The only pet we currently have is a rabbit, and yes, he sometimes gets table scraps. If one of the kids has a leftover apple slice or a baby carrot, the rabbit gets it. He also likes Cheerios, but only gets a couple at a time, once or twice a week (not with milk, of course). These kinds of table scraps are really good for him, so I don’t feel bad about it. He gets other veggies as well as his rabbit food and timothy hay. Spoiled little guy!
When I was a kid, we always had several cats and at least two dogs. We were all really bad about giving them table scraps. A bite here and there, not a whole bowl or anything. We had a couple of dogs who were great at catching bits of food we’d throw to them. They probably got more people food just because it was fun for us kids to see them snap a bite of meat right out of the air. My mom and dad even used to give them steak bones to gnaw on, until our collie had to have surgery for bone bits lodged in his intestines. After that, no bones for the dogs.
The cats didn’t get as much in the way of people food, but I do remember one cat in particular (my all time favorite, and I still miss him) who would sit on the table while I ate my cereal each morning. He’d stare at me, and place his paw on my hand just to remind me he was there. If I ignored him too much, he’d let his claws out a bit. He always got to lick the last bit of milk from the bowl. His name was Slash, and he was so cool that if he were still around I’d cave in and let him lick the bowl again!
If we had cats or dogs of our own now, I’d be much more careful than my parents were about giving them people food. I’m sure once in a while I’d give in and toss out a little treat here and there, but for the most part I think I’d follow the “rules.”