Weird cat-food-eating-area-ritual

[hugoboss]

My cat has started scratching the floor around his food after he has eaten. It's weird, it's not like scratching with his claws, but more like he's sweeping up some imaginary dust with his paws. He has only started doing it recently, and does it for about 5 mins a day. I read somewhere that because cats do the same in their litter trays/outside loos, they are showing you that they think their dinner is like poo! what do you all think?

[tetherend]

One of my cats does this too.  It looks as though she is tidying up any bits of food which have come out of her dish.  I think it's just a habit as the other two don't do it.  She's been doing this for a couple of years and we've got so used to it that I think I'd wonder why if she stopped.

[hugoboss]

i know what you mean with it like cleaning up stray bits of food, even tho there isn't any there! what strange animals they are!

[PurplePixie]

What you are describing is a very natural behaviour that most cats will do at some time. It is an instinctive thing that comes from their wild ancestors, who would need to cover any uneaten food for later...and also to hide their tracks from rivals. I'm sure even if you could ask your cat why he does it he probably couldn't tell you...it seems to be something they do almost involuntarily.

[hugoboss]

wow - thanks pixie - that's really interesting. now you mention it, he does only seem to do it when he's left some food left over in his bowl. cheers!

[cat woman]

I often wondered why 2 of my cats did this little habit, I thought is was because they did'nt like the food I,d put down for them and they were trying to cover it up like they do with their poo! So I would put something different out for them, wow the food I've wasted! but no more after this, Thank you Pixie you have saved me a bit of money. :-)

[Mrs_Pegasus]

You will also see dogs doing the same thing.  My cats dont because the greedy beggers never leave a morsel!