Attempting to hide food.....

My 6 month old kitten Amadeus always attempts to hide his food by burying it, even thought he can't since there is nothing to bury it with his just does the motion.

Is this a normal behaviour? I have never had any other kitten do this except for him and he has done it all his life (we fostered him since he was about 2 months and then adopted him a couple of weeks ago)

I am thinking he is just a weird cat.

I don't know if it's normal or not, but one of my cats does something similar. I haven't found out which one it is yet but whoever it is likes to stock pile food underneath couches, beds, dressers, etc.. Just heaps and heaps of food, and it never gets eaten. It's annoying that all that food should go to waste when I'm already going through a 16 lb. bag per week, but other than that the behavior hasn't caused any problems.

He just walks up to the bowl and starts trying to bury it even though he doesn't go and eat. I have a feeling that he wants to hide it from the dogs.

That's probably what it is then, I would guess. Personally, I wouldn't see any problem with it unless he's ruining the carpet/flooring with the digging but that's just me. If it is something you would like to try and stop, the most I can suggest is to get some kind of rubber mat or maybe that spikey carpet protector stuff and put it (spikey side down) where he digs just to prevent any damage to the floor. Other than that I would wait until someone more knowledgeable replies, everyone on here has been very helpful to me.

Also this just occured to me last night as I was laying in bed listening to my cats use the litter box: all of my male cats scratch the inside of their litter boxes, or the walls and carpet around it if it isn't the covered kind (which is why I only use the covered kind now). I assume it is a way of marking their territory. Maybe that's what your cat is doing, not trying to hide his food? Just saying to the dog, "This is mine, stay away"? It's possible. If that's the case I'm sure someone will suggest using Feliway. I've never used it personally but I know it's supposed to help with territorial issues. It might even help if my theory isn't the case; it should make him feel less threatened by the dog, therefore eliminating the need to hide his food. Just a thought.

He just scratches the floor beside his food dish but doens't actually move it, right (like Mira's Mommy's cat)? I have 2 cats that have done that since they were kittens. At first I thought they just didn't like the food and thought it should be in the litter box then I read a second theory somewhere that said cat in the wild cover their food if they don't eat their entire kill at one sitting. That was no one else can get to it and they can dig it up and finish it later. So maybe that's what they're doing. Basically saying "ok, I'm done for now, but I'll be back". Who knows...I think it's cute.

He doesn't damage anything, I just thought it was weird since I have never had a cat do this before. All he does is try and bury his food but without damagng anything. It's hard to explain. I should try and get a video of it but he always stops when the camera comes out.

I think he is just weird

Had a cat years ago that would try to bury his dish if the food wasn't to his liking, and would sometimes steal a dish towel and bury the offending food. The current residents don't bury offending flavours, they just tip the dish down the stairs........blech

Originally Posted by sk_pacer

Had a cat years ago that would try to bury his dish if the food wasn't to his liking, and would sometimes steal a dish towel and bury the offending food. The current residents don't bury offending flavours, they just tip the dish down the stairs........blech

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He does it with all the foods, Iams (shelter food) and the Evo food that he has now.

Yep, my Genever is a digger and often buries and also unburies her food, and her water too! It's silly but I think it's cute. Such a clean and tidy cat, covering it up for later.

This is the cat who also spends 10+ minutes in the litterbox digging and scratching (the walls of the hood part, not just the litter!!)... it's why I joined this site in the first place, wondering why she is in the box for so long!!? I never did get a good answer on that first post, basically just to be happy she's using the box and covering it up like a nice 'normal' clean cat.

My one cat Kara does it every day, my other cat doesn't.

She'll "bury" her food dish when she's done.

She'll also do it if anything spills on the floor, or say I just ate a bowl of soup and she'll jump on the table and do it around the bowl.

I think it's her way of saying "ok this is done now, put it away!"

Originally Posted by DarkMavis

This is the cat who also spends 10+ minutes in the litterbox digging and scratching (the walls of the hood part, not just the litter!!)... it's why I joined this site in the first place, wondering why she is in the box for so long!!? I never did get a good answer on that first post, basically just to be happy she's using the box and covering it up like a nice 'normal' clean cat.

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LOL, Harley does the same thing! He will scratch everything (sides, roof, walls if he's using the uncovered one)..everything but that actual litter! Then, if someone else uses it and doesn't cover up their poop, he will jump back and and spend 10 more minutes scratching and accomplishing nothing.