My cat is a year and a half old and ever since I've had her (since she was four months - got her from RSPCA), when she's finished eating but has some left, she tries to rip up the carpet, as if she is trying to cover her food up. I'm staying with my parents right now and we have her food and water on a little rug and she's tipped her water bowl over about four times now because she's so exuberant about it. She treats it like litter - instead of covering her "deposits" she's covering her food.

Yes my young Tomcat, Custard tries to clear up after him, by scraping the area around the dish, I put some kitchen roll down under his and Treacle's bowls the other day and he's been scraping that!

My cats have done this too. I'm not sure why, and they don't do it anymore, since learning that it's not acceptable behaviour. The best thing you can do is make her aware that it's not on... however you do that.. I tend to click my fingers or make a "SSS"ing noise.. (I realise how stupid that sounds now lol).. but they've learned not to do it.

I used to have newspaper under my food dish, to save the carpet, but the youngest of our crew was hellish for ripping it up after he finished eating, so I removed the paper, and he did it to the carpet. He has since stopped though.

PS. None of ours were rescue cats, so I don't think it's a "rescue-cat-thing". It might just be a daft thing cats do... after all, there are lots of those! LoL

It's driving me crazy! I feed her in my room so all night I hear her scratching around and have to get up and make her stop and then she looks so sorrowful that I feel bad. Am relieved to know another cat does this too though - thanks for taking the time to reply. She was abused as a kitten (hence being in the RSPCA) and starved before she became my little princess (seriously, entire life ruled by this cat!) so I was worried that maybe it was connected. But if other cats do it, I feel a little better - if that makes any sense at all!

Yeah, it makes perfect sense. I used to have a book about cat behaviour (about 10 years ago), and everytime one of mine did something weird, I'd look it up... now I have the internet and it's fantastic to find answers to what others might think are trivial problems..

You saying about her being starved and abused as a kitten strikes a notion with me, our Custard was found on the street and was like skin and bone and had cat flu and all sorts until we took him in from Cat Protection who looked after him well. He loves his food and maybe it's a trait of some cats from being neglected of food! Don't really know but it could be a factor?

I've had 4 cats... none of them were rescue... I got them all straight after the normal weaning period... and 3 out of 4 have done it...

Ironically enough, the one who didn't do it was the quirkiest cat of them all.. he did pretty much everything else. He was just downright weird.. LoL

It's perfectly normal behaviour.

Thank you everyone! I'll just have to hope she grows out of it.

You could always put a plastic mat under the food dish, cuz she physically can't claw that up.. so she'd only scrape her claws along it.

I suggest mittens.


I'm gonna start me a new line

Mittens for Kittens

Excuse me while I ring Dragons Den.

I'm out

We don't have carpet but my little one does this on the flooring - looks like she is trying to do the moonwalk

She isn't a rescue cat either!!! Can't remember if my childhood cat used to do it?

My little Maine Coon does this when he's finished, whether or not there's something left in the bowl. We have ceramic tiles in the kitchen, so it does nothing at all, but I assume he's thinking he's going to bury his food to stop other animals eating it. He's no rescue cat, he's a pampered pedigree.

My understanding is that it's just the instinct they have from when wild. They are trying to bury what's left to come back to later. It's natural for them to hide it from other animals if they can't finish it in one sitting.

Maybe giving smaller portions at more regular intervals will stop the problem as each lot can be finished.
Last edited by merlinsmum : 03-11-2008 at 13:43

One of mine does it, but not all the time... The first time I noticed her doing it, she was sick afterwards, so I presumed it was that.. but next time I saw her do it I was armed with newspaper and followed her around the house for about an hour, but nothing.. thank god !

The other one doesn't do it, but she's the skinny one who gets pushed out of the way at the food bowl by her sister ( and yielded with no protest up to last night when she came and filed an official complaint with me ! )

On a similar vein, my understanding is, they're leaving their scent to say this is mine - keep away or else!

One of mine likes to drag her water dish around the kitchen but can't remember her ever trying to bury/cover her food dish .....

Sometimes, it's just when a cat isn't feeling particularly hungry and/or wants to "save" the remaining food that's still available? On the other hand, if a cat starts "burying" straight away, it seems to be a HINT the food isn't to his/her liking... On the other hand, you can still persist, with the same food, despite protests, attempts at blackmail etc!

No takers for my Kitten Mittens ?

One of my cats tries to cover his food up by digging (doesn't get him anywhere as he only has a food mat and ceramic tiled kitchen floor to work with ), but he only does it when I've put the "wrong" food down and he doesn't like/want it - so I have always presumed that he was trying to bury it while muttering "that's s**t mum - give me something else", and when I give him something else he eats it .

That's moggies for you .

Mine do this all the time....forever scratching the wall behind their dishes. If I don't get there quick enough they even drag their blanket out of their bed and cover up their bowl. I wasn't sure if they were just being extremely tidy or trying to hide their food. As I've had them from 8 wks old, it must be instinct...so it must be to hide rather than to clean. My little boy cat hides his toys too (sometimes in his food bowl!!) and is incredibly possessive of everything he owns (including me!) so I guess it must be that.

I'll have a pair.. go on..

oh wait,, will they come in pairs? or in fours?

(methinks I'm as daft as you! haha)

One of my cats always scratches round his food bowl when hes finished. Plus hes forever dragging the water bowl around the floor AND puts his paws in first to test the water before he will drink.
The other weird thing he does is when he uses the litter tray he covers it all up, gets out and then wipes his paws on the wall!! Im just glad the litter tray is outside!!!

Stroppy they come in quartets...

Cats are odd critters , I have to place our cats drinking bowl in the bath or they just won't use it.