Conference misery::feline_v1

Daisy does that sometimes.  Usually when she's through eating something    
she hasn't liked much.  I'm told it can mean a number of things:

	1) The cat is "hiding" the food for later consumption.

	2) The cat finds the food so vile that they "hide" it,
	   as if they were in the litterbox, to mask the odor.

When I feed the cats something that Daisy doesn't like, the first thing she
does is push Shamus away from his bowl to see if he's got something better 
to eat.  Since they both get the same food, she'll often try to cover the 
food in both bowls.  Luckily Shamus hasn't picked up this behavior from her;
he's much less picky about his food.

Pam

    My gang does it, too when they simply are not pleased with the
    days menu!
    

    
    Tiger does his burial digging when he has had enough food and doesn't
    want Mee-Tu to get at it.
    
    Both cats do their digging act like your cats when they get out
    of the litter box.  I figure cause the smell is more than the cats
    can bare themselves, they are trying their hardest to cover up the
    smell!!!
    
    So........you're not alone with this problem!!!

    RE:  "Not satisfied with the days menu"
    
    Then why do my cats eat their whole meal if the digging indicates
    they don't like it.  You should see these two cats eat - they act
    as if I haven't fed them in days.  This morning, Nikki ate everything
    in his bowl and then started to dig.  Chauncey eats all his food
    and then attacks the garbage pail.
    
    Thanks for the replies; I'm glad to see mine aren't the only ones!
    

    RE.4
    I'm just saying that mine do that when they don't like whats in
    the dish as they will eat something else if I put it down and leave
    the other plate they tried to bury and never touch it again, but
    they'll gobble down the second choice. I'm sure there are other
    reasons but I only know what I've seen the gang do.
    

    Argus does this too, after he has inhaled his entire meal (and licked
    the bowl clean).  Sometimes he'll go around to other bowls and lick
    them clean, and start to "cover". I just wish that he'd do his burying
    act in the litterbox.
    
    Deb
    

    We call the "covering it up" motion (as in, "this stuff should
    be put in the litterbox and buried!") "sweeping" at our house, 
    and Muko does it several times a week.

    It's his signal that he doesn't approve of the cat food du jour.
    We put down three bowls of food at a time (all containing the
    same stuff), and he will go to each one, smell the food, sweep,
    move to the next bowl, and repeat the process.
    
    The bowls are right next to the kitchen garbage can, so his final
    step is always to "sweep" the side of the can, as if to say: "put
    that stuff in here and give me something edible!"  Funny thing,
    though, when he checks the bowl 4 hours later and finds that the
    offending food hasn't magically turned to tuna, he eats it.
    
    All this from an abandoned kitten who, earlier in his young life,
    would've eaten shredded cardboard if we'd put it in his bowl!!!
    How quickly they forget!
    
    Joanne
    

    Tequilla does this quite often...Scratching on the floor...And she
    has no claws...This has no correlation to eating time.
    
    Am I mean?  My cats only have one diet...IAMS.  In addition to table
    scraps, that is...
    

    My two have just started digging -- not only near the food dish,
    but on the couch, the bed, the staircase. (Maybe it's a nationwide
    cat rebellion!) In a way, when they're near the food, it's like
    they're trying to keep the food from scattering throughout the house
    (if I could only teach them how to run the vaccuum too...). But
    when it comes to the couch, floor and stairs, the only thing they
    could be "covering up" is their own fur which is everywhere! (Maybe
    their waying of saying "I need a bath mom, but don't put me in the
    tub!"

    Maybe Chauncey wants to cover up the "evidence" that food can
    be found in this spot.  I would guess that outdoor cats want to
    defend their territory (especially the food sources) and might
    try to bury what they don't want other cats to find!  Sounds
    logical to me . . how about you?
    
    Pam
    

    Mine do this occasionally just after they have used the kitty
    liter box (in the basement) and want it scooped immediately! They
    kindly do not cover what's in the box (in case I am too stupid to
    find what needs to be removed), then they dig at the papers under
    their food dishes in the kitchen. 

    When they don't like their food they sniff from a foot away then
    stalk out -- no digging behavior then. 

    				Julie

    Chanel is *very* consistent in that she'll *allways* try to cover
    up her food when she's finished - be it just for the moment.
    She does it no matter how much she likes it, when she's had enough
    she'll try to cover it up.
    
    Chanel was found by a friend of mine. At that time the poor little
    thing was very small, underfed, sick, only some 4 months old, and 
    obviously without mother or home. My friend brought her home and
    succeeded together with her vet to get Chanel on all 4 paws again,
    but noticed that Chanel did the bury-the-evidence act from day one,
    though the first days she was obviously very weak.
    
    Chanel came to me as a playmate for Omar some 1 1/2 month after
    my friend found her - my friend had already 4 cats at that time
    - and Chanel has never seen the outside world since that day.
    
    She's now a very healthy, very playful, very beautiful 1 1/2 year
    old house terror. She still tries to bury-the-evidence. As far as
    her litterbox behaviour is considered...I have a cat who obviously
    wants to emigrate to Australia :-)
    
    Ad

    Honey will do this when he wants to show his disapproval at the
    buffet du jour.  Since I've got them on Iams and ProPlan these days,
    it rarely happens, but if I put down an can of something...bury...bury
    ...bury...drives me nuts!!  When my Chauncey wants fresh water,
    he just knocks the bowl over.  Subtle.....
    
    A friend of mine had a little kitten who used to sleep on her back.
    One morning, she "broke wind", and the little kitten woke up and
    started making burying motions around the offending area.  I can
    just imagine the kitten's thoughts on his human's personal hygiene....

    Whatever goes on in those little pea-sized brains??
    
    Mary

    Hi Mary !
    
    Off-subject but when 'breaking wind' is the game, Chanel is the
    absolute winner! My vet says it's nothing to worry about, because
    she's still quite small for a cat her age, and a rather avid eater,
    she's more likely to have this from time to time. 
    
    But sometimes she makes almost the wallpaper come from the wall...
    That's why I didn't change the name my Coco-loving friend gave her
    :-)
    
    Ad

    I learned(?) a long time ago that it is instinctive behavior to
    hide food, or the trail to it.  Wild ones (large types) do it too.
    The fact that it is all gone does not necessarily impact the activity.
    Another example is the kneading on such as a blanket, which is
    an action related to feeding on mom - surely they know that the
    Hudson's Bay won't be giving forth milk...don't they?
    
    Gary

    My female will do it when there's left-over food that she doesn't care
    for, but she also does it just before she drinks the fresh water I've
    put down.  She'll scratch/bang away the cabinet doors too if I don't
    feed her as soon as she wants.  It's like she's saying "I know the
    food's behind one of these doors, if only I could get at it".

    Beeps does this EVERY time he eats - no matter what he eats
    including going after all the goodies the kids manage to 
    drop on the floor during our dinner.  I never took it to mean
    he didn't like what he was eating becuause this is an
    "after-everything-I-eat" ritual.  He seems to enjoy his
    dinner very very much...which includes an occasional can of tuna!!
    
    

    Schnitzel does this occasionally.  I thought she was tidying up
    as "Mom" hadn't swept up as soon as Schnitz had finished eating.
    She also has the habit,  if she doesn't like what I've served and
    don't chang it (I keep reminding her it's not a hotel she lives
    in), Schnitz will scoop all her dry food out of the bowl onto the
    floor flick her tail as if to say "Now, that's what I think of your
    choice for dinner!".
    
    P.
    

    I've found that the better Argus likes the food, the more he covers.
    I guess if he really likes it he doesn't want anyone else to have
    it.
    
    Deb

    Of our two kitties, only Mercedes (8 month old) will bury his food
    dish.   Figaro (6 years old) always leaves food in her dish "for
    later, when she gets the munchies.  Last night Mercedes jumped up to 
    Figaro's dish to finish it for her.  I repremanded him and put him 
    back in front of his own unfinished dinner.  He immediately began 
    digging, as if to say, I want to save *my* dinner for later and want 
    to finish Figaro's now!
                       
      ^_^
     (>.<)
      ) ( Jeannie

    RE: -1
    
    Silver also leaves a little bit of food in her dish "For later".
    Her only problem is that when "later" comes around, she goes to
    her food dish and the food is gone.  Tabby has already eaten it!:-)
    
    Holly