Feeding my cat?

[oldgrandpajack]

I have a great cat, and his name is Zorro. He's a great companion, and a blessing. He's the first cat I ever owned, and I have lots of questions.

Today, I'm wondering if it's common for a cat to require your presence, when eating. Zorro demands my presence, when he eats. Even wakes me up. He doesn't need any food, just my presence. He won't eat without me.

Something else, sometimes, when he's finished, he goes through the motions, like he's covering the left over food, just like after he's done in the litter box. Nothing there to cover the food with, but he goes through the motions. What's that all about?

oldgrandpajack

 

[raggie33]

I have a great cat, and his name is Zorro. He's a great companion, and a blessing. He's the first cat I ever owned, and I have lots of questions.

Today, I'm wondering if it's common for a cat to require your presence, when eating. Zorro demands my presence, when he eats. Even wakes me up. He doesn't need any food, just my presence. He won't eat without me.

Something else, sometimes, when he's finished, he goes through the motions, like he's covering the left over food, just like after he's done in the litter box. Nothing there to cover the food with, but he goes through the motions. What's that all about?

oldgrandpajack

well its cause he loves you and enjoys ya company.aint pets great?i found a dog abanded yesterday in park i sure wish i could keep him he seesm to been abused and was hard to aprach but i feed him a few cans a tuna boy was he hungry
[

 

[TorchMan]

One of my cats (the one that was hand raised from a month old or less) insists on eating when I do, but not only when I do. However, any time I eat, she goes in the kitchen and eats as well. She's unusual, though, in many ways. She was bottle fed cat milk (purchased first at the vet then the store) as she was too young for regular food when my parents found her. My mom would burp her like a baby, I swear I witnessed this, and the cat burped! I can carry her around on my forearm like a falconer does with his bird. Never dropped her and she trusts me to carry her in any position. I inhereted all of them.

The other two eat when fed. Both of the indoor ones will lay on my computer mouse, one is doind that now and thumping her tell when I move her off of it.

As to the covering motions, the hand raised one does that with foods she doesn't care much for. I laugh and tell her I know what she's calling that food! :lolsign: I can only speculate that's why she's doing this, might be over personifying her behavior. Can't recall the others ever doing that.

 

[TedTheLed]

Mr. Leon T. Cat has a food fetish something like that too! So I guess cats just become habituated to a single piece of behaviour they pick up one day..? Leon does seem to like routine and to crave occasional quiet and secure moments for long meditations...usually in the closet, in his little cathedral of hanging shirts..

Anyway what Leon does is; he requires me to walk him to his food. He will sit and stare at me silently for half an hour, waiting for me to get up and walk towards the food dish, so he can precede me. I think it's his way of making sure I know he is trying to share the food with me, so I'm not mad when he finishes it all off! When he was much younger he required me to pet him before he would eat, but that habit has changed to 'the escort' .

oh and it doesn't even have to be me; I can have a friend escort him to his bowl, or who ever, Leon's not picky.. *sigh*

thos 'burying' motions to the food -- I agree it has something to do with either; how Zorro feels about the quisine, or, it's an attempt to get you to supply more/different/better/fresher food because once before he did the same motions and you responded in way that rewarded him..?

Leon has a motion that is different but I feel pretty much says the same thing, he turns his back and as he walks away he rapidly shakes hind foot, as if trying to dislodge a piece of some 'clinging substance' -- the cat's words are clear, he knows what he wants, and what he doesn't !

what I'd like to know is; after Zorrow symbolically 'burys' the food, will he eat it later? Or do you replace, or remove it when he does that?

 

[oldgrandpajack]

what I'd like to know is; after Zorrow symbolically 'burys' the food, will he eat it later? Or do you replace, or remove it when he does that?

Zorro does come back and eat the food later. I'm wondering if he isn't covering the food, to hide it from others, until he's hungry again? Could he be hard-wired that way?

oldgrandpajack

 

[Razor]

The cat's likely "covering" the food with imaginary dirt as a result of hard-wired instinct. Wild cats like the mountain lion will cover their food with dirt and leaves after they're through, even though they may return to it later. An explanation? Perhaps to hide the food's scent a bit to make it less detectable to other creatures that may steal it.

 

[TorchMan]

Hmm, that does make sense about burying the food to keep it safe from scavengers. Mine will not eat the food again though after she does that.

 

[Alloy Addict]

The cat's likely "covering" the food with imaginary dirt as a result of hard-wired instinct. Wild cats like the mountain lion will cover their food with dirt and leaves after they're through, even though they may return to it later. An explanation? Perhaps to hide the food's scent a bit to make it less detectable to other creatures that may steal it.

That's what I've read.

I've never heard of a cat that needed the presence of its person in order to eat. It doesn't surprise me though. I've had three cats and they have all been very different from each other. The two we have right now eat about half their food and then switch bowls. They each have their own water but the male cat drinks almost exclusively from the dog's water dish. I guess dog backwash adds zing.

Edited to add: The only time one of our cats "covered" her food much was when we introduced her to the other two. I've never seen the other two do it.

 

[Lightmeup]

I've never had a cat that did that food thing you mentioned. It's probably just his own personality coming through. Most of them have at least one odd facet that makes them unique. My current cat likes to stick her head under the faucet when the water is running.:huh2: She also likes to sleep in the sink. The previous cat wouldn't go near any running water. Go figger.

LMU

 

[edison]

I've never had a cat that did that food thing you mentioned. It's probably just his own personality coming through. Most of them have at least one odd facet that makes them unique. My current cat likes to stick her head under the faucet when the water is running.:huh2: She also likes to sleep in the sink. The previous cat wouldn't go near any running water. Go figger.

LMU

That is really crazy. Most cats and dogs like to sleep on something warm, not a cold sink or bathtub.

It's even more weird that it isn't afraid of running water and even likes to basically shower in it.

You must have an amphibious mutation waiting to happen from some nearly dead gene left over from evolution. I wonder what would happen if you exposed your cat to a bunch of radiation.

 

[TorchMan]

My hand raised one will sleep in the sink, though she does not like running water. She tends to do this when it's hot outside, not cold.

The neighbor had a cat that would drink from the faucet, and paw at it (the stream) as well. Their personalities are as varied as people's.

 

[nzgunnie]

over the years I have had a few cats that do the burying thing. I assumed it was so they could come back to it later. Nearly all my cats have been strays.

Our cat seems to want food by associating our arrival home with dinner time. When I come home it's food time. When my girlfriend comes home it's food time. This is clearly becuase we feed her when we come home from work, but now it doesn't matter where we have been or what time we get home, that is the signal to her that it is time we should be feeding her! Even if we come home in the middle of the day.

She'll eat whether I'm there or not. As soon as the food goes into her bowl I think the world could end and she'd still be eating.

 

[tattoou2]

Grandpa,

Bonding with a cat is something very special and unique. My wife and I have multiple cats and we both have lived with cats and dogs all our lives. From your description, Zorro is actually inviting you to have dinner with him. He trusts and loves you and is more than happy to have you in his presence.

The motion of covering the food is either Zorro's attempt to "hide" the food for later or that he might want a little more variety. It's really normal cat behavior.

The most important thing to remember is that they choose us. A dog thinks his master is the greatest thing in the world. A cat thinks he's the greatest thing in the world and only invites certain people into his life. He's chosen you.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions whatsoever.

 

[senecaripple]

my dog covers up her crunchies when she used to eat them. she's now 16 yrs old, i feed her science diet can food. i also leave some crunchies for her to nosh on when i'm at work. the cat now bullies the dog because she's so old, bites and scratches her. i too stay with them until they finish eating. especially the cat. he is so finicky. he would rather eat the the crunchies than the soft food.so, not to waste the can food i am asked to stay with him until he stops. if i move away he will stop and follow me. he loves to drink off my mug of water. my cat wakes me up every morning. he knows where the clock radio is and begins to play with it until the alarm or i get up. like clockwork. 6am, but he cant tell when the weekends and workdays so, i am up regardless.

 

[oldgrandpajack]

Zorro used to drink from a dripping faucet in my bathroom sink. When he finished, he would lay down for a nap sometimes. Water dripped on him the whole time. Of course, that was when he was a kitten. Zorro is much to big to lay in the bathroom sink now. Zorro jumped in the shower with me once. Blink, and you would have missed it. :lolsign:

Just had to watch Zorro eat again.

oldgrandpajack

 

[2dim]

I bought a running water fountain dish for my cat.
She gets fed twice daily and knows when, almost to the minute.
Her dish is put in the bathtub, for easy clean-up.
It helps prevents ants and other crawly bugs.
After eating, Tina likes to talk about it, to me or to herself.