Why do cats bury their food + put paws in water? 猫为何在食物附近做磨抓的动作？

Letx26#39;s explain two of catx26#39;s weird behaviors....

When I visit clients, I get these cat behavior questions posed to me quite often:

1- Why my cat often scratch the ground near his food bowl even when there is food inside?

2- Why my cat always put his paws in his water bowl before to drink?

To answer to these questions, it is necessary to go back to cat’s nature to understand their behavior:

当我去拜访客户的时候，经常会有以下关于猫咪行为问题的咨询：

1 -为什么我的猫经常在它食盆附近的地面上磨爪，即使里面有食物？

2 -为什么我的猫总是在喝水前把他的爪子放进水碗里？

要回答这些问题，我们必须了解猫的天性才能理解它们的这种行为：

WHY DO CATS BURY THEIR FOOD?

为什么猫咪会埋它们的食物？

1-      

Most of people will believe that their cats dislike their food so they are scratching the ground to express their dissatisfaction. Some others will believe that cats want to bury their food so that means that they will come back later to eat their food.  In fact, cats are really trying to bury their food but not for this reason. Cats eat multiple small preys every day (wild cats or farm cats kill 20 preys/day and eat between 14 and 16 times/day) so they hunt during 70% and 80% of their time and really don’t need to bury their food for the next hours/days contrary to some other animals. In fact, cats bury their uneaten food in order to avoid attracting any predators to the area. For the same reason, cats don’t want to alert any potential prey that they are in the vicinity. Even a domestic cat who has never been outside retains this survival instinct.1 -

大多数人会相信，他们的猫是因为不喜欢它们的食物，所以才通过在地面上抓来表达他们的不满。有些人也会认为猫是想要将他们的食物埋起来，然后再回来吃。其实，猫咪真的不是因为这些原因而尝试将它们的食物埋起来。猫每天会分好几次进食，每次的量都很小（野猫或农场猫平均每天狩猎20次 /天，进食14-16次/天）所以他们70%和80%的时间都在狩猎，所以真的没必要和其他动物一样预备食物。猫想要埋掉他们吃剩的食物实际上是为了避免引起任何食肉动物的注意。同样的原因，猫也不想让任何潜在的猎物知道它们就在附近。即使是一只从未在野外生存过的家猫也一直保持着这种生存本能。WHY DO MY CAT PUT HIS PAW IN HIS WATER?

为什么我的猫咪会把爪伸进它的水碗里面？

2-      

Most of cat’s guardians give water to their cats in a bowl just close to food bowl. Some cats will try to bury their food so as well their water as they mix both food and water, so I do not recommend leaving water bowl near food bowl. This is nonsense, especially when we observe that in the nature, wild cats or farmer cats never eat and drink in the same area.  Also, in the nature, wild of farmer cats always drink water from a river, a natural fountain, or a stream. And there is a reason: these kinds of water sources provide living water (water is moving and normally is fresh). 

2 -

大多数的猫主人习惯把猫水碗放在猫食盆附近。但因为有些猫依然保留埋食物的习惯，在大自然中它们的食物和水的位置通常是分开的，由于猫的视力并不好，它们很有可能会尝试把食物和水都埋起来，所以我不建议把水碗放在食盆附近。特别是我们可以在大自然中观察到，野生猫或农场猫从来没有在同一地区吃和喝。它们总是在河流，天然喷泉，或溪边饮水。原因是：这些都是活水（流动的水通常更新鲜）。

Their instinct tells to cats that if water is not fresh and stands still so that means this water is poisonous. Those facts can explain our domestic cat’s behavior. Cat’s guardians often complain about their cat that doesn’t drink water in their bowl. So I often tell them that water is not moving so their cat doesn’t give any interest to their bowl. I recommend to all of them to buy a cat fountain. But then, some of them come back to me and tell me that their cat still doesn’t drink from the cat fountain. I advice them to observe their cat and see which kind of water circuit (water faucet or circular water) do their cat like. It’s also important to buy a superior-quality water fountain (a water fountain with the noise of the machine is lower-quality). Even if you buy a superior-quality cat fountain, some cats still put their paws in the water. Cats need to verify the quality (“I can hear the water but is this water fresh?”) of the water. Furthermore, cats are completely long-sighted.

本能告诉它们：如果水不新鲜，静止不动就意味着这水是有毒的。这些事实可以解释一些家猫的行为。有些猫主人会抱怨他们的猫不在自己的碗里喝水，我通常会告诉他们：因为水不是流动的，所以他们的猫对静止的水碗并不感兴趣，推荐他们买一台猫咪饮水机。但后来，他们中的一些人告诉我，他们的猫仍然不喝流动饮水器里的水。我就建议他们可以先观察他们的猫喜欢哪种水（水龙头或循环水）。当然买一个优质的饮水机也很重要（一个有噪音的饮水机质量一般较差）。但即使你买了一个优质的猫咪饮水机，有些猫仍然把爪子放在水里。猫需要验证它的质量（“我可以听到的水，但这水新鲜吗？”）。此外，猫是完全有远见的。CAT DRINKING SLOW MOTION



Sometimes, cats are also bored and can decide that water could be a perfect toy. In this case, I recommend to play more with the cat and to enrich his environment with puzzle feeders.

Some cats can see their reflection in the water so they suddenly decide to bite the water. Fortunately, this kind of behavior normally disappears quickly. Some cats also don’t like to put their face in the water bowl and may dip their paws in the bowl and then lick the water of their fur. A faucet drinking fountain should be able to solve this kind of behavior.

有时，猫也会由于无聊而把水变成一个完美的玩具。在这种情况下，我建议主人花更多的时间陪猫玩，并通过一些玩具改善他的环境。一些猫可以看到自己在水中的倒影，所以它们会突然去咬水。幸运的是，这种行为通常会迅速消失。有些猫也不喜欢把它们的脸放在水碗里，所以选择把它们的爪子浸在碗里，然后再舔沾在它们皮毛上的水。一个水龙头式的饮水机应该能够解决这种行为。Drinkwell pet fountain: nice fountain with a faucet


Pioneer pet fountain: Nice fountain with circular water
I sincerely hope you enjoyed to read this article. So, don’t forget to share it.

我真诚的希望你会喜欢这篇文章，并将它分享给其他想了解猫咪的人

Also, if you need help as you meet with behavior difficulties with your cat, I’m your cat behavior consultant in Shanghai. You can contact me at this email address: maomami@catatom.org

Le Caignec Stephane.

 

我是猫咪行为专家Le Caignec Stephane, 如果您需要我帮助您的猫解决一些行为问题，欢迎通过这个邮箱地址联系我：maomami@catatom.org





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