My Cat puts all his toy mice in or next to his food dish. He will play with them around the house then he brings it back to his feeding area when he is done? Does anyone know why he would do this, or if this is normal cat behavior? It seems strange to me LOL
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Wierd??? Food Dish Thing
- Thread starter forest
- Start Date
So cute! Yes, Maia use to do the same thing regularly, sometimes mouse in the water! For the most part she grew out of it, but it makes you think how crazy is it that mice, even a toy mouse, is so instinctual dinner?! Even though Maia would never kill a real mouse, she just wants to play!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
How old is he? Has this been over a year behavior? Sometimes it is a simple adjustment stage, they will relate all oral objects and/or behaviors with each other. Often they grow out of it......it is good to remove toys from area and dispose of any left in water or that become wet since they can become moldy........Originally Posted by Forest
He also puts his other toys there? Like feather toys....So you think its a instinctual food thing?
It's linked to what they would do in the wild. As predators, cats have the 'hunt-eat' behavioural pattern hard-wired into their brain. In pet cats who have food given to them and don't have to hunt to eat, this is no different, but their toys take the place of prey in terms of fulfilling their need to hunt.
Cats may also have one or more safe places where they will hide or bury food that they aren't going to eat straight away, in house cats their food bowls fulfil this role, and you will also see them pawing at the ground around their bowls as if they are trying to cover their food, and to scent-mark the area as 'theirs'.
So a cat will hunt its toy 'prey', but the toy can't be eaten, but instinctively once it has succeeded in the hunt, it will want to store the catch (after all, he's not going to eat it!) in that safe place. The toy fills the role of prey, even after it has been 'killed' but because it cannot be eaten, the cat will take it to the safe area to bury - it has now become toy 'food' (until the cat wants to use it as 'prey' again
)
That's my take on it
Cats may also have one or more safe places where they will hide or bury food that they aren't going to eat straight away, in house cats their food bowls fulfil this role, and you will also see them pawing at the ground around their bowls as if they are trying to cover their food, and to scent-mark the area as 'theirs'.
So a cat will hunt its toy 'prey', but the toy can't be eaten, but instinctively once it has succeeded in the hunt, it will want to store the catch (after all, he's not going to eat it!) in that safe place. The toy fills the role of prey, even after it has been 'killed' but because it cannot be eaten, the cat will take it to the safe area to bury - it has now become toy 'food' (until the cat wants to use it as 'prey' again
That's my take on it
