My kitten is playing with his dry food.

[koobe]

This is just the first time it happens and I did not witness it, but my brother did.

He said Cheetah, our almost 4 months old, was digging into the dry food bowl this morning, spilling all the dry food on the floor. He acts like that with his litter box sometimes too.

We have the dry food out all the time, and this is the first time he does that in the 1.5 months we have been having him. He is not a big fan of dry food. So it is possible that he just decided that he does not like to eat dry food and wants to play with it?

He has toys and his buddy Panther with him to play. Any thoughts?

 

[sharky]

some cats play with their food... most likely he is just a young kitten finding amusement

 

[shanynne]

Or he could be trying to tell you I *hate* this stuff!"

 

[strange_wings]

Kittens will play with just about anything. If they can they'll even fish poop out of the litter box and play with that.

Mine were playing in their water, a lot. But are slowly moving out of that phase. And thats all it is, a phase.

(not to say that adult cats won't keep some of these, but usually they're not into everything like a kitten is)

You could try different bowls or raising the bowl a bit to make it less fun for him - because I'm sure you don't want cat food spread about and under things where it could attract rodents or insects.


If that really seems to be something that entertains him you could probably try toys like the turbo chaser or different version of it. That might be close enough to entertain him but not encourage to play in his bowls.

 

[ldg]

All of the above

Does he eat the food once he's scooped it onto the floor? That might not be a phase. One of our kitties, Ming Loy, like to grab a mouthful of food, carry it somewhere else, drop it all there, and then eat it.

She's been doing this from day 1. She is now 5 1/2 years old.

...but if he's just scooping it out, he's just having fun, and it's probably a phase.

 

[koobe]

Originally Posted by LDG

All of the above

Does he eat the food once he's scooped it onto the floor? That might not be a phase. One of our kitties, Ming Loy, like to grab a mouthful of food, carry it somewhere else, drop it all there, and then eat it.

She's been doing this from day 1. She is now 5 1/2 years old.

...but if he's just scooping it out, he's just having fun, and it's probably a phase.

I do not know if he ate the food on the floor, since I was not at home when he did that. But there were times when a piece of food dropped out of the bowl, he will still eat that piece.

 

[koobe]

Originally Posted by Shanynne

Or he could be trying to tell you I *hate* this stuff!"

I hope he does not hate it, it is Orijen, which is supposed to be very good!

 

[darlili]

My 6 year old girl fishes her kibble out and puts it on the floor - then eats it. Got me why.

 

[trillcat]

I think he likes the clicky niose it makes as it hits the floor. Fun to chase around! Think prey.

 

[koobe]

My brother said when he saw his playing with the food, my brother removed the bowl from him. Then Cheetah put on this innocent look on his face as if "I don't know what happened, where am I? What was I doing?"

But we came home in the evening, there was no food in the bowl nor on the floor. I guess they ate it all.

Wet dinner tonight is raw food. Cheetah was trying to put his paw into the raw food after he had enough. But I guess he did not like the wet feeling, so he tried a few times and walked away.

 

[shanynne]

Originally Posted by koobe

I hope he does not hate it, it is Orijen, which is supposed to be very good!

It doesn't matter how good the food is. What matters is if the cat eats it. I've had to go through several "good" brands before I found one that my cats now like.

Just watch him carefully. After a while, if you see he's not eating what he's has thrown on the floor, then he probably doesn't like it. (Cats will starve themselves rather than eat something they don't like.) But, if you see he is eating the food on the floor, then he's probably just playing with it or trying to eat it with his paws

In any case, have you considered adding canned to his diet? It's so much better for them. Just a thought

 

[killerapple]

Our 7 month old kitten also plays with his food. He doesn't do it as often as he used to, but it was his way of making eating more fun I suppose. He'd hit one kibble out, bat it around, then eat it, then go back for another... Of course, sometimes they would get hit to another part of the house (in a closet, etc.) so there's always a little surprise to vacuum/clean up later

I think he just likes to play and keep himself entertained.

 

[koobe]

Originally Posted by Shanynne

It doesn't matter how good the food is. What matters is if the cat eats it. I've had to go through several "good" brands before I found one that my cats now like.

Just watch him carefully. After a while, if you see he's not eating what he's has thrown on the floor, then he probably doesn't like it. (Cats will starve themselves rather than eat something they don't like.) But, if you see he is eating the food on the floor, then he's probably just playing with it or trying to eat it with his paws

In any case, have you considered adding canned to his diet? It's so much better for them. Just a thought

We are in the process of transitioning. So it is a mix of Royal Canin and Orijen now. The thing is that he does not like dry food that much anyway. We give the kittens 2-3 meals of canned food each day and Cheetah is always the one who finishes him and eats Panther's leftovers.

We keep the dry food there because 1- Panther likes it. Now Panther eats more canned food than he first came here. We are able to mix a few things together to make it into a texture he likes. 2- There are 2 days in the week we are away from home for very long hours (I work 12 hour shift), so we want some dry food here for them.

But eating food with his paws is a great guess. He does that for his snacks too. We will hand him a treat and he will take it with his mouth, then put it back on his paw and then eat it.

 

[koobe]

Originally Posted by killerapple

Our 7 month old kitten also plays with his food. He doesn't do it as often as he used to, but it was his way of making eating more fun I suppose. He'd hit one kibble out, bat it around, then eat it, then go back for another... Of course, sometimes they would get hit to another part of the house (in a closet, etc.) so there's always a little surprise to vacuum/clean up later

I think he just likes to play and keep himself entertained.

I witness it this morning. He finished his wet food. Then he walked over to the dry bowl and start SCOOPING the dry food out. Not like he is catching something or digging. He technically scoops the food to the edge of the bowl and then out on the floor.

Maybe he is thinking if he get rid of the dry food, he will get more wet food? But I know the fact that the wet food meal this morning is a big portion. He had some leftovers anyway.

 

[killerapple]

Originally Posted by koobe

I witness it this morning. He finished his wet food. Then he walked over to the dry bowl and start SCOOPING the dry food out. Not like he is catching something or digging. He technically scoops the food to the edge of the bowl and then out on the floor.

Maybe he is thinking if he get rid of the dry food, he will get more wet food? But I know the fact that the wet food meal this morning is a big portion. He had some leftovers anyway.

Did he eat what he scooped out? How fresh was the dry food?

 

[koobe]

Originally Posted by killerapple

Did he eat what he scooped out? How fresh was the dry food?

I took the bowl away and cleaned up right away. He was pretty full because he just had his wet meal, so I do not think he would eat it right away.

The dry food was placed there 8 hrs ago.

The funny thing is when I put the bowl back down and walk away, He hasn't done it once again.