I have 3 cakes due this weekend and for each of them I did some royal icing transfers and had them drying on the kithchen table. first night fine, and then yesterday I came home and noticed 3 of my dora ones broken, I could tell the cat jumped on the table and stepped on them, I was going to kill the cat 
I flipped them over and "glued" them back together the best I could with more royal icing. My daughter made the comment that at least he didn't break the royal house I made. We went out for an hour and guess what 
he had been back on the table and broke the house 
now he better stay away from me for sure. I glued that back together but it didn't come together as well as the other ones did. I know the little girl won't notice the little imperfections and I did this cake for free since you just can't say no to a little three year old saying "peeaas can you make me a dora cake" 
I will post pics tomorrow once I find my camera
I feel your pain! 
I did a cake for work and found my cat standing on the box is was in. he just bent part of the top border and squished some of the letters. Thankfully nobody noticed!!! 
Joe
Thanks for sharing your story it reminded me of the other post Rotton dog....& husand !!!
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-4182.html
Isn't it possible to lock the cat away so it does not get in to the food you are making? Or perhaps lock the food away if you can't lock the cat away?
Princess
I have 3 cakes due this weekend and for each of them I did some royal icing transfers and had them drying on the kithchen table. first night fine, and then yesterday I came home and noticed 3 of my dora ones broken, I could tell the cat jumped on the table and stepped on them, I was going to kill the cat
I flipped them over and "glued" them back together the best I could with more royal icing. My daughter made the comment that at least he didn't break the royal house I made. We went out for an hour and guess what he had been back on the table and broke the house now he better stay away from me for sure. I glued that back together but it didn't come together as well as the other ones did. I know the little girl won't notice the little imperfections and I did this cake for free since you just can't say no to a little three year old saying "peeaas can you make me a dora cake" I will post pics tomorrow once I find my camera
Something else to consider - besides just the outright nastiness of having a cat walk on pieces meant to be placed on a cake - is allergies. Even if your 3 year old birthday girl and all of her guests don't mind having litterbox feet (or outdoor feet) walk on their cakes' decorations, some people - like my son - are violently allergic to cats. He cannot even go into a house that owns a cat because of the immediate and severe allergic reaction he suffers.
Free or not, you owe it to all the people eating those cakes to keep your animals off of their food.
Price, don't get me wrong I love cats. I do not own any at the present time though. Even if I had any I would not entertain the idea of allowing them to run rampant and getting in to food that I am eating or serving to others. I personally, would have to throw the food out if animals got in to it but that's just me.
Princess
Ok, with all seriousness, I (usually, but currently looking for work) work in a vet clinic....
you should not serve that to humans...cats carry many disease in their feces which eventually no matter what they do COULD end up on their feet... which would be transfered wherever they go...
Yes I have a cat, and love her, but I bleach all workspace before I work on a cake and she has to stay in the basement while I am working and while it sits out.
As children have lower immune systems then adults, I definetly would not serve that cake. I do not mean to lecture, I just would feel horrible if something happened. If you are getting paid for these you can be sued, if you aren't and don't get sued it still would be on your conscience...
Just MHO...
I also learned my lesson with the dog....he ate half a cake that was sitting on my upstairs kitchen table. (I think I posted the "evidence" on the disasters forum). I have a legal kitchen, and the dogs are not allowed up there. (I have an empty apartment in the upstairs of my house that I use strictly for cakes). I worry all the time about it. You have to be extra careful......I probably also would have thrown out the decorations, and maybe purchased a little Dora toy to put on top of the cake instead. I know you worked hard, but once they touch an edible, it's contaminated for others to eat. I wuold have left them broken and accepted the defeat, just keeping in mind that Sylvester no longer gets free roam of the house when cakes are being made! 
wow .......i was reading the post and thought all that stuff you said and thought ewwww........
but then i thought to myself maybe the pieces were covered on both sides by wax paper and the cat stepped on yes but it still didnt touch the transfer itself.......this is wishful thinking .....
I, too, own cats. Whenever I am doing cakes or any baking, they get locked up in the basement or in my room. They are too curious and the LAST thing I want to have to deal with is cat hair or worse in my baked goods. Paying customer or not.
My little tortie cat--she doesn't come out ever. However, my black kitty--I have found licking buttercream icing out of the bowl that I had left in the sink to be wahed while I went and delivered a cake. She can't be trusted. lol!
Lisa
W W after all those gross nasty comments about cats and what I should or shouldn't have done with the pieces, one person hit it right on the spot. Even though I do not have a legal kitchen and I just bake for friends and family I keep EVERYTHING in my house VERY clean. I have a daughter who just went through 2 1/2 years of fighting with Leukemia. The transfers were on my dinning room table and covered with a kitchen towel so NO dirty feet touched any thing. I would totally not have given ANYONE contaminated food. As far as the comment from the person who works in a vet clinic. I am a vet technician and have been for 16yrs now so I know what animals carry. Thanks to everyone for assuming that I served contaminated food to a little girl. Comments like that are what make people upset and leave this board 
Wow, I did say it was just MHO....maybe next time time instead of trying to help I'll keep my mouth shut....if you would of said that a towel was used it would have saved some grief....
Sorry if I offended, some people may just not know this stuff...
MY APOLOGIES
I honestly don't think anyone meant to offend you. There are people on here that post stories about their animals taking a bite out of the cake they made for an order or licking the icing off and some of the advice has been to use cake scraps to cover the hole or patch it up with icing. Then these people serve the cake to unsuspecting people. There was no way of knowing that you covered the pieces with a towel. I think sometimes when a subject is brought up it takes on a life of its own. I love your Dora cake by the way....I bet that little girl was excited.
They were just trying to help and voicing their opinions. I don't think there is anything wrong with posting what you think or is on your mind as long as it is put in an appropriate manner and not bashing someone.
Honestly my first thought was the same thing, worried about germs or cat hair. 
sgirvan, don't take it too personal. I know sometimes people will think the worst of other folks, but you didn't say that they were covered with anything so it was an automatic assumption on their parts.
Oh the other hand, I'm so glad that your daughter is doing well and pray that she stays well. God bless and don't leave.....
Debbi
OK, I just can not stop thinking about this....
I truly meant to help. If you work in a vet clinic, you would know how many people don't know this stuff!!! I really thought maybe you didn't.. I did not mean to step on your toes, and as far as your feelings being hurt, well, so are mine now. I had the same opinion as everyone else here, but yet I am singled out... I really thought I was helping, so maybe you say its people like me who make people go away, but so does singling people out...
After reading your post about drying the royal icing pieces, the impression most of us was left with was uncovered pieces left out to dry. I don't think there are a lot of people that cover royal icing pieces with a towel when they are drying. Had you typed that they were dried/semi-dried and covered this could possibly have been avoided. In any case, the fact that the pieces got broken suggest the cat came in contact (either directly or indirectly) with them. There is no need to get defensive no one was questioning the cleanliness of your house. In any case, covered or not just the fact that the cat was in contact with them they should have been thrown out. It's for this reason Health departments don't allow pets in kitchens.
Also, this is a forum where we all come to learn. You may have been aware of some of these facts but others may not so there really was no need to single Charleydog's comments out.
Maybe in the future we should all type exactly what we mean instead of leaving out details that lead to others making assumptions. It won't stop disagreements but it might help to put out a few fire before they start.
Princess
sgirvan, I love your Dora cake - it must've taken a long time to do all those transfers. I'm "royal challenged" mine break no matter what!
Please don't feel bad, I dont' think anyone was attacking you!
This is a completely different scenario, but it reminded me that My SIL is one of those people who don't know about cats. The cat sits on her table with her at breakfast and as she eats her cereal, he drinks from the bowl! That freaks me out! DH says he's seen her let the cat lick pizza grease off her slice before eating it! I don't know how she hasn't gotten sick!
It's funny I read about this yesterday but I was working on so much that I didn't have time to reply. I agree with all the people with health concens. I owned cats as a kid and thought the world of them, but now that I'm consious of germs and all the disease that cats can carry I would not own one. The thought that they go to the litter box and then climb on top of tables and counters grosses me out. Charleydog was being informative and I think she was very polite about the way she worded things. Some of you knew the things that she had to say and others didn't. Those who didn't can benefit from the information.
Sorry you were offended. I, too, was left with the impression by your original post that they were left out in the open to dry.
Actually, a good trick I have found is I put them on the lid of a Rubbermaid container--with the lid turned upside down. I then place the container part on top of the transfers. I always like doing it this way because then I feel like they aren't left out in the open and dust, pet hair, etc., can't come in contact with them. Actually, when I have a decorated cake to store overnight and such--I do the same thing.
Again, sorry your were offended by the responses--we had no way of knowing that you are a vet tech or that the pieces were covered.
Lisa
I have 3 cakes due this weekend and for each of them I did some royal icing transfers and had them drying on the kithchen table.
You can hardly blame anyone for assuming that your color-flow pieces were left out to dry uncovered. I've never heard of anyone putting a towel over color-flow pieces before, especially while they were left out to dry, as you say. That seems really odd. *shrug*
The cake turned out cute but those pieces should have been 86'd. Lesson learned for all of us, right?
Shayla.....I am sorry if I offended you in any way. I know how sneaky animals can be, as I live with two food-obsessed fuzzy werewolf children. They sure know how to get into stuff they shouldn't be!
I really don't think anyone meant any harm or offense to you with their comments...it was all said in good spirit.
We all now know are clear on what happened, and everyone feels relieved that the pieces were protected, and you've really enlightened the readers that you are a person with common sense. I am sorry you were so misunderstood.
You have to remember (as I have learned) that everything that goes on these message boards are to be taken with a grain of salt. These people don't know you, your life, or how you live. No one can truly judge you here, because they don't know you in real life. They can give feedback and input based on what they've read, and that's about it. There's no real assault on anyone's character here.
I've had my feathers ruffled at least 3 times on these boards, and I decided that it is not enough to stop me from being a member, and I can't get too offended. I find it works best just to explain myself as best as I can, and if I am misunderstood, I just reiterate what I've originally said.
I hope you stick around! Ellen
The cake has been finished and it turned out really great
I'm asking that future comments in this thread move past the misunderstanding about how the royal icing pieces were dried/damaged. It's a non-issue now that sgirvan has addressed the health concerns and the cake is finished. If you'd like to talk in general about health concerns involving pets, feel free to start a new thread.
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