Cats are the most mysterious of pets. They have many strange habits and behaviors that are difficult to explain. For example, why do our pets like to bury their food? Let's try to understand this question and find a logical explanation for their behavior.
Why do cats like to bury food?
Cats are under the control of unconditioned reflexes that are embedded in them at the genetic level. All of them developed in the course of evolution and have completely rational reasons.
Let's highlight the main ones:
- Burying food is associated with the smell of food. In the wild, cats live in a specific territory where they feed and breed. The smell of food can attract other competitors in the food chain and threaten the animal's territory. Furthermore, food begins to decompose and can become a source of infectious diseases, and cats are extremely clean animals.
- Competition with other cats. If more than two cats live in a house, they may begin to perceive each other as rivals. One manifestation of this may be an attempt to hide food from the rival by burying it.
- The reason is related to the food itself. If a cat starts burying food without even touching it, it means she doesn't like the food and is trying to bury it, just like she does with feces.
- The pet has eaten its fill and is trying to hide the remains of food for the future. Dogs do the same thing.
How to wean
It's important to remember that all cats are predators.
There are several ways to stop your cat from doing this. They all involve addressing the underlying cause of the behavior, so you'll need to observe your pets for a while and figure out what's going on.
To start, you can try feeding less food to avoid excess. If your pet feels slightly hungry after eating, that's a plus. Over time, the burying habit will become unnecessary.
Sometimes, simply changing the feeding location is enough. Perhaps some strange odors are bothering the cat, making it hesitant to eat, even when hungry.
If you have multiple cats in your home, it's best to feed them separately. Cats like to share territory, and if no one bothers them, there's no point in hiding food from a rival.
Try to observe your pet to understand the reasons for its behavior.
There are hundreds of cat breeds, differing not only in appearance but also in behavior. Therefore, it's important to consider the specific characteristics of your pet. This requires studying them through observation and behavioral analysis. This is the only way to understand them and wean them off certain behavioral quirks. Naturally, physical punishment is absolutely unacceptable—it will only harm both the pet and its owner.
