Cat Behaviors

Covering it up is exactly what he's trying to do. In the wild, an animal will often eat their fill but there will be some left so they'll attempt to bury it or cover with leaves/dirt to save it for the next meal. I have two young females here and they rarely empty their dish entirely, always leaving a few bites. One of them ALWAYS tries to bury it, scratching on the linoleum.

Yep, he's trying to cover his food to protect it. Lots of cats do it all the time. My cat went through a phase of doing the same thing around the time we moved. I guess he was feeling a little insecure and so was trying to bury his dish so "others" wouldn't get to it. Mind you, he usually empties his dish when he eats, so I don't know what he was saving my trying to bury the empty dish, but whatever... He would occasionaly do it with the water dish as well, which resulted in water slopping onto the floor. Luckily, he started drinking out of the dogs dish (which is bigger, so he can't jostle it), so that problem solved itself.

This is called, Cache. Wild animals, will eat their kill, and the left overs are "hidden" for later. I have seen this on many nature show over the years and the wild cats do this, as well as bears. I guess whatever you are feeding your cat is delicious enough to want to keep the rest "fresh" for later. I wonder if you had this cat all his life? Some house cats don't do this and it could be because they never experienced a time when dinner wasn't available or late.

I don't know what it means when they do this but i have defiently had cats do things like that before...I actually had a cat one time that was pregnant and she was really ready to have them...i mena you could tell that...and she had gotten so attached to me that...she held it all day i guess and when i went outside she started meowing and i sat down and right then she started having the kittens..so that was cool and strange..

I have never seen the "dancing" thing, but my cat often pretends to "cover up" his food dish after eating. Maybe trying to protect it from intruders?? I just tell people he is saving his lefovers for later. Ha

My cat used to "scrape up" his food as if he was burying it. It was like he was full but was saving it for later and didn't want anyone else to "know it was there!" It's really funny! Maybe it's similar to a dog buring a bone or something. As for the funny water-dancing thing, I don't have a clue. It sounds really cute though!

Mine don't "cover up" their food so much-but they do like to play with water. Both Grace and Darla do the little water dance, but only if drinking out of a glass. Yes, they much prefer a glass to their bowls. Little princesses. :) Loki, on the other hand, just pushes the glass on the floor. Usually the one on the nightstand, and while you are sleeping. Nothing like a cold water, broken glass wake-up call at 3:30 in the morning!

My cat paws the deck, but thankfully doesn't scratch it, right before she drinks water. It's really funny, I have no idea what she thinks she might be doing. The other funny thing is if you scratch her right above the tail she starts licking her lips, and if you scratch the right spot on her jaw she starts kicking you with her hind leg.