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our kitten, Mahalia, is 4 months old and is a bit of a fussy eater. the strange thing is, she is inconsistent with her likes. one meal she will hoover down nearly the whole lot and then, when she revisist the same food later on, she will take a sniff and attempt to cover it up as she would do to her little nuggets in the litter box. can anyone give me a clue about why she is doing this? we take it as though she thinks her food smells like... well i'm sure you can guess what! are we right to assume this or is it something more or less serious?

Hi There,

This behavior is actually normal. I believe it means one of 2 things, either the cat thinks the food is equal to it's litterbox contents, or the cat is "covering" the food to save for later on. In the wild, cats will cover their food so as not to attract other animals.

It's also fairly common for a cat to eat very well one day and not want the very same food the next. It's a cat thing that we will never totally understand, althoiugh I do believe that cats want and need variety in their diets. Speaking for myself, though, when I really love something, I can eat it every single day and not get tired of it........lol

Since cats are the ones that really own us, our purpose in life is to cater to them anyway

Take care,
PHKitkat

Your cat may have also gotten a piece of food that didn't taste "just right".

A good example of this was a couple weeks ago when I was giving Chessie his quarter of a pill in a Whiskas Temptation treat. The quarter of a pill was a little larger than normal, and the treat I'd put it in came apart as he was picking it up. He tasted the pill and refused to touch any Whiskas Temptation treats the rest of the night, even ones that were right out of the bag. The next night, he was back to eating them normally.
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Chessie in his favorite spot while I work in the kitchen.

>>our kitten, Mahalia, is 4 months old and is a bit of a fussy eater. the strange thing is, she is inconsistent with her likes. one meal she will hoover down nearly the whole lot and then, when she revisist the same food later on, she will take a sniff and attempt to cover it up as she would do to her little nuggets in the litter box. can anyone give me a clue about why she is doing this? we take it as though she thinks her food smells like... well i'm sure you can guess what! are we right to assume this or is it something more or less serious?

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Hi There

My boy is 8 months old now and he does exactly the same. I think as his growth is starting to slow down he is needing less food so genberally his morning feed he will mew like crazy then when I put it down he drinks his kitten milk and has a mouthful of wet food then 'buries' the rest. I do have another cat so I think he doesn't want her to find it so very thoroughly covers it. Sometimes he seems to get totally carried away with it all and the only way he stops burying it is if I go over and distract him.

I think it's totally normal behaviour and just one of those strange quirks that all cats have

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Kind Regards
Pepsi and Cola's human Janis
MAX - Earned his wings April 2006 - Sleep tight Pussy Cat

"Like those great sphinxes lounging through eternity in noble attitudes upon the desert sand, they gaze in curiosity at nothing, calm and wise"
Charles Baudelaire

As long as your kitten is still eating, it should be fine because it is normal behavior in most cats.

However, if your cat continues to do this and starts to refuse to eat, it can possibly be that the foods are causing digestive problems and something isn't right.

In any case, when you go to the vet, just ask to be sure. If no worms are present and no underlying problems arise, it is fine.
What the Cat Dragged In Mousery