Your cat tries to hide his food and you are trying to figure out why.
I have never seen this behavior in my cats but it does happen. You might see your cat or kitten paw at the ground near the food bowl, usually, after he has eaten. This would be an instinctive desire to bury or hide the food to protect it from other predators; a hard-wired instinct inherited from the domestic cat’s wildcat ancestor. Your cat is trying to drag earth or leaves over the food bowl.
To some cat caretakers it can give the impression that their cat does not like the food and is trying to bury it to get rid of it. This is not the case.
One wild cat species that is well know for this behavior is the cougar (mountain lion or puma). This cat buries prey under leaves, snow or other available movable objects. I can remember a story of a person who slept outside and woke up to find himself buried under a pile of leaves. A cougar had treated him as a potential meal and buried him while he slept with the intention of coming back for breakfast! He woke up first. Note: cougars don’t eat people.
A kitten or cat might make an attempt to bury food even if he is a full-time indoor cat. It makes no difference whether there is any chance of a predator stealing the food or if the food is regularly supplied by the owner.
That said, I wonder if this behavior is more likely to occur in households where there may be competition for the food from several cats. It may also happen more often when a cat is stressed or insecure but that is a guess.
Apparently cats have been known to drag an object, such as a towel, over the food to hide it. A variation on this is for a domestic cat to bring an object that he has played with back to the food or water bowl and drop it in or nearby. The toy is prey and the cat is bringing prey back to his den or secure place. The nearest a domestic cat gets to this is the position of his food and water. In the picture there are lots of toys in and around the food. This can looks as if he is trying to hide the food. The cat’s caretaker believed he was trying to bury it because he did not like it.
Personally, I have not seen this behavior either. It is individualistic cat behavior. I would expect it to be quite unusual. A similar form of cat behavior is pawing at water or shiny surfaces.
He already is fat. I just try to keep the situation from getting any worse! At eleven pounds the vet said, “This is ok, but no bigger!” He actually hit twelve pounds at one point. He and I were snacking our way through each day. He loved it. I put a stop to it. He lost the weight, I didn’t.
Yes you are right of course Michael, a quiet shy cat can get overlooked if a more confident one lives in the same family. I suppose it’s like the children of a family, parents need to make sure that each child has the same love and attention so the shy ones don’t feel left out.
Walter is always happy to have our attention, we don’t force it on him.
Also when they are both outside he clocks in more than Jozef does, as if reassuring himself home is still here,
Really cats natures are very like peoples I think, with the same emotions and anxieties etc and that’s not surprising because their brains are very similar to ours.
It’s sad when some people say ‘they are ONLY cats’ and don’t think cats have emotions and feelings because I’m sure they do.
Nice comment. Sums it up, really. Thanks Ruth. I guess the point I was making was that outgoing, confident cats are more likely to instigate interaction with their human caretaker and because of that he/she may get more time with a human than a more reserved cat. You make sure both get a lot of time despite this possibility. Great.