Why Do Cats Bury Their Food ? – Explanation For Cats Burying Their Food
It’s understandable of you thinking that ‘why do cats bury their food’ or rather pretend to do so in different situations when they aren’t being able to actually hide it. You may think of it as a completely bizarre act but it is actually embedded in the personality of all felines. If you want to know more about why they do it and how to deal with it, continue to read below.
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Cat behavior of burying their food explained
The action of cat burying food is referred to with the term ‘caching’ by the scientists that have been considered to be an innate part of the natural behavior set of felines. This behavior exists in all the felines as a result of the genetic inheritance from their ancestors and the same is the case even with the domestic cats that may surprise you. Food catching by domestic cats can simply be understood as an action of cat where they paw, knead, or scratch the area around the food bowl after or before eating.
The mechanism of food caching involves the feline predators burying their leftover food for two primary purposes that are saving the food for later consumption or making their territory safe against visits of other predators by removing the food smell. Many of the pet experts don’t support the first theory and believe that the scavenger nature of cats doesn’t make them come back to the saved or kept food. They conform to the second theory strictly stating that protection is the sole aim behind this behavior to keep away other predators.
This makes it clear that food caching is an instinct that appears in every cat and is a completely harmless action. The domestic cats can be seen to pretend to dig around or pawing around their food bowls many times, even if the digging isn’t happening. This is just an instinct that surfaces while they eat if you think ‘why do cats try to bury their food’ even after being domesticated.
Common reasons behind cats’ attempt at burying their food
If the above mechanism didn’t convince you enough into understanding why does my cat try to bury his food, have a look at these other factors that also lead the cats to pretend to bury their food.
Assessing the need for preventing food from catching by cats
As we said, the practice of food catching or floor pawing by the cats is completely harmless and is mostly a result of the instincts that exist in them no matter what. Thus, our first suggestion to you is that you can let your cat do this action and not think about taking any step to prevent them from doing so. In some cases, you might even be able to witness some cute cat moments too while they dig.
However, if the behavior turns aggressive due to any reason and you witness damage being done to the house objects, and then is the right time to take action against neutralizing this behavior after properly understanding ‘why do cats bury their food’.
Tips on preventing cats from burying food
So if you have decided to discipline your cat into not burying the food or pawing the floor around, then here are some tips that will prove useful to you:
Conclusion
We hope to have cleared every aspect and you no longer are confused as to ‘why do cats bury their food’. It is a completely natural action observed in every cat and must not concern you at all until you see things getting unnaturally aggressive or obsessive. In that case, take steps to discipline your cat gently.
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