If you want to know how cats would act towards us just take a look at their bigger cousins like tigers. Cats have the same instinct to sneak up and jump you from behind among other stuff.
I agree that coughing is by far the more annoying one as you literally have to stop what you're doing to address it. Especially, when it's continuous with no end in sight.
We don't really celebrate Thanksgiving in our country so it'll be just like any other day for us. Although, I should probably check if any local hotels have an all-you-can-eat buffet deal for that day so I can go stuff my face.
My parents got me into martial arts because I was very unruly as a kid and they thought it'd teach me discipline but all it did was teach me how to beat the crap out of people with proper form. In general, I don't go looking for trouble either but I won't hesitate to defend myself.
To be honest, it depends on cultural legends. In some cultures, they're Gods - in other's they evolved from lizards and in others, they're magical beings so it's very conflicting if you ask me.
Aikido is something I'd be interested in learning. I did Shotokan as a kid and it does teach you proper form but Aikido is a good defensive art to learn.
Youtube is rather inconsistent when it comes to these kinds of things so they might taken down one channel for an infringement while another may be completely ignored. YouTube policies don't make sense and it'd be foolish for me to try and and explain it...