Why does my kitten shuffle his feet when he drinks or eats?

[jasonsmi]

It's weird. It's not a problem but it just baffles me.

Whenever my kitten starts to eat or drink water he shuffles his front feet almost like he doesn't have any grip. After a few shuffles he settles in and just drinks or eats. Any idea why he is doing this? We have hardwood floors. Any of your cats do this?

 

[jcat]

Welcome to TCS! How old is he? Kittens knead their mother when they're nursing, and this is probably a holdover.

 

[detroitcatlady]

It sounds like your kitten is kneading. A lot of cats and kittens do this, especially when they were away from their mother too soon or weren't fully weaned. My cat Shadow is a year and a half now and still kneads on me all of the time before going to sleep and also when she is hungry. She kneads on the floor before eating or drinking from the food and water bowls. She also kneads on blankets sometimes. She was orphaned and was only a couple weeks when I took her in.  I always thought her kneading behavior was related to being orphaned, but I know there are other cats who do it too. What's funny is that she actually taught my cat Pumpkin to knead and he had never kneaded before introducing him to Shadow but now he kneads occasionally when he greets me. I always thought it was a behavior that kittens would retain from when they were babies but after my experience with my cats and watching Pumpkin learn this behavior from Shadow I now know that apparently some can even learn it in adulthood by socializing with cats who knead. It's a comfort behavior though and doing it makes them feel at ease.

If you don't want your kitten to knead on the hardwood floor, you may want to put a mat, towel or blanket down under the food bowls for him to knead on.