# Cat gently paws/wipes around his food bowls after eating



## geezopeez (Oct 13, 2009)

My three-year-old male cat does the cutest thing after he eats: he gently paws the floor around his food bowl, collecting the bits that went astray during his chow down. I read somewhere that this is an instinctual thing—that he is trying to bury his food to hide his tracks, so to speak. Anyone have cats who also do this? What does it mean?


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## ~Siameseifuplz~ (May 6, 2007)

Willie does this to both food and water and any people food that hits the floor. It is an instinct to bury leftovers so that other animals will not smell it and come find it. They don't know why they do it, they just have an instinctual urge to. It's like why dogs turn in circles before lying down, their ancestors used it to flatten vegetation and snow before lying on it. It's hardwired in.


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## kwarendorf (Oct 12, 2009)

Both of mine "bury" their food, canned and dry


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## Jeckel (Aug 11, 2009)

Great to know! I always wondered why my kitty did that!


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## prairienights (Sep 10, 2009)

Both of my kittens (5 months and 9 weeks) "bury" their food. It is really cute...they get this serious look on their face and bury it. Bailey, the young kitten, usually turns around and steps in the food to bury it, lol.

I've found that the more they like the food, the more serious they are about burying it. If I put bits of raw chicken meat, they'll spend lots of time pawing around it, lol.


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## brujj1 (Oct 20, 2009)

my female cat used to do it too and even find things to cover it with like hand towels, shirts waiting to be washed....

sometimes she did it immediately if she hated the smell of the food. And after covering it up she sometimes use to shake her paw to get rid of the smell as if it was stuck to her paw like she touched a nasty ugly thing lol.


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