Why would a kitten try to bury her food?

Question

My new kitten seems to like dry food only and yet she was eating fish etc before we bought her home - when I give her tinned tuna or pouch meat she tries to bury it!

Answer 1

lol. yea my 2 kittens i got a few months ago also do this its very funny to watch.

Answer 2

Could well be a "genetic memory" to wild times. In fact domestic moggies maintain many wild characteristics. The fresh meat may trigger an instinct to bury a 'hoard' to protect 'the kill' from being stolen by scavengers: leopards will drag antelope up a tree for this reason. Dry food does not smell like a kill so it does not trigger 'hide it' mode. Why now? Could be part of moving to new home moggies tend to do daft things at this time.

Answer 3

Not too sure. I've had 7 cats in my life and just got another 2 kittens and I have never seen them to do that. They all buried their toilet but never food.
Is tinned tuna not a bit too rich for the kittens tummy still??

Answer 4

It is nothing to do with liking or not liking the food,or saving it for later.In the wild,say for example you have a tree.One lion comes over to said tree,scent marks it,and walks off,comfortable in the knowledge that "thats mine."Second lion comes along,says "think ill have this tree,"scent marks over the top,then crucially,kicks up either the urine soaked dirt,or shreds the bark of the tree.First lions scent is now all but covered over,and second lions scent is not only over the top,but nicely distributed in the surrounding area to make it pretty difficult for other lions to cover THAT up.its all one-upmanship.Now,in relation to your cat,its just being territorial.Mine dont try to bury their food but they try to claw up the floor around their bowls and sometimes when cat A isnt looking,cat B will sneak in and try and scratch up the floor around cat A's bowl as if to say,"mine."so,in summary,its just about being territorial,making sure the rest of the 'pride' know that the food belongs to him/her.Its perfectly normal.Always think of your cat in relation to your home environment the same as you do for a pride of lions.The rules are always exactly the same.Theres an alpha male,alpha female,subordinates and a distinct pecking order with the same conflicts and struggles you see in wildlife docs.Its all there,you just have to look for it.

Answer 5

Cats are naturally greedy animals and don't like to share. She might be aware of another cat in the area from scent and maybe that is y she wants to bury it. Next time you feed her try to keep her in doors and see what happens.

Answer 6

unlike their adult counterparts kittens have not developed scents and sprays to mark out their terrority. So instead they lighly chew the food and place it in strategic spots to landmark their terrority. Contrary to popular belief cats do not eat putrified or decomposed meat nor do they store food which is why they are constant predators.

Answer 7

It instinct like wild/big cats kill big mammals and can't eat it all in one day thay bury to keep it fresh and save it for later.

my old cat carryed her bowl outside and beryed it!

try giving her/him less food

Answer 8

I guess it's some sort of instinct to save it for later.
Eating it later often doesn't happen since you give her new food every day.

With a bit of luck she'll get over it when she get's older.

Answer 9

lots of cats do this,they are covering the scent from other predators.i have 3 cats and the female one does this every time

Answer 10

maybe there is other cats take hers food or that she likes only the same thing she had before
because different brands different things