What is he doing!?

[stiletto]

My younger cat was a rescue cat. Ever since we brought him home 8 years ago, he would scarf his food down like no tomorrow. It never seems like enough. He's a small little thing, likely a runt because despite his age, he hasn't grown bigger.

Both my cats are on a raw food diet.

He's always been desparate for food. At the beginning, he used to wolf his portion down, and try to steal my older cat's food.

Over time, he stopped doing that and they both ate their given meals. Then I noticed they both started to "trade". Older cat will eat his meal on his placemat, and younger cat will eat the older cat's meal on her placemat. Both meals are identical, it's just about two feet away from each other on a different placemat. 

Several months ago, I've been noticing that before he eats, he will circle my leg a few time with an affectionate look on his face. My husband said it almost looks like he's saying "Thank you" or giving love/gratitude.

New developments in recent months,  no matter how much/little I give him, he keep leaving ONE BIT left on the floor. At first I thought the older cat was intimidating him away to take his food. But, even if she's not done hers, he will walk away finished. Older cat will then walk over and eat his last bite. Sometimes she wanders off after, sometimes she goes back to her food.

After an hour or so, the younger one will come back and finish anything she's left over on her placemat.

What is he doing? Is he purposefully leaving a little bit for his sister? Is this some sort of weird "agreement" they have going on? LOL I don't understand!!

 

[molly92]

Aw, it's so funny how animals can suddenly start new habits out of the blue like that.

I would guess that his experiences before he was rescued have shaped a lot of his relationship with food. He knows what it's like to be hungry, and that's a very powerful memory. He's never going to take food for granted.

My cat is at her most affectionate right before I set her dinner on the floor. She rubs all over me, the fridge, anything. She loves her food very much, but if I don't pet her a few times after I put her food down, she won't eat it right away. I think it's some sort of overflowing of happiness at the prospect of eating that translates into being very receptive to physical contact. I do interpret it as gratitude, but I'm not sure if it's as complicated an emotion as that in the cat's mind. It might just be food=happiness=affection for human!

The leaving a piece of food leftover sounds like a caching behavior to me, kind of like a dog burying a bone. Finding food can be unreliable in the wild, so when you do have it it's good to save some for later. But that instinct is just a remnant of what it used to be in cats since domestication, so they're not necessarily good at hiding it or remembering to return to it later because they don't need to be any more. That the other cat likes to finish what he leaves behind sounds more opportunistic on her part, not that they actually have an agreed arrangement about who eats what and when. It's interesting that he just started doing this, though. I can't imagine why.

The trading food is pretty funny. I don't know how that started. Maybe one was just curious to see what the other was getting? And they kept doing it because cats are creatures of habit? That'd be my best guess.

 

[Ms. Freya]

It may be. I have three who often "share" their food. They seem to prioritize among themselves as to who gets it each night and then diivy things up. Cat social interactions are funny, though. Who knows what's going through their heads!