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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / May 2005scratching by his food?
We recently rented a house that was just finished being remodeled. The hardwood floors are uncovered and there is a beautiful smooth tiling through the rest of the house, including the utility room. We decided to keep the litter box in there and also to feed them in that same room, kind of giving them their own space so if company comes over, they have a place to hide that is 'theirs.' Since this floor is brand new and also because our land lady does NOT like indoor pets (luckily her husband loves them, even if he treats Oreo and Gabe more like a dog when he *pat pat pats* them on the head) we have been doing our best to keep the floors neat and unscratched. I purchased one of those food mats to go under their food and for a day or two it worked in catching any food that spilled out. Then, Gabe started doing a strange thing by scratching at the mat, trying to flip it up... in the process he generally spills whatever water is in his bowl and sometimes the food as well. I took the mat away for a few days but he would still continue to do so. Kind of how they scratch when they cover up in the litter box. It's not an every day occurrence (that I catch at least) but at least every other day. Today I moved their food/water/mat to the other side of the room to see if that would change it somehow. It was by the sink before and now it is by the door. I am wondering if he got some funny smells from the sink and he was trying to cover it up? Or, maybe it bothers him since the litter box is in the same room? At our old house food/litter were in different rooms. Or, maybe there is something under the floor that was covered up? This doesn't seem to be something extremely threatening to either cat since they are both eating well and using the litter box, but I was just wondering if anyone has had an experience like this and if so what they did about it. It woudlnt concern me if it was our own house, but since we are renting, I am afraid his scratching on this floor will do some damage that will severely upset our landlady. PS- all 17 lbs of Gabers is sitting on my lap right now, kneeding away on my arm. Guess that means he says hello and wants me to get off here to give him some attention!! If my cats ever scratched by their food it meant they did not like the food and were trying to bury it. -- Barb Of course I don't look busy, I did it right the first time. > Then, Gabe started > doing a strange thing by scratching at the mat, trying to flip it up... in When I go out to eat, I don't like sit by the door or the restrooms. sounds like a lovely home, lucky cats! > We recently rented a house that was just finished being remodeled. The > hardwood floors are uncovered and there is a beautiful smooth tiling [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > arm. Guess that means he says hello and wants me to get off here to give > him some attention!! My cats do this at times when they are done eating. Especially if it is a treat night and they get food they really like, almost like they are hiding from each other.. I guess kinda like a dog that buries his bone...??? blueberries79 Wrote: > Then, Gabe started > doing a strange thing by scratching at the mat, trying to flip it up.. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > that > was covered up? It can indeed bother Gabe that the food and the litterbox are so clos together. Cats generally don't like those two things in close proximit to each other ( I reckon you don't exactly fancy eating your dinner o the bathroom yourself :) ). So he may be trying to get a signal across something like: this stuff has a strong scent too, better cover it up Try also finding another location for the litter box. Something unde the floor that he was trying to uncover seems unlikely. A funny smel from the sink might be a possibility, but then it should have someho gotten onto the food dishes. Do you wash them with another cleanin liquid than ususal? Best is to wash them with just hot water, n cleaning stuff at all. But aside from all this, in any case no ca likes his/her food dishes and litterbox very close together. Hop you'll find out what causes this before Gabe does upset your landlady. Purrs, Fritti and his gang -- Fritti > blueberries79 Wrote: > > Then, Gabe started [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > Purrs, > Fritti and his gang. You know, until you and Barry said something, I didnt think it would bother them to have the food on one side of the room and the litter box on the other, but it just might be it. Kind of thought they might like having an 'easy access' room with all their things in it. But tomorrow we'll move the bowls and see what happens. I only use hot water and a scrubby pad to clean out their bowls so I dont think it is a cleaning solution. Thanks for all the ideas everyone! > You know, until you and Barry said something, I didnt think it would bother > them to have the food on one side of the room and the litter box on the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > out their bowls so I dont think it is a cleaning solution. Thanks for all > the ideas everyone! durn cats won't let you get by with nothing! > We recently rented a house that was just finished being remodeled. The > hardwood floors are uncovered and there is a beautiful smooth tiling through [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > continue to do so. Kind of how they scratch when they cover up in the > litter box. It's nothing to do with the litterbox really - scratching around a food bowl is a common cat trait, as in the wild they would cover up half eaten food by scratching and covering it with earth to prevent another predator from eating it. >> We recently rented a house that was just finished being remodeled. >> The hardwood floors are uncovered and there is a beautiful smooth [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > half eaten food by scratching and covering it with earth to prevent > another predator from eating it. I read somewhere that some predatory animal after eating its 'kill' then urinates or defecates on the "left-overs" so as to ruin the remains for other animals. This helps starve off the competition. goodness! He hasnt done THAT yet! > I read somewhere that some predatory animal after eating its 'kill' then > urinates or defecates on the "left-overs" so as to ruin the remains for > other animals. This helps starve off the competition. Stella does that when she doesn't like what's being served. It's like she's saying " I am not eating this sh.t"  Signature.oO rach Oo. > We recently rented a house that was just finished being remodeled. The > hardwood floors are uncovered and there is a beautiful smooth tiling [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > arm. Guess that means he says hello and wants me to get off here to give > him some attention!! Thats what has been suggested a couple times but the more I think about it, I dont think its that... when we arrived they were eating the same dry food as in Hawaii and we've switched them to wet (one or two people in here seem to think its better! *grIn* ) but he does it with the dry food, with the wet food, an empty bowl, a full bowl, with the mat down, without the mat down. The only changes are the bowls (they had plastic, now its a thick glass bowl), having a food mat and of course, the new state/house. > Stella does that when she doesn't like what's being served. It's like she's > saying " I am not eating this sh.t" > Thats what has been suggested a couple times but the more I think about it, > I dont think its that... when we arrived they were eating the same dry food [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > The only changes are the bowls (they had plastic, now its a thick glass > bowl), having a food mat and of course, the new state/house. One of my cats has done this since he was a kitten and still does it off and on. Having observed him, I am convinced that it is a holdover instinctive "burying-food-to hide-from-predators-for-later-consumption" behaviour since he performs the scratching/burying/folding the mat over the food motion and then returns to eat the food with gusto. So, at least in this household, the cook is still employed :). M. > > Stella does that when she doesn't like what's being served. It's like > she's > > saying " I am not eating this sh.t" This is true too. Stella usually comes back to her food once she is hungry enough. Maybe it is, as someone said... from her stray days when she had to hide her food. Although she was very young when we got her. Signature.oO rach Oo. > Thats what has been suggested a couple times but the more I think about > it, [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > she's >> saying " I am not eating this sh.t" |
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