Cat Corner

[alibi_shop]

Sometimes when we put out a new flavor of food, the cats sniff it for a couple seconds, and then they walk all around it and "bury" it by scratching on the floor, and then they walk away. Jack and Curly used to do this too. Every cat owner has probably seen it, but there are two competing theories:

1. "I hate this, it is poop, I'm burying it in cat litter." Cat will not eat food.
2. "This seems legit, but I'm covering it in dirt so I can save it for later." Cat comes back and eats food a minute later.

But those both seem to be true! Sometimes they eat it all up anyway; sometimes they spurn it. I can't figure out any pattern—it's not how much they scratch, or their expression—no idea.

Then I realized: of course I have no idea. I'm just like a middle-aged parent in the '80s trying to understand whether, when the kids say "bad", it means bad or good. Or "sick" today. They don't WANT me to know.

Comments

[psybelle]

Huh. Years ago, I remember reading that there were certain smells (present in poop and some foods) that would trigger the "scratch" reflex, and whether or not the food itself was appetizing was a completely separate thing. I don't know if that theory has fallen out of favor/been disproved... or just been supplanted on the intarwebz by "animal psychology" theories.

[alibi_shop]

Hmm! I haven't heard that one, but I guess it's possible. Of course it's hard to tell if they have any ideas about why they're doing whatever they're doing, or if it's just a reflex, but that's also true of many things I do.