Conference misery::feline_v1

    This behavior, I believe, is developed before kittens are weaned.  The
    cats paw around the nipple to stimulate milk production.  My cats do
    this when they are about to lie down on me or a comfortable surface
    (nesting behavior).    
    
    I've also seen my cats do this when they are unhappy with the
    cleanliness of the litter box, or want treats put in their food bowls.
  
    
    

    This is called "kneading", and is thought to be related to
    stimulating milk when nursing.  My guys love to knead
    the blankets.  It's totally different from claw-sharpening
    behaviour.
    

What's being described here doesn't sound like kneading to me.  My Daisy
does something very similar to what you describe.  She usually does
this to newspaper piles, magazines, even mixing bowls.  Despite having
been spayed, I have always thought that in Daisy's case it might have to 
do with a female cat's instinct to build a nest for kittens.  

Pam

    Kelsey, T.K. and Murdock all knead.  It is a natural process for a cat. 
    Now, if the digging you are referring to is more of a burying motion,
    Kelsey does that a lot.  He digs before and after eating, before
    drinking water, and after using the litterbox [he will use the box,
    then hop out and start digging on the floor next to it].  We refer to
    kneading as similar to "marching."  Lift one foot, put it down, lift
    the other, put it down, etc.  Burying is usually a one-pawed ordeal,
    with a look of disgust on the face.
    
    --Roberta
    

	I don't know about the nesting instinct, Pam :^}  My big male
	Tas is the one who does most of the 'digging' in our house, and
	he seems to love to do it on a freshly made bed.  I'm not sure
	if this is what the basenoter is talking about, but he goes
	through the motions of digging a hole, just like a dog does -
	one paw after the other.  He doesn't use claws at all (thank
	goodness, as we have a waterbed).  I figure it probably feels
	good on the pads of his feet or something.  He's such a strange
	creature that nothing he does surprises us much :^}

	Sandy

    Yes, my Pepper does this....on the bed, on the couch, on
    papers, on the cat tree......Once every gret while, one
    of the others will, too.
    
    Lynne

    Both my cats knead - usually me, in affection or the bed
    when they're trying to persuade me to get out of it!!
    
    Only Pip (who is a neutered Tom) digs and he really digs...
    
    Mostly he does it after eating, as if he is trying to bury
    his food bowl. Its amazing to watch because the kitchen floor
    can be quite slippery (when I get around to washing it) so sometimes 
    he skates allover the place. We used to have carpet tiles on the
    kitchen floor but he made a real mess of them with this digging by
    getting his claws caught sometimes, so at Christmas I took them up.
    
    What he seems to be doing - also with a look of disgust on his
    face as mentioned by an earlier noter, is trying to get rid of all
    traces of the meal he's just eaten. If I take the food bowl away
    immediately he finishes he just scratches the floor a couple of times &
    then wanders off. If I leave the bowl there the burying ritual can take
    five or ten minutes.   He sometimes upsets his water bowl in his
    enthusiasm! Its strange because otherwise hes a real lazy cat & I have
    a hard job getting him to exercise at all.
    
    I used to put the food bowl on the floor against a wall which had a
    towel rail on it. I had to change the feeding location because Pip
    scratched the wall as well as the floor and if he could reach it,
    pulled the towel down and covered the food bowl with that. If theres
    anything lying around nearby like a newspaper he will also try to cover
    the food bowl with that.
    
    This behaviour has never really worried me. Infact Pip is such a
    fastidious cat and always looks spotless (unlike his brother who
    often has muddy paws or food hanging from his whiskers). I have always
    imagined it was the same hygienic digging he does in the neighbour's
    gardens - Pip won't "go" in his own garden or a litter tray. Even when
    there was two feet of snow outside the door he went 50 yds to the
    nearest neighbours. Domino on the other hand often barely makes it
    through the catflap! Its just another aspect of their different
    purrsonalities!
    
    If Pip makes it through the floor to Australia - I'll let you know.
    
    Rosemary, Pip & Domino

    Flirtaysha is definately not kneading.  She does this often too but she
    is part dog I swear.  She real goes at is like a dog trying to dig up a
    flower garden.  It's strange because she does it on the bed, couch,
    chairs, etc.  Never on her food dish or anything else that is dirty. 
    ALthough she spend an eternity in her litter box rearrangeing "things".
    I'm not worried about her...just curious.  I wonder what goes on in
    that little head of hers.....
    Lisa

    
    Benjamin does it too.  It's not like kneading, it's more like he's
    trying to claw the heck out of the furniture.  (My roommates are
    incredibly thankful that he was declawed when I adopted him!)  I even
    thought of buying him a scratching post, he loves 'scratching' things
    so much.  
    
    He also attacks feet.  He'll wait until you're sitting and jump on one
    of your feet (usually when you're wearing sneakers, but lately he's
    been going for my boots) and 'claw' at the tops until you pick your
    foot up.  Then he lays on his back, under your foot, and wraps his
    front paws around your foot and claws with his back paws.
    
    I thought he was just crazy...
    
    dm

	One of mine does this, there's quite a difference to "burying" and 
	"burrowing"


	When he tries to bury his food, then he turns his back on it, and uses
	one paw.


	When he's in a burrowing mood, he goes at it with fury - like a dog - 
	he also likes to rub his face, hard, where he is burrowing - I beleive 
	it to be a "nesting-type" of activity, and this is on the 
	bed/settee/newspapers.

	
	Anyway, from these notes, she's not unusual.


	Heather

    Buy Benjamin a scratching post!   The poor baby!
    Make him a happy pussycat.  He probably doesn't know he's been
    declawed.

an interesting little tidbit:

cats often "bury" their food (indoor cats will scrape at the floor as if
burying it) because they are saying "I don't want this now...but I might
want it later so I'll save it".  According to the local expert in feline
behavior (my vet,a devoted cat-owner), this is because the feline in the
wild will bury a kill if he/she doesn't finish it - it hides the food from
other predators.

re: digging in beds, etc.  I have this theory they do this because it feels
good....my gang will dig enthusiastically in the waterbed, thereby making
a mess of the bed, before settling down in the pile of bedding...but sometimes
they dig with enthusiasm on the couch - a great aerobic workout even if there
IS nothing to dig in.   Better than a Jane Fonda workout for them.

    When I was younger we had a cat (Taffy) that would go in his litter,
    cover it and then spend the next 10 minutes digging the side of the
    refrigerator.  I always thought that he was cleaning his paws to
    get all the litter out between the toes.  The cat never made a mess...
    
    Now we have Abby (aka..Momma Kitty) and when she goes to the litter,
    she also covers it and then digs at the sides of the litter box. 
    Again she never makes a mess...I swear there cleaning the toes!
    
    Sandy (Tamba, Poco, Barkley, Agnes, Chloe, Dewey and Abby)

    Bumpy-tail uses the box and then scratches the sides of the cover.
    She's done this as long as I've had her - 11+ years.  And...she's
    taught Bonnie the same trick!  :^)