Mary Allen
To understand why some cats carry their food away before they eat it, a look at the wild relatives of our house cats helps. Leopards, cheetahs, and ocelots also do not eat their prey on the spot but take it away beforehand.
Carrying Away Food: Cats Carry Prey to Safety
Smaller wildcats such as the wild cat are not only hunters in the wild, but can also become prey for larger predators. Therefore, they must always be on their guard and take care of their own safety. This is especially true in situations where they are vulnerable, such as eating or sleeping. Therefore, they prefer to move their own prey to a safe place first before consuming it.
Our house cats have inherited this instinct and you can see how they carry their freshly killed mouse a little way before they feast on it. However, some cats use this instinct when it comes to the food in their bowl.
In addition, the prey animals that a smaller wildcat or our domestic cats can catch are also quite small. A mouse represents exactly one portion of a cat. Carrying it away is therefore also protection against food thieves, not only against dangerous predators.
Uncertainty at the Feeding Place as a Cause?
If your cat is constantly grabbing food from the bowl and running away with it, it may not feel safe in its feeding area. There can be several reasons for this: Maybe the feeding place is in a place with a lot of through traffic? Possibly the environment is very open or noisy? In a multi-cat household, bullying can also lead to a cat generally no longer feeling safe and being anxious – carrying the food away is only one symptom of this.
There may also be food jealousy between your feline companions, causing one of your cats to eat their cuts of meat elsewhere rather than one of their own kind. Your fur nose fishes the food out of the bowl with its paw, but still eats it on the spot? Then it could be the eating utensils: they might be too narrow, too tall or it smells unpleasant for your cat.
Design a Safe Feeding Place for Your Cat
Watch your cats closely if one of the exhibits this peculiar eating behavior. If there is a lack of harmony in the multi-cat household or if there is bullying, you should intervene and, in severe cases, seek help from a cat psychologist. If your cat only seems insecure in relation to its feeding place, a few simple measures will help. To prevent food envy, you should set up a separate feeding area for each cat.
Choose quiet corners that are a little out of the way and not too close to the litter box. Your fur nose should be like a bowl that is as flat, wide, and non-slip as possible. If you clean your house tiger’s feeding places, make sure you use a cleaning agent that is as odorless as possible – cats, in particular, can’t stand citrus scents.