Why Does My Cat Scratch The Floor By Her Food Bowl

What is floor pawing in cats.

Why does my cat scratch the floor by her food bowl.

Gracie has always scratched and clawed on and around the bowl before she drinks. Another theory is that as cats in the wild tend to eat where they sleep they don t want a rotting carcass lying around. When she was a kitten i had to keep the water and food bowls separated because if the. Scratching around the food bowl is a common behaviour in cats which is completely normal.

Only feed him enough for one meal at a time. I experimented with 2 snacks one she liked and one she didn t. Your cat is scratching around her water bowl because she is trying to gauge the difference from the surface to the ground. So now you know why your cat may scratch around her water bowl.

The pawing and digging is an example of instinctive behavior meaning your cat probably didn t learn it from its mother. It took me years to understand why my cat gracie does that. Give him smaller portions so he doesn t have leftovers pick up the food bowl when he s finished eating distract him with play when he starts scratching at the floor or place his food in. If i saw him actually eating food he s tossing on the floor i d feel better about scooping it up 3x a day and putting it back in the bowl so his sister can eat but he s just tossing it and then has nothing left in the bowl to eat and meows at me to put the food in the bowl.

Ditty s motivation for scratching the floor and wall around her food after she eats differs from why she s scratching the wall after using her litterbox. As was mentioned below they usually scratch around their food bowl either after eating or before if they don t like what you are feeding them. So why does my persian kitten throw his food on the floor but not eat any of the food he s put on the floor. My lani does this with food she doesn t like.

If the bowl is gone he won t have anything he needs to cover up. Wild cats as well as feral cats have all been observed burying any uneaten food to avoid attracting predators or scavengers. The most effective way to stop the behavior is to take his food bowl away from him when he s done eating. This is made difficult if the bowl is glass or has reflective material such as shiny metal.

If you free feed leaving a food bowl full of kibble out all the time this will only encourage the behavior. If there was a paper towel or other easy to move object near the food dish she would probably cover her food with it moving it by scratching and pulling at it with her claws. Many cats will scratch paw or knead the ground around their food bowl before or after eating. Sometimes i would go through 3 or 4 cans of cat food being scratched at before the cat would eat someth.

She makes a mess. Therefore avoid this to help her out.