# Food Bowl Flipping



## jbx74205 (Jul 21, 2010)

I've got a weird situation with my cat Dax. He and his brother Goober each have their own plastic food and water bowls, which are about an inch deep and 5 inches across. Goober is very good about keeping his neat and clean, but Dax has recently started to be kind of a pain in the butt. He eats a few bites, walks away, then comes back and paws at the bowl until he flips it over. Of course, this scatters the dry food he has in there and lands the wet food on the wood floor. After he does that, he really chows down and eats everything he spilled. If the food stays in the bowl though, he's not as interested in it unless he's really hungry.

At first I thought maybe he just didn't like the dish-washing liquid I used, so I changed it to another brand, but had no luck. I also tried an experiment where I put some of the food on the floor instead of in the bowl and he went right to it. 

My question is, what could be causing this behavior? He's 10 months old and this has been going on for a couple of months. Does he not like the shape of the bowl? I was thinking of trying a flat plate and seeing if that made a difference. It's pretty strange. I obviously don't like him eating off the floor if it can be avoided.

Thanks!


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Try a flat plate. I bet he doesn't like the feel of the sides of the bowl against his whiskers.


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## saitenyo (Nov 28, 2010)

Yeah, he probably either doesn't like the bowl against his whiskers or is having trouble getting food out. I've not dealt with this with my cats, but my pomeranian does this when i give him a bowl of ice, because he can't get it out of the bowl easily.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Many cats don't like to get their whiskers wet or have things brush against them, although I wouldn't have thought that would be an issue with a bowl only an inch deep. Still, it doesn't hurt to try a flat plate to see if that helps. I wish you luck.

Many years ago, I had a toy poodle who would take all of his kibble (all 40 or 50 pieces) and painstakingly line them up in a long row, one by one. Then and only then would he eat them. Drove us nuts!


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

My ex husband's cat has a thing about his tags brushing the food bowl. If he heard the tags hit the bowl or plate he would avoid the food.


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## hdunne (Jan 2, 2011)

My cat used to do that exact thing, but she stopped when we starting put her food on a small plate instead of in a bowl. I'm not sure why she has such a strong preference, but for some reason it made a difference.


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## jbx74205 (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks for all the thoughts everyone! I tried a flat plate and it works a little better, but Dax still tries to turn it over. He just can't because it's much heavier than the bowls. I guess he's just a little quirky. =) He's also recently started playing with my toes in the middle of the night, so maybe he's just in a rebellious phase right now.


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## Huzzah (Apr 7, 2010)

I got 2 of these 1/2 pint size feeders for our flippy 10-month old...


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## meowyn (Dec 27, 2010)

Are you sure your other cat doesn't eat his food? my cat loves eating, but if any other cat touches his plate, he WILL NOT eat in it. Around it, yes.


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## jbx74205 (Jul 21, 2010)

That's an interesting thought. Goober does like to eat out of Dax's bowl when he's done with his own food. I usually try to shoo him away, but it's hard when I'm not home. I'll have to keep an eye on exactly when he flips the bowl. If it does happen after Goober eats out of it, what can I do?


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## bluegoo06 (Nov 24, 2010)

get one of those heavy duty pottery bowls. I have some for my cat, they are actually dog bowls but they are more like ceramic. I think I got it at petsmart. Much heavier, never had an issue with bowl flipping since this.


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