strange behavior

[brielle]

I feel like a hypochondriac asking so many questions about my kitty!! Bear with me please!

My question is this - whenever Maggie sniffs her food she scratches around the area. Scratching the ground as if she were in her litter box. She eats her food, but she doesnt dive in. So I was wondering if anybody has a clue to this behavior. Does it mean she doesnt like her food? that she wishes she could bury it - or is this normal? I've been giving her Iams dry food since I adopted her from the pound a few weeks ago. She's a year old so possibly she is used to some other food from whomever she lived with before? My last cat was quite picky but she never scratched around her food bowl...she just walked away from her food. Help!

[momoffuzzyfaces]

It's just a cat thing. Mine do it too sometimes. Maybe they are trying to bury it to eat later. I've noticed they usually do it with food that's left after they've just finished eating.

Welcome to Pet Talk. Don't worry about asking questions. We all have them.

[wayne0214]

Brielle, I'll have to concur with Momoffuzzyfaces, it is a cat thing. Snow Cat sometimes does this, and it appears as though he is in his litterbox. Don't worry about all of the questions, we welcome them and are eager to, not only attempt to answer all of them, but also to test our accumulated cat-knowldege.

.........wayne

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Yes, I have to agree, nothing to worry about. Tubby dives right in and whatever I gave him is inhaled - I'm not sure he even chews it. Peanut on the other hand, has to sniff it, paw at it, sniff it again, look at me to see if it's ok, sniff it, paw at it, maaayyybbee lick, then sniff it, then paw at it, then lick it again, and you get the idea. Usually by that time Tubby is over by her and whatever we gave her is in his belly, unless we see him and stop him. He does know what "NO" means.

I'm sure you're kitten will do just fine, Brielle, and I'm sure she'll have you trained in no time.

[brielle]

whew! it's a relief to know its nothing out of the ordinary! I dont have a lot of experience with cats - I can only base things on my one kitty that I had for 16 years growing up. Obviously every cat is different and Maggie is as different from Coco as can be

Thanks for the help!

[Former User]

Casper and Kitty used to do this too when they were younger, but not anymore. We took it as a sign that they didn't like their food...but at the end, they ate it anyway I'm sure your cat will grow out of it too!

[lynnestankard]

Yes I agree too. Of our three cats - Dan still does that - and he's the oldest!! He tends to do it when he's finished eating. Then he scratches all round the bowl and even scratches the wall!!!
Bagel and Ketchum have never done it and tend to look at Dan like he's lost the plot!! LOL.

Lynne

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Two of my cat kids even scratch the floor gently in front of their water bowl before they will take a drink. Chester (the youngest) picked the habit up from Luke. Luke picked the habit up from his older sister, Lucy Jane (Rainbow Bridge now). Where Lucy got the habit is anyone's guess. It's just something she always did and the habit got passed down. My other two, Leroy and Leonardo don't do it at all. It's so funny to see Chester, who never met Lucy, carry on her habits. Just shows you what little characters they are!

[Harley]

Brielle, I'm glad you posted this question! Two of my 3 cats also do this occasionally and I've often wondered why, too! See, you're not alone!

[lbaker]

EXPLAIN A CAT?? Maybe Zippy has a clue but basically the only thing that could explain cat behaviour would be another cat. and probably not even then. L

[wayne0214]

yesterday, I accidently left out a can of catfood. Mackerella found it and began to eat the contents by dipping her paw into the meat and licking it off of her paw. I was so intrigued with this behavior, that I let her eat as much as she wanted.


.......wayne

[lynnestankard]

Oh Wayne you've just brought back a lovely memory of our late cat Tigger (RB) she used to sit by an open can and dip in her paw to eat the food! At that time on television over here they were running adverts for a cat food called Arthurs - and the cat on the advert did the same thing - needless to say we always called Tiggers 'trick' - doing an Arthur!!!

Lynne

[wayne0214]

Lynne, yes, and Mackerella is the only one of my menagerie that does this. It is rather interesting to watch, and "doing an Authur" is as good a label for this behavior as anything else.

.................wayne

[I_love_cats]

Hello

I have male cat who is 2yrs and 7mos, he does the same thing. He would scratched before he going to eat and after and even if he going to drink he water, Joey would scratched. It is funny when he does it, and Joey does it when I have my tea on the table, he would start scratching around the cup. It is soo cute and funny.