Jason wrote:

On a related note, I know that sunflower oil is very bad indeed for
cats but what about other oils? Specifically, my cat gets very
interested when I fry some chicken in olive oil (admittedly the only
one I use) but I keep a spare pack of ham if she looks like she's
getting too close to my dinner.

Actually, ham (and other "cured" meat) is not good for cats,
either - it can cause intestinal inflamations. I just don't
feed mine ANY "people" food (barring the juice from
water-pack canned fish, on rare occasions). Fortunately, my
current crop don't seem much interested in anything but cat
food and treats, so it's not a problem.