I bet you noticed your cat pawing or scratching around her food before or after eating. While some cat parents believe she's doing so because she doesn't like her food or hides it to eat later, the reasons for such behavior are a whole lot different.
Scratching around a cat's bowl looks like she's trying to dig or bury something. And though it seems weird, there's nothing wrong with your feline if she behaves like that. The question is, why does she scratch around?
Here are the reasons and some tips on how to stop your cat from scratching, in case you find such behavior annoying or damaging to your floor and carpets.
Reason #1: Your Cat Hides the Scent of Her Food
Cats are obligate carnivores, and they have to hunt for food when in the wild. Hunting and eating portionwise, they get food leftovers and need to hide them so other predators couldn't smell out their presence there.
So, one of the reasons why your domestic cat attempts to bury food leftovers is her instinctual behavior. Doing so, she wants to hide the scent as it can alert predators that she has been there.
Reason #2: She Protects Kittens
If you have a female cat with kittens at home, her reason for burying the food is that she wants to protect her kids from other predators. As well as in the case with her own scent, a cat tries to prevent others from finding out that there are kittens nearby.
Reason #3: You Give Her Too Much Food
As already mentioned, cats scratch over the food leftovers. If you notice a feline burying her food, it may be a signal that she gets more food than she can eat.
It's similar to hiding feces: A cat sees the excess food as something she is not going to return to, so she instinctively wants to bury it. As a responsible and loving cat parent, you need to control how much food to feed your cat to prevent undesired behavior, obesity, and other health issues.
Reason #4: She Tries to Keep Her Space Clean
Another reason for a cat to bury her food may be her inherent neatness. Most felines are creatures with passion for cleanliness, so they try hard to stay spotless and keep their place clean.
So, maybe your cat scratches around food, trying to tidy up her territory.
Should You Prevent a Cat from Scratching?
Pawing or scratching around the food is not harmful in itself. It's your cat instinct behavior to stay safe and hide the traces of her presence from other predators. In fact, some cat owners even find such behavior cute.
So if it's your case, feel free to leave your cat alone and don't stop her from scratching.
Another pair of shoes is when a cat damages your furniture or carpets while scratching, or you merely consider these actions annoying. If that's the case and you want a cat to stop scratching her food, there are a few steps to help you manage it.
What You Can Do to Stop This Behavior
- Once your cat finishes eating, take the bowl away to prevent scratching. If feeding with wet food, please clean the bowl at once and don't feed the leftovers again: Wet food spoils quickly.
- At the same time, please make sure your feline has free access to clean water to maintain the moisture balance in her body. She will hardly scratch around it, and you'll help her prevent many health problems this way.
- Once you see that a cat begins to scratch around, try distracting her with a cat toy and play with her.
- Don't leave dry food with a cat if she hasn't eaten the whole portion. Otherwise, you'll encourage scratching. Instead, limit portions to one meal so your cat wouldn't have food leftovers to bury.
- Serve food on surfaces that can't be damaged by the cat's claws, and take her food bowl away from items she can use to cover her meal.
- If you prefer free feeding or merely don't want to serve cat food all the time during a day, consider buying a puzzle feeder for your feline. It will encourage her to "hunt" for a meal and distract her from scratching.
And no matter what, please don't punish a cat for scratching or pawing her food. It's her natural, not harmful behavior, and she will not understand the reason for your punishment anyway.
Some cat owners believe that spraying water on a feline or hitting her from a bowl will solve the problem, but, in fact, it leads to more problems with a cat's behavior. When you punish your four-legged friend for scratching, you may break the bonds built between you and your pet, which will be not that easy to regain.
About the author:
Jimmie O'Chutt is an avid cat lover who runs CatPet.Club, a blog about living with cats and making this life fulfilling for both owners and their four-legged friends. Jimmie has also created the CatPet YouTube channel where you can find games for your pet to play. In his spare time, he loves reading, playing computer games, and spending time with his Maine Coon Ronnie.
At some point you’ve probably observed your cat eating a meal, only to stop and “reject” her food using her paws. This strange routine might appear as your cat burying food, scratching around the food bowl, or dragging something over like a towel to literally cover her leftover food. So, why do cats try to bury their food?
Do Not Want Cat GIF from Donotwant GIFs
A quick history lesson about cats
Most people attribute digging and burying behavior to dogs, but these are also basic instincts in cats. The ancestor of today’s domesticated feline was the desert wildcat. Wildcats avoided detection by predators by masking their scent and tracks—and the smarter cats gravitated toward soft dirt or sand, since this granular consistency made it easier to bury any evidence of their presence. Thus, these cats survived and thrived, spreading from the Fertile Crescent of West Asia into North Africa, Europe, and finally North America.
Why do cats try to bury their food?
It isn’t rejection (usually). Instead, your cat instinctively tries to bury her leftover food in order to cover her tracks. You’ll notice this behavior in your spoiled house kitty the same as you would in a feral neighborhood cat. Even though your cat has no “predators” to speak of (barring the nosy family dog, of course), she retains that biological drive to stay safe in the wild.
It’s also unlikely that once your cat “buries” her food, she’ll return later to feast on the leftovers. Why? Cats aren’t scavengers by nature. Their strong sense of smell reveals when food is no longer fresh. This is also a means of staying safe, as spoiled meat is sure to sicken a cat just as it would a human.
If you notice this behavior a lot, you may be overfeeding your cat.
If you see your cat burying food or covering her food bowl quite often, she may be trying to tell you something. Sure, sometimes cats gorge and don’t know when to stop eating. But if your cat isn’t cleaning her plate of wet or canned food, you may be giving her too much food at once. And if she tries to bury dry kibble, she may not return to eat until it is swapped for fresh food.
Veterinarians agree that you should feed your adult cat 1/4 cup of dry food twice a day, and approximately 1/4-1/2 can of canned food as a snack.
An automatic cat feeder like the WiFi-enabled Feeder-Robot helps ensure that you’re feeding your cat the right amount of food on time, every time. The Feeder-Robot works with any dry or semi-moist kibble.
It’s important to feed your cat wet food, as well. However, try feeding her a smaller amount at a time if you notice your cat burying food… canned or otherwise!
Why do cats bury their poop?
While we’re hovering around the subject, why do cats bury their poop? Well, for the same reason they “bury” their food: to cover their tracks! From ancestral wildcats to present day strays, cats bury their waste to avoid detection by predators. Cats are naturally attracted to the sandy feel of cat litter, and they instinctively know how to use the litter box.
But as most pet parents know, litter box odors persist even when your cat is diligent about burying her poop. If this sounds familiar to you, you may want to check out the automatic, self-cleaning Litter-Robot—otherwise known as the best litter box for odor control!
Because the Litter-Robot is automatic, partially enclosed, and contains odor-absorbing components like a carbon filter, it helps reduce litter box odors… even if your cat doesn’t bury the waste.
So, why do cats try to bury their food? And why do cats bury their poop? Now you know these peculiar habits are another of your feline’s important instincts! However, even cats need a little help now and again. With an automatic pet feeder ensuring your cat gets the right amount of food, and an automatic litter box that further “buries” their waste, you can all live together in a happier pet household.
Cover photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam on Unsplash