smart kittens...

[yumyum6970]

My 8 month old himmie/siamese mix kitten will lay down on her belly to eat her food, what is bad or should I say wierd she will dip the food out of the bowl with her paw just like we eat with our hands sometimes. What makes me so upset is that I have to clean the floor all the time because she makes a mess. I tell my husband she has probably seen us eat at the table and has picked it up from us. Maybe I should send a video to America's Funniest Home Videos.

[NoahsMommy]

That is just too cute!! Do you have a picture of her?

Welcome to Pettalk!

[Karen]

I reccomend a plastic "placemat" or two like the ones they sell for children, so that it would be easier to clean up after her. I often see TV shows with wild animals that take part of the "kill" away from the rest of the crwod to eat it on their own - maybe this is her version of that instinct!

By the way, I bet she's adorable. When I was a teenager I babysat for a family that raised Himalayans, so I know just how cute they can be!

[TheAntiPam]

My blind cat, Winston, does strange things while he is eating - and makes a mess too! He will take two or three nuggets of the dry food into his mouth, then back away from the bowl. When he is back about 2 big steps, he puts his head far down between his paws, so the top of his head is almost resting on the floor. Then he starts to crunch his food. Of course, with all this maneuvering, he manages to drop half the food.

Sometimes, if he backs up into something, he still tries to get his head down, and his back end rises up and flips him right over. Then he loses all his food, and has to go back for more. Of course, he never eats the stuff he just dropped

I don't know if he does this because he's got strange wiring in his little brain, or because he's a cat!

[tuxluvr]

Ritz only started doing this in the past 3 months (she is now about 18 months old)...we refer to it as "picknicking" ... taking pieces of kibble to a new location and chomping away. She is pretty good about licking up the crumbs.

The water dish is another matter....we finally 'nailed' it to a piece of plywood because she would pick it up with her teeth and flip it over, then play around in the resulting puddle.

[yorkster]

Tuxluver .....does that sound familiar! My almost year old M .Coon practily takes a bath in his water dish!
His name is Wylie (aka 'the waterboy'), and he does the food thing too- eats with his paw, and also likes to put his food into his water (now THAT is a mess!)
We have tried a really heavy dish, placemats, plastic cafeteria tray, and finally putting his water dish into a deep plastic dishpan. Nothing has worked- maybe we will give the nailing it to a board thing.

I am hoping he will outgrow it.........

[tuxluvr]

Yorkster, here is the "home made kitty proof" water dish...perhaps a new patent here? The first time she used the "altered" dish, she stood on the board and tried again to flip the bowl with her teeth...13 pound kitty standing on board somewhat limits the mobility of said dish (note, the nails are non-corroding kind...no danger to lil Ritz)




Funny, she never tried to do this to the food dish, only the water

[ December 30, 2001: Message edited by: tuxluvr ]

[tuxluvr]

Oh, my, I just realized her food dish in the picture is EMPTY.....better hurry and feed her majesty

[sasvermont]

My two cats (and the previous cat) love to drink their water in the bedroom, from a glass. I can put the identical glass next to their food in the kitchen and they will not touch it. They like it AWAY from their food. You guys may try moving their water. Maybe its just an Abyssinan cat thing.... I don't know.



[ December 29, 2001: Message edited by: SasVermont ]

[Pam]

tuxluvr, you do have a great invention there! It looks like you have nails on three of the sides so I guess that's how you slide the bowl out to wash it. Very clever!! Andy washes his feet in his water bowl (much to Trevor's dismay I'm sure) but neither of my cats have ever actually tried to move their water bowl. On the other hand, my Bella (standard poodle) would occasionally try to pick it up and walk around with it so I got a heavy ceramic bowl. It is pretty large because she drinks a lot and Andy is thrilled because now he thinks I have given him a larger bowl for bathing.

[tuxluvr]

Pam, the water dish gets a thorough steam and scrub every other day--Ritz likes to give her fake fur mice a bath in there...the water can get a little "fuzzy" if you know what I mean...I just pick up the whole board and turn it upside down over the sink to use the spray attachment, then scrub.

..

[ December 30, 2001: Message edited by: tuxluvr ]

[Ila]

Wow !! I know cats think their human most of the time but yours is really playing the part. Too Funny!!

[yorkster]

That is a great idea, Tuxluver! It just might work........and it would certainly add to the decor of my spare bedroom!

[tuxluvr]

Yorkster, no flip overs since the minor water dish construction project about a year ago....after about a week, she quit trying to pick it up with her teeth.

[yumyum6970]

No, I don't have a photo of her doing this but I need to get one and scan it for yall.
Yesturday she got in way serious trouble with the neighbors because they left their back door open. Of course yum yum walks in and breaks their pot with that holds onion plants in it.

Originally posted by yumyum6970:
<STRONG>My 8 month old himmie/siamese mix kitten will lay down on her belly to eat her food, what is bad or should I say wierd she will dip the food out of the bowl with her paw just like we eat with our hands sometimes. What makes me so upset is that I have to clean the floor all the time because she makes a mess. I tell my husband she has probably seen us eat at the table and has picked it up from us. Maybe I should send a video to America's Funniest Home Videos.</STRONG>