Trying to hide / cover up left over food?

[mum2daisy]

Hi just wanted to ask if this was normal, I took in a pregnant stray and now that she's ready to pop she doesn't eat all her meal at once and has started trying to cover it up the same way she does after using litter tray, she'll scratch at everything near by to try and pull it over her food dish.
The food isn't left out for long, if she hasn't gone back to wet food within the hour then I take it away (though she usually has) and I leave dried. Food outta other times which she doesn't try and cover,I had cats in the past and never saw this behaviour so was just wondering if it was normal

 

[GemsGem]

Yes this is completely normal in cats wether pregnant or not. Pretty much all of my nine cats do this. Some more than others even when the others are still eating from that bowl Lol :lol3:


I guess your that your others cats didn't show this behaviour or maybe you just never saw them do it

 

[mum2daisy]

To be fairi had 3 at once when I last had cats so leftover food just didn't happen lol, it didn't with this one untill recently either, she was so greedy when I first took her in, combination of being stray and being pregnant I guess. Thanks for the reassurance

 

[psychocat0604]

Only one of my kitties will try to cover up food... or well the empty dishes lol...

 

[abbyntim]

Yes, and this is instinctive behavior!

My female Abby does this when she leaves food in her bowl. I was always puzzled by this behavior until I had an opportunity to view a camera-trap video of a mountain lion. After the lion fed on a deer carcass that was within range of the camera trap, it actually pawed dirt and brush over the remainders. The scientists who shared this video explained that is how these carnivores hide their food and save for later.

I always smile when I see Abby do this - it makes me think she's a little more on the wild side.

 

[racky]

My kitty will do this to an empty food bowl.  She will pull a nearby rug on top of it as if to tell me "hey!  it's empty!"  One time I moved the rug over and uncovered the bowl.  She came right back and pulled the rug back on top.  Makes me laugh every time!

 

[lamiatron]

both my kitties do this! but they both do it for different reasons, as i've determined from watching them

Charlie does it whenever i give him food and he doesn't like it. he'll "cover" or "bury" it and start to meow for something else

my girl Jet does this when she's "done" eating. She leaves the tiniest bit of food in the bowl. she'll "bury" it and walk away. but then come back 15 mins later to finish it off hahah

 

[di and bob]

My boy tries to 'bury' it when he doesn't like it. Then he asks for something different. I always figured he was trying to show me it belonged in the litterbox!

 

[lamiatron]

 
My boy tries to 'bury' it when he doesn't like it. Then he asks for something different. I always figured he was trying to show me it belonged in the litterbox!

lol!! 

Charlie is smart! he notices that when he's trying to bury the food he doesn't want, its not disappearing. he will stick the front half of his body in the litter box and dig for a bit to get the sensation. hahahaha 

our boys are the same!

 

[chasetheblue]

Miami does this too! It started when I introduced wet food to their diet, and she didn't like the wet food at first so I thought, like Di&Bob, that she was trying to tell me where it belonged!!!! 

Now that she's come around to wet food and loves it, she still does this (she also tries to bury the garbage can if I put something that has a strong scent in it, and tried to bury my boots the other day when I came home from work. I've determined that she is the Smell Police in my house lol)

 

[mum2daisy]

Thank you all for your reassurance, Daisy gave birth yesterday so she's eating like a horse and leaving nothing to need hiding lol