my kitten attempts to cover his food, why??

[bleuless]

after he eats he makes the motion of scratching litter around the food bowl! i have 2 kittens, about the same age, the other one doesn't do this, both are already litter box trained ~ 3 months old.

i figure enough ppl on here have cats so i didn't bother to go on a cat forum

 

[S Freud]

My cat "scratches" at his food and pulls it out of his bowl. Its dry food, I don't know why he does this. I have heard that sometimes its the container that you feed them in.

But who knows.

 

[IGBT]

..innate drive to "cover the kill" to be eaten later.

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: S Freud
My cat "scratches" at his food and pulls it out of his bowl. Its dry food, I don't know why he does this. I have heard that sometimes its the container that you feed them in.

But who knows.

Most cats do that b/c they like to chew up the dry food. Alot easier when they know where the other pieces are.

 

[foghorn67]

"This food taste like crap. I'll bury this too."

 

[tasmanian]

My cat just sweeps the litter around the litter box back under the litter box.

 

[tasmanian]

double post.

 

[torpid]

Saving for later. Might want to reduce the portions though... if they are constantly doing that, it means the amount of food you are giving is too much for their appetite.

 

[sixone]

It's just instinct, to bury their food where no other animals will find it. Kitties like leftovers, too.

 

[gnumantsc]

Are they siamese? Siamese cats are known to make a "prayer" as I call it before they eat. My siamese cat does it once or twice a day on the water bowl.

 

[luckysnafu]

Originally posted by: gnumantsc
Are they siamese? Siamese cats are known to make a "prayer" as I call it before they eat. My siamese cat does it once or twice a day on the water bowl.

Interesting, my siamese mix cat will cover his water bowl almost every time he finishes drinking. My other cat does not do it though.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: torpid
Saving for later. Might want to reduce the portions though... if they are constantly doing that, it means the amount of food you are giving is too much for their appetite.

Cats are self-regulating. I leave a full bowl of food out all the time for my cat; there's no need to put a cat on scheduled feedings, as it will just eat what it needs when it needs it. Unlike dogs, a cat will not naturally try to eat everything in the food bowl in one sitting. I've seen people end up training their cats to do this by artificially limiting the amount they feed their cat and then sticking to a schedule, but that's a case of learned behaviour and not of natural behaviour.

I agree that it could be the instinct to burry leftoever food. Alternatively, some cats don't like to put their head down into the food bowl and will instead try to dig out the food and eat it off the floor, but that doesn't sound like what the OP described.

ZV

 

[cherrytwist]

It's the best when they "kill" their dry food. Cracks me up every time.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: cherrytwist
It's the best when they "kill" their dry food. Cracks me up every time.

I had a cat that would pull a couple pieces out of the dish, pounce on them, then eat them one at a time. Good stuff.

 

[Czar]

Originally posted by: bleuless
after he eats he makes the motion of scratching litter around the food bowl! i have 2 kittens, about the same age, the other one doesn't do this, both are already litter box trained ~ 3 months old.

i figure enough ppl on here have cats so i didn't bother to go on a cat forum

my kitten constantly does that as well!


I put dry food in the bowl, he starts to scratch the floor around the bowl. I add a bit of water, he starts to eat/drink. When the water is done, even though the dry food has absorbed alot of water, he starts to scratch the floor again untill I add a bit more water.

He is a picky bastard.

Did the same with some rubber toy balls I have untill the rubber smell went away for the most part.

 

[lokiju]

One of my two cats does the same thing and the other one doesn't.

The male one does and the female one doesn't and they're both from the same litter.

He's over a year old now and still does it.

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: torpid
Saving for later. Might want to reduce the portions though... if they are constantly doing that, it means the amount of food you are giving is too much for their appetite.

Cats are self-regulating. I leave a full bowl of food out all the time for my cat; there's no need to put a cat on scheduled feedings, as it will just eat what it needs when it needs it. Unlike dogs, a cat will not naturally try to eat everything in the food bowl in one sitting. I've seen people end up training their cats to do this by artificially limiting the amount they feed their cat and then sticking to a schedule, but that's a case of learned behaviour and not of natural behaviour.

That's not true. A cat won't over eat in one sitting, but many cats will come back later to the food and eat out of boredom or just because they see it. If you give them too much food to eat, they will come back later and peck away at it, depending on the cat. Many cats only eat when they are genuinely hungry, but others eat when they aren't and will eat more than their body needs (which is less than will make them full).

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: IGBT
..innate drive to "cover the kill" to be eaten later.

:thumbsup:

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: torpid
Saving for later. Might want to reduce the portions though... if they are constantly doing that, it means the amount of food you are giving is too much for their appetite.

Cats are self-regulating. I leave a full bowl of food out all the time for my cat; there's no need to put a cat on scheduled feedings, as it will just eat what it needs when it needs it. Unlike dogs, a cat will not naturally try to eat everything in the food bowl in one sitting. I've seen people end up training their cats to do this by artificially limiting the amount they feed their cat and then sticking to a schedule, but that's a case of learned behaviour and not of natural behaviour.

That's not true. A cat won't over eat in one sitting, but many cats will come back later to the food and eat out of boredom or just because they see it. If you give them too much food to eat, they will come back later and peck away at it, depending on the cat. Many cats only eat when they are genuinely hungry, but others eat when they aren't and will eat more than their body needs (which is less than will make them full).

I've never seen that. Had cats all growing up and never had an issue with a cat eating too much. Just always kept one large bowl of dry food filled constantly. Not saying it's not possible, but it's certainly not common.

ZV

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: torpid
Saving for later. Might want to reduce the portions though... if they are constantly doing that, it means the amount of food you are giving is too much for their appetite.

Cats are self-regulating. I leave a full bowl of food out all the time for my cat; there's no need to put a cat on scheduled feedings, as it will just eat what it needs when it needs it. Unlike dogs, a cat will not naturally try to eat everything in the food bowl in one sitting. I've seen people end up training their cats to do this by artificially limiting the amount they feed their cat and then sticking to a schedule, but that's a case of learned behaviour and not of natural behaviour.

That's not true. A cat won't over eat in one sitting, but many cats will come back later to the food and eat out of boredom or just because they see it. If you give them too much food to eat, they will come back later and peck away at it, depending on the cat. Many cats only eat when they are genuinely hungry, but others eat when they aren't and will eat more than their body needs (which is less than will make them full).

I've never seen that. Had cats all growing up and never had an issue with a cat eating too much. Just always kept one large bowl of dry food filled constantly. Not saying it's not possible, but it's certainly not common.

ZV

It is indeed quite common. Do a little reading online and you will see that many cats get overweight that way.

 

[krazzypanda]

I have a cat that would meow until I walked with it to its cat food dispenser. I dont know why but its weird. Maybe because it wants me to join with it when it eats lol.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: IGBT
..innate drive to "cover the kill" to be eaten later.

:thumbsup:

One of my cats and my parents' 3 cats were born to a stray that took up residence in my parents' wood pile. Before they were old enough to be taken away from the mother, they lived outside. My mom put a bowl of food out for them, and they always buried it when they were done eating.

 

[KeithTalent]

Wow, there sure are a lot of cat threads these days. Maybe soon we will have have a 'Pussies' sub-forum where we can keep all of the threads together. :thumbsup:

As long as the cats have regular exercise, there should not be an issue with leaving food out all day. It is usually the cats that do not get any exercise that overeat and get fat; kind of like humans.

KT

 

[Alienwho]

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: torpid
Saving for later. Might want to reduce the portions though... if they are constantly doing that, it means the amount of food you are giving is too much for their appetite.

Cats are self-regulating. I leave a full bowl of food out all the time for my cat; there's no need to put a cat on scheduled feedings, as it will just eat what it needs when it needs it. Unlike dogs, a cat will not naturally try to eat everything in the food bowl in one sitting. I've seen people end up training their cats to do this by artificially limiting the amount they feed their cat and then sticking to a schedule, but that's a case of learned behaviour and not of natural behaviour.

That's not true. A cat won't over eat in one sitting, but many cats will come back later to the food and eat out of boredom or just because they see it. If you give them too much food to eat, they will come back later and peck away at it, depending on the cat. Many cats only eat when they are genuinely hungry, but others eat when they aren't and will eat more than their body needs (which is less than will make them full).

I've never seen that. Had cats all growing up and never had an issue with a cat eating too much. Just always kept one large bowl of dry food filled constantly. Not saying it's not possible, but it's certainly not common.

ZV

It is indeed quite common. Do a little reading online and you will see that many cats get overweight that way.

I've had numerous dogs, and we've never regulated their feeding schedule. We'd always fill up the bowl in the morning and the dog would eat whenever she was hungry throughout the day. They have never been overweight or lazy or out of shape either. Maybe it has something to do with the breed? They've all been Lab's that have been self regulating.

Now that I think about it, I think it might have something to do with the dog eating its food as a last resort. They've been inside dogs and they obviously have always wanted food off the table, but we very rarely gave them anything (maybe a rib bone now and then). So after they realize they're not getting any table scraps and they're still hungry, they'll finally lower themselves down to dog status and eat their own food.

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: AlienwhoI've had numerous dogs, and we've never regulated their feeding schedule. We'd always fill up the bowl in the morning and the dog would eat whenever she was hungry throughout the day. They have never been overweight or lazy or out of shape either. Maybe it has something to do with the breed? They've all been Lab's that have been self regulating.

Now that I think about it, I think it might have something to do with the dog eating its food as a last resort. They've been inside dogs and they obviously have always wanted food off the table, but we very rarely gave them anything (maybe a rib bone now and then). So after they realize they're not getting any table scraps and they're still hungry, they'll finally lower themselves down to dog status and eat their own food.

I'm sure it's genetics largely. I have a couple of friends with one obese and one thin cat, fed the same food and everything. The obese cat even tries to eat dog food if it's left out.