Is my cat just being a jerk or is he trying to tell me something?

embrangled — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:15:48 -0800

What is my cat trying to tell me by wiping his feet near his food bowl? It's a very clear, exaggerated gesture, as though he was trying to wipe something nasty off his (perfectly clean) foot. My attempts to shift my brain into cat-logic mode have yielded two, equally ridiculous, possibilities:

1) This food is gross. So gross I feel as though I've stepped in something putrid. It's about as appetising as my own crap. I'm wiping my feet to tell you that this shitty food should be buried in the garden and never fed to me again.

2) This food is tasty. My cat-instincts tell me that if I don't eat it all now, other, meaner cats might steal it from me. I would like to bury some and eat it later, in secret, but your stupid floor is made of tile. Still, I think the whole foot-wiping thing makes me look tough enough to defend this awesome food.

The food is pretty much the same old stuff - good quality but not super-fancy. I buy a variety of flavours within the brand. His bowl and eating area are clean. I'm confident that the cat is healthy and getting adequate nutrition, but if I knew what he was trying to express I'd be quite happy to accommodate his preferences.

I know that the third, most obvious possibility is that my cat is just being a jerk. With any other feline behavioural quirk, I'd vote for that answer above all others. But this just seems so obvious, so pointed, done-for-my-benefit that I can't help feel dumb for not understanding.

Any suggestions, hive mind? What the hell is my cat trying to say?

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Is my cat just being a jerk or is he trying to tell me something?