Kitten clawing the floor

[drzygote]

Hi all,
I have a 7 week old kitten.
After he defecates in the litter tray, he smells his own faeces, and then with his left paw claws the kitchen floor. Then he will repeat this action.
The thing that is puzzling me is that when I give him wet kitten food from a pouch, he does the exact same thing. He sniffs it, then paws the floor, but he wont eat it. It seems odd that he has the same reaction to this cat food as his own faeces!
What is odder is that he was reared on the same wet cat food and previously wouldnt touch the dry food they gave him. I have had him for 4 days now, and all he will eat is the dry food.
The only way I got him to eat any wet food was by mixing it with a small amount of tinned tuna in brine, but even then he didnt eat much.
I am trying to get him onto a regular eating times, but since he wont touch the wet food, he just picks at the dry food all day.

I didnt know which forum to put this in, if anyone can elucidate what the pawing behaviour signifies I would be very grateful.

[lisa01uk87]

my trouble does this when he is done its almost as if he is trying to cover it to stop the other cats and the dog getting to it, he will try do it to the wall aswell lol

[drzygote]

Its quite funny to watch him do it!
I just cant figure it out why he does it after smelling whiskas kitten pouches, especially since that was the only food he would previously eat..
strange little thing

[angieh]

My Pip does this too - with any food, even with food he seems to like. After he's finished - it's just like you describe - he's trying to bury it.

I have heard that cats do this with food they don't like, but with food they do seem to like and therefore eat ...... doesn't make much sense.

I would love to hear any theories about this behaviour.

[pookyandjo]

Sorry Angie... no theory... i do know that Harry does this when she's finished eating... but just the wet food and she loves the wet food... (hence the nickname Dyson)... George doesn't do it at all... not sure what the reason is...

[jacks]

I dont know why they do this but Minnie does it to,just to wet food.Its like she trying to cover up the food for later.She does it to food she likes and dislikes.:? There such strange little sweethearts.But we love them.

[pookyandjo]

I have done some research on this and i believe the reason they do this is they are marking their territory... sounds plausible i suppose!

[angieh]

Yes, it's plausible ........... I wonder if we could do a quick poll to see if members' cats do it and if so whether they are boys or girls. Pip does it, but Kizzy never has.

[dandysmom]

Dandy (male) did it, the food burying dance; he was the only one who did. none of the others left anytting to bury. Well, Sultan did until Misty came, who promptly ate it.

Leia is good at covering feces but sometimes gives the wall behind her tray a good scratching too for good measure.

Jo may have a point there about marking territory...don't they have scent glands in their paws? I vaguely remember reading something about marking the places they regularly scratch on .......

[random]

Anakin (male) does it too, he's the only one I have noticed, they all bury their poo but he is the only one scratches at the floor and walls and does it to his food too. No idea why, I just assumed he was a bit of an oddball, lol! He also does it to an empty bowl! :?

[lisa01uk87]

well so far it seems to be boys

[pookyandjo]

there are a couple of females in there as well..

[Phoenix]

Beauty never did it, Dylan will do it to our toilet :? :lol: