# Food bowl mess



## Sarah-Lou (Sep 22, 2009)

Nala has 3 food bowls, one in the kitchen with her wet food, and a water bowl...and then a joint bowl with dry food and water upstairs in my room.

The bowls in the kitchen are on a mat...I have noticed over the time I've had her that she will occasionally walk over to the mat and paw at it, doing a similar action to what she would do in her litter tray. I thought nothing of it.

Until recently, she has been pushing her bowl around, pushing food out of it, pushing her water all over the floor. I thought it was just because it slid slightly on the mat but she has managed to do it upstairs in my room (on carpet) too. 

Is it boredom? Is it because she is unhappy with her food? Or is she just being mischievious? :S


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## ChelleBelle (Sep 14, 2009)

I wouldn't worry about it. It's a natural cat instinct to "cover" up their food when they are done with it.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Yuppers! It is *instinct* for a cat to hide-all-evidence of their existence; burying both waste and left-over food. My BooBoo kitty tries the hardest to 'bury' the canned food plates when *he* is done eating. He doesn't care if the other cats are still eating, HE is done and HE needs to bury what he is leaving behind. Instinct. You just can't fight it. 
When I see him doing that, I either pick him up and carry him out of the kitchen or I pick up the empty plate and tell him: "I'll take care of that for you."


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## doublemom (Feb 17, 2008)

Ditto... only one of our three cats does this, but he does it obsessively. Funny thing, though, he never "covers" his own food bowl, but always the plate of his least-favorite feline sister. He eats quickly, then literally sits and waits for her to be done. The minute she even turns her head away he is right there "covering" her empty plate. Instinct...


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## Sarah-Lou (Sep 22, 2009)

I don't understand though...she pushes her bowl around so the water sloshes out of it all over the floor...she'll still want to drink it later so why do it? Is she achieving anything by moving her bowl from one part of the room to another? :S I'm watching her do it right now and there seems no reason for it. Its not the actual food she is pawing at.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

I had a kitty named Mister who had a damaged eye, so his vision was altered and his depth perception was off. I always wondered if he tapped the water with his foot, first, so he could *see* the moving surface of the water and not dunk his nose in it when he dipped his head to drink. 
Toby would always try to knock the water-bottle off the gravity-feed waterers and I had to stop using them. 
Squirrely-Jo likes to dip and then lick, her foot.
BooBoo likes to use his paw to *tip* the bowl, making the water slosh and/or pour out on the floor.

I do not know why they did this, other than Mister whom I know had vision issues. To *stop* this behavior, I bought a HUGE and HEAVY ceramic water bowl that *cannot* be dragged or tipped with a cat's paw.


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## Sarah-Lou (Sep 22, 2009)

Heidi n Q said:


> I do not know why they did this, other than Mister whom I know had vision issues. To *stop* this behavior, I bought a HUGE and HEAVY ceramic water bowl that *cannot* be dragged or tipped with a cat's paw.


Thank you Heidi, that was my first thought this morning! I woke up to the sound of a plastic bowl being pushed across a carpet...a heavy bowl is certainly what I will invest in!


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## KittyMonster (Nov 8, 2009)

I wish a heavy bowl would help my cat's weird habit.. Mak only drinks water at the very edge of the bowl, and he's a very vigorous "licker"... So he sprays water about a foot past the bowl and up on his face! I always know when he's been drinking water because his face is all wet. Silly cat. :lol:


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## ChelleBelle (Sep 14, 2009)

To cute. Bella, my kitten, is crazy with water too. She doesn't like to drink out of her typical bowl. She wants you to fill up a shallow cup (like a coffee cup) and put it in the sink and THEN she'll drink it. She loves to dip her paw in water and lick it over and over again. Such a strange habit. She will drink normal, but she is fascinated with sinks and toilets. We can't keep the lids up on them, cause we are scared she'll fall in and get hurt. But the second you enter a bathroom, use the toilet, and she hears the flush sound. She'll run to the bathroom door, bolt in the second you open the door and STARE at the lid of the toilet until the noise is gone.


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