The most effective way to stop the behavior is to take his food bowl away from him when he s done eating.
Why does my cat scratch the floor by her food bowl.
My lani does this with food she doesn t like.
It took me years to understand why my cat gracie does that.
So why does my persian kitten throw his food on the floor but not eat any of the food he s put on the floor.
It s not unusual for cats to hide their food but if it becomes an obsession for him or if he s taken to dragging your delicate sofa doilies to his food bowl cat behavior associates has a few tips.
Only feed him enough for one meal at a time.
This is made difficult if the bowl is glass or has reflective material such as shiny metal.
When she was a kitten i had to keep the water and food bowls separated because if the.
Give him smaller portions so he doesn t have leftovers pick up the food bowl when he s finished eating distract him with play when he starts scratching at the floor or place his food in.
Ditty s motivation for scratching the floor and wall around her food after she eats differs from why she s scratching the wall after using her litterbox.
If you free feed leaving a food bowl full of kibble out all the time this will only encourage the behavior.
She makes a mess.
Another theory is that as cats in the wild tend to eat where they sleep they don t want a rotting carcass lying around.
Sometimes i would go through 3 or 4 cans of cat food being scratched at before the cat would eat someth.
If i saw him actually eating food he s tossing on the floor i d feel better about scooping it up 3x a day and putting it back in the bowl so his sister can eat but he s just tossing it and then has nothing left in the bowl to eat and meows at me to put the food in the bowl.
What is floor pawing in cats.
Why do cats dig and scratch around their food bowl.
The pawing and digging is an example of instinctive behavior meaning your cat probably didn t learn it from its mother.
Scratching around the food bowl is a common behaviour in cats which is completely normal.
If there was a paper towel or other easy to move object near the food dish she would probably cover her food with it moving it by scratching and pulling at it with her claws.
Wild cats as well as feral cats have all been observed burying any uneaten food to avoid attracting predators or scavengers.
I experimented with 2 snacks one she liked and one she didn t.
Many cats will scratch paw or knead the ground around their food bowl before or after eating.
Gracie has always scratched and clawed on and around the bowl before she drinks.
Therefore avoid this to help her out.
She scratched at the first one and ate the second so i now interprete the scratching as her saying this smells like my poo since she will eat other foods she deemed worthy.
As was mentioned below they usually scratch around their food bowl either after eating or before if they don t like what you are feeding them.