Burying food?

I have a beautiful long-haired tuxedo coat cat named Luna. She's always been very sociable and loving. She used to live in a big house with two of her brothers. A lot of people went in and out of that house, and none of the cats ever minded. I wasn't around the house during the day too much because of school and work, but she always had her brothers to play with. A few months ago I had to move out and I took Luna with me. The new place is quite a bit smaller, there are no other cats, and she now spends most of the day alone because my mom and I aren't home often. She is coping fairly well, except for a few things. The biggest problem I see with her behavior is that she covers her food up. I will fill up her bowl with about a cup and a half to two cups of food and water, and when I come back late in the evening, the water has been spilled or soaked up, there's some clothing or papers or whatever she can find covering the bowl, and maybe a third of the food has been eaten. She meows at me furiously until I uncover the bowl and fill the water, then she eats the rest of it throughout the evening. She's very healthy, her stool and urine are fine, her weight is fine, but her behavior is very strange! Anyone have any info or suggestions? Mostly I'm worried because summer is coming and I don't want her to get dehydrated while I'm away from the house all day.

I have a few kitties that do this. This is just a genetic trait from their wild ancestors. Place the bowls far enough away from any object so there is nothing around they can cover it with. Or, you can set the bowls inside of a cardboard flat so the cat will put the debris into the cardboard container and not the food or water. With my one kitty, I provide her with a wide bandanna that I place under her bowl and when she is finished, she scoops it over her bowl and when she walks away, I just uncover it. You can also have alternative places for her to get water, like a little bit of water in the bathtub or kitchen sink.

Well, that's good to know Thanks for the info. T'is a silly thing, but then, cats are silly Someday I'll be able to scan a picture of her and put it up here for you guys. She's got the most adorable black and white face!