Kitten Behaviour

[Roughquest]

My 5 month old kitten 'scrapes' the floor around his food bowl after he has eaten - very similar action to the scraping they do in the litter tray to cover their excrement - anyone know why does he do this ? I got worried first time i saw him do this action as I thought he was about to go to the loo on the floor, but he does it all the time he is near the food bowl. Bizarre.

[Rabelais]

Your kitten is obeying it's instinct to cover the remainder of it's uneaten food so it remains hidden and protected from scavangers. They normally grow out of this habit.

[Missy33]

My cat still does this and he's 8!

[mccfluff]

mines 6 still does it

[Filbert]

Mines 6 too and he seems to only do it when we are in. When we come back from anywhere, his bowl is in the same position, then he goes for some nosh and scrapes the floor, moving his dish about.
Aren't they funny

[Ed Strong]

The only time mine did this was when he didn't like what he had been given - I assumed he was telling me where to stick it! My boy (Boss) is about 17 (we took him in as a stray so can't be exact as to his age) and this is the only time I have seen him do this. Mind you he is a fussy bu**er who lives for his food, he prefers to eat chicken, prawns etc and when he does have tinned food it has to be Whiskas Rabbit or Chicken Supermeat with a side dish of Whiskas biscuits for Seniors! Who said "spoilt"? =0)

[cjk23]

as Rabelias has said, it is a natural instinct.

it remains fomr the wild where any remains of food had to be buried or would be eaten by another animal.

My 4 year old does it. If there is a carrier bag or any laundry on the floor he pulls that over to cover up the bowl. So now I cover it with a piece of kitchen towel when he is done, it seems to make him happier that way

[felinechums]

That's so sweet, cjk23, covering the leftovers so your cat doesn't get upset. All my mogs scrape the floor round the bowl - sometimes they do it for ages - but I'd never thought of putting a cloth over it for them. I will now, though.
Thanks for this cheered me up enormously.