Do your cats cover their food with strips of paper or other strange things

[BrklynLiberal]

Why do they do this?

[IndyOp]

1. To understand your cat, look to the lions...

Mountain lions: They usually hunt alone, at night. They prefer to ambush their prey, often from behind. They usually kill with a powerful bite below the base of the skull, breaking the neck. They often cover the carcass with dirt, leaves or snow and may come back to feed on it over the course of a few days. Their generally secretive and solitary nature is what makes it possible for humans to live in mountain lion country without ever seeing a mountain lion.

Panthers, a subspecies of cougar, have such a strong instinct to cover prey that one female cougar in the barren landscape of Arizona was observed placing a single twig on a deer carcass before leaving.

Some species of bears cover prey, too. I would bet that some species of tigers do too.

:-)

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Thanks. I would come back and see their food covered with slivers of paper

and wonder what the heck..now I see it is just part of their wild heritage.

[IndyOp]

3. Pretty cool, huh? Panthers in Brooklyn!

My cats never tried to cover their food - but then I left out dry food all day and fed them only enough canned that they would eat it all at one sitting.

I would suspect that the more often a species hunts alone, the more likely they would be to hide their prey.

Housecats are more similar to tigers than lions in general, because lions hunt and eat in groups. Even lions sometimes hunt alone (especially males).

Tigers and cats who became housecats primarily live and hunt and eat alone -- hence, the similarity in predatory behavior.

[demnan]

4. Pad Thai often leaves a sparkley ball on his food

But that seems to draw attention to it. I don't think he has wild instincts, he just wants you to know he's been there, thus the sparkley ball.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. I have found little toys and other objects in their dishes as well..if

there is no paper around for them to shred.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. That is what I do..but I guess theycover up what they don't finish.

"I left out dry food all day and fed them only enough canned that they would eat it all at one sitting."

[superconnected]

14. Your cats are beautiful. Very striking.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I wonder if that's related to the burying motions they sometimes make?

Every cat I've ever known has sometimes made motions with their paws that seemed like they were trying to bury or cover up their food. And I've never known whether they were instinctively trying to save it by covering it up, or whether they were "burying" it because they thought it was --- well, shit.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Right. My cats do that next to their food all the time. Scratching the

floor next to the dish.

[kestrel91316]

9. They're "saving leftovers".

[ET Awful]

10. That's what I thought Quinn was saying "Hey, this stuff tastes like xxxx"

I'm going to bury it :).

[mopinko]

11. i adopted a skin and bones dog.

from the pound, and she did this as well. i have never had a dog do that. i would put her food bowl in her cage, and she would eat as much as she wanted, and nose the blanket over it.

[IndyOp]

12. Wow - I've never seen a dog do that...

...then again I've never had a dog who didn't eat everything in the bowl!

:rofl:

[mopinko]

13. she also has 3 evil little sisters

i have 3 little terriers, and it took her a while to establish her place in the pack. she guarded her cage, and hid bones under her blanket also. now that she feels better she stands up to them.

[Princess Turandot]

15. I have a cat who 'buries' his food as well..

he also tries to bury MY food if he comes upon a plate on an end table or the floor. He's relentless. It's as if a switch is clicked on which causes him to passionately 'bury' something.

Thank goodness for online bill paying. I'm not sure if Amex would appreciate receiving a Fancy Feast coated billing statement!