Does your kitty do this?

**carole** · 08-20-2003, 09:52 PM

I have noticed Lexie oftens scratches around her food bowl, just as she does in the litter box, no she doe's not do anything but quite often does this? I think it is quite odd, just wondered if anyone else's cat does this too and why?

**cubby31682** · 08-20-2003, 10:14 PM

Cubby does every now and then, I always figured he was just trying to hide his food. He is a very sloppy eater so there is a rug under his dishs, so I figured he was hiding it under there and saving it for later. He will also walk to the middle of the living room and start scratching for no reason at all. Then he will lay dawn right where he scratched.

**Barbara** · 08-21-2003, 03:44 AM

Yes Tigris does it. I always thought it meant cats can use metaphoric language saying: This tastes like s***. Better put it in the litterbox!

**Uabassoon** · 08-21-2003, 04:16 AM

Tibby always does this when she is done eating. I just figured she was marking her territory letting Corkscrew know it is her food bowl and not his.

**HayleyRosie** · 08-21-2003, 05:44 AM

Both Hayley and Mandy do that. Someone told me that cats have sent glands in their paw pads and that motion releases a sent letting other cats know that it is their food and it should not be touched. Not sure if that is correct.

**catlover4ever** · 08-21-2003, 07:10 AM

Abner does the same thing. He tries to bury his food. Sometimes he is successful. I always thought that he did this because he was either half squirrel or he did not want his siblings to have any of the food.

This tastes like s***. Better put it in the litterbox!

I often thought Abner did that as well, but I have caught him eating the food before he buries it.

**bluekat** · 08-21-2003, 10:47 AM

Yes, all the time! Blueberry would sometimes dip his paw into his water bowl, and paw around it. Not scratching though. It's like he's cleaning our floor

**RedHedd** · 08-21-2003, 06:44 PM

My RB Goldie used to do that -- always cracked me up. Now if only I could get mine to wash the floors like Bluekat's Blueberry!

**carole** · 08-21-2003, 09:06 PM

Phew! now I know Lexie is not as strange as I first thought, she is the only cat I have owned who does this! I like some of your theory's, though!

**krazyaboutkatz** · 08-23-2003, 12:00 AM

My RB Pepper used to do this all the time and I always thought that it was strange behavior because Storm had never done it. Then when I adopted Sunny, he also began to do it. I was at a cat show one time and I noticed a Bengal cat doing this. I asked his owner about it and she said that it's normal cat behavior. In the wild, the cats will bury the rest of their uneaten food to save it for later. I told her that one of my cats never did this. She said that my Storm has probably become too domesticated. I never knew that a cat could become too domesticated.
I've also noticed Sky doing this too but not Cirrus. Cirrus is supposed to be more wild than my other cats because he was born to feral parents so this doesn't make sense to me.

At least I now know that it's normal behavior.