Cats Play With Food

by Sherie
(Tampa, Florida, USA)

Cats Play With Food

Why cats play with food. Have you ever wondered how your cat can be so picky about cleaning her paws and so messy in your kitchen? Some cat owners get dish after dish, looking for the one that won’t spill when the cat plays with it.

It’s not about the container. It’s about the natural instinct of your cat to play with their food. Don’t fight it embrace it and get a hand vacuum! Your tidy pile of cat nibbles in the dish are quickly scattered by your cat, who is hunting in the dish for the ideal pray or in this case morsel.

Once chosen, your cat takes the nibble back to a favorite hiding place under your chair or behind a table. Your cat may play with the food for a while before eating. That’s just the way cats are so don’t try to rush the process. This is fun for your feline friend and a natural instinct.

No matter how comfy your cats place is in your home in his heart he is a cat on the hunt. From kitchen food dish to hiding place, your cat treats food the same, as he would out in the wild. At least they try if you don’t rush them by picking up the prey and putting it back in the dish.

In the wild, cats play with food and spend quality time stalking and catching prey for dinner. Then they play with the mouse, let it go and run it down again. It’s almost like working up an appetite before dinner at least in cat perspective.

When a pampered house cat has food delivered neatly to his dish twice daily, he misses the activity that he instinctively craves as part of his dining ritual. So don’t fuss at your cat for playing with his food.

Bowl-fed cats can give up the instinct and become fat, lazy fur balls. While it may result in neater eating habits, it’s not good for your cat’s health. Granted, you may not want to let live mice loose in your house just so your cat can get exercise.

You can choose cat toys that have re-fill able centers in which to place snacks. Scatter these toys around the house so your cat can “discover” the treat. The rolling toys also allow your cat to chase and conquer the toy, then extract the food. Dry foods like nibble types are perfect for these toys, since there’s no moisture or spoilage.

Knowing that your cat wants to hunt even inside the home, keep houseplants off the floor. Ivy, dieffenbachia, azaleas and poinsettias are poisonous to your cat and dangerous for children as well.

You can put those out of reach of a toddler, but remember that your cat easily scales the dining room table to get to the plant. Choose other types of plants. At the holidays, put real poinsettias on the porch or patio and use silk poinsettias inside the house.

Along with treat filled toys leave toys around that your cat is allowed to chew. Some cats are as big on chewing as dogs are, so if that’s your cat’s method of play give them something besides the sofa pillows to gnaw on.

Cats play with food and although it can be messy we should support their natural instincts. This is just my opinion but one that is supported by many cat behaviorists.