burying food

It has been like three weeks now that my cat started a strange behavior. He tries to bury the leftovers; he scratches the floor and wall. Why is he trying to bury his food? Do any of your cats do this? Is he trying to tell me something?

Twitch does this & always has. Lily does this because Twitch does it. I think they are just doing something natural. In the wild they would try to cover their food to hide it. I have heard it mentioned that they are trying to tell their people what they think about thier food(cats bury poop). I have never seen any harm in it(unless they start jumping on the kitchent able to bury my food, I don't care).

my cats try to bury their food bowl, the water bowl, and puke if someone has thrown up on the floor. I don't think it means anything, but I admit it is odd!

Otis only does this with his wet food. Strangely he also only started doing it after he got really sick one time and had seizures. I was worried it was something nuerological but now I feel a little better

Portia covers up her food bowl and water bowl with the towel that I have underneath them!!!

And then the towel gets in the water and soaks it up and she doesn't have any!!

Silly babies!

He's telling you he's finished, and doesn't want to leave any 'out' (for 'other' cats to get his smell from - it doesn't matter if you have no other ones!). One of mine has done that for years. I also think mine (anyhow) might be saying that the leftovers are no good and should be covered like poop.

My folks' cat Oliver does the same thing. Also, when he wants to play, he will jump to the table and try to bury whatever food a person is eating when he wants attention. It's as if he is saying, "You've had enough, save the rest for later and come play!"

Originally Posted by Larke

He's telling you he's finished, and doesn't want to leave any 'out' (for 'other' cats to get his smell from - it doesn't matter if you have no other ones!). One of mine has done that for years. I also think mine (anyhow) might be saying that the leftovers are no good and should be covered like poop.

Click to expand...

Our Toby would do that when he was done eating...and i wondered why he`d cover something he was just eating the moment before, as if it was nothing more than poop....then I found out from someone on here, that it is because he`s done with it for now, but actually wants to save it for later....that wild cats bury their food and then come back later and dig it up when they are hungry.....so they are just "doing a cat-thing"
Linda

Alfie does this too with food, milk and biscuits, he doesn't ever seem to learn that the kitchen floor tiles are not diggable

Thank you so much for your comments. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a relief. I thought he didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t like the food, and I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know what else to give him.

Sophie does the same thing, but only with her canned food. As soon as she has emptied the bowl, she tries to "bury" it by scratching on the floor around it. I've found that picking up her wet food bowl and leaving her dry food and water down does the trick to stop her, for some crazy reason.

Thank your for your comment, Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m glad you found a solution. I found it amusing when he does it, but at the same time I was worry.

I have a cat who does this also. But he only does it with the flavors he doesn't like. Sometimes he gets really mad and turns the whole bowl upside down
I always thought that burying motion means "bad" and making biscuits motion means "good". They also have a word for "bird" (kack click kack), and a few other "words".

Prego started burying his food after I switched him to Nutro. I'm glad to hear it means he wants to save it for later

Mooch does it all the time! I got a pretty sturdy bowl and she doesn't spill much food anymore. Getting a fountain has helped the water splashing she does too!

Willow has always done this, but Buffy doesn't (strange, since she normally copies everything Willow does). Willow has really furry paws, so it's kind of a cute "pshh, pshhh, pshh" sound, with the occational scrape from a claw that is due for a trim, lol

Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m lucky he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t do that to his water bowl. Now that I know there is nothing wrong with his behavior, I can relax and watch. He looks adorable.

mine does it with the canned food too. i think it's becuz she have enough and wanna bury it cuz it really smells. so i empty the bowl, wash it , and put down the empty for her. she seems to be happier after i've done that.

have you changed his food at all lately? my cats did that some of the time with wet food that had been left out a few hours-they would nibble at it and then scrape scrape like "hey! this is garbage!"

Fraggle and Angel do it everytime their done eating for the moment and have since they were kittens. Even if they eat a few bites they feel the need to cover it. Then, five minutes later they return, eat a few more kibbles and cover it again.