onto the counters for fear of Bastet's wrath (aka my spray bottle with water). All the cats I've
    via OkControl9503
  • 21
    ever had know this rule. They do get onto the dining table but know never ever to go there during human meal time, and I clean it off with disinfectant before setting the table. Cats can be trained
    via OkControl9503
  • 22
    quite easily (mine also know to leave my houseplants alone, and that anything they do in the middle of the night that might wake me is not a good idea). The dogs know not to beg for food (even if
    via OkControl9503
  • 23
    they will hang out in the open kitchen-dining-living room. space staring at us with hopefulness, knowing good behavior might be rewarded with a treat after us humans finish out meal). I wouldn't eat
    via OkControl9503
  • 24
    something another human just licked either, and while cats are generally clean animals they walk around after burying their in a box, so, yeah. No cats near my food, ever. (Also I love my super sweet animals who know the house rules well)
    via OkControl9503
  • 25
    . Signal-Sun9110 · 18h ago nope, wouldn't touch that food with a ten-foot pole either. hard pass
    via Signal-Sun9110
  • 26
    Etouffees ⚫ 12h ago NTA- ew. I stopped at "lives in a flat with six cats and a dog". No need to read further.
    via Etouffees
  • 27
    Professor Yaffle1 · 18h ago NTA. And I say that as someone who hs 2 cats.
    via @
  • 28
    My cats know that they are not allowed on the table or the kitchen counters, and tat they are only allowed to lick lates that are on the floor.
    via Etouffees
  • 29
    (And yes, I know that the doesn't necessarily mean that they never go on the kitchen or counters, which is why eveything gets cleaned before I do any food prep, and unattended food isn't left out.!)
    via Etouffees
  • 30
    I'd be wary of wating anything in her home - yu saw the cat lick that starter but her reponse suggests tht its not something she sees as a priorty and if syou hadn't raised it, she would have happily servicved that knowing a ct had been at it, and she left the dishes out knowing hre cats go on the tables.
    via Etouffees

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family drama lick wife hygiene mother in law Cats home animals
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