Cat scoops food and flings it everywhere!

3522 Views 9 Replies 9 Participants Last post by aisraeltax, Apr 15, 2006

kamilla626

Discussion Starter · Apr 10, 2006

I'm sure there must be someone who has a cat that does this: Our cat George likes to scoop food out of his dish so he can eat from is paw, but he ends up flinging 2/3 of his food out of his dish.

There is always a 4 ft radius of catfood and crumbs all over the kitchen.

We've tried different kinds of dishes with inward curves, or "lips", but they sometimes make it worse. Most recently, I used one of those semi-disposable Gladware bowls and cut the lid so that there was a huge hole in the middle. That left an edge along the top, but it hasn't worked.

We've tried making different contraptions to enclose his bowl a little, but he doesn't eat if his food isn't out in the open.

HELP!

Oh - and we've tried wet food, but George just waits for it to get dry and crumbly, then does the same thing. Ugh.

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spero

· #2 · Apr 10, 2006

Our cat does the same thing, only he seems to b/c there's too much food in the dish - he's very picky about how much food/water is in his dish. Too little food, and he'll sit there and meow for more, refusing to eat whatever IS in the dish til we add more; too much, and he'll fling it out of the dish.

I don't mind the food mess so much, but he does the same thing with his water dish and that makes me mental! Also, we have discovered that he does not like his food and water dishes near each other - if they are too close he will start batting the water dish farther away, making a huge wet mess all over the kitchen floor.

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aisraeltax

· #3 · Apr 10, 2006

mine too! how neurotic. i used to have a water dish for her in teh bathroom (upstairs) but i had to remove it b/c she got the water everywhere and got the bathroom rug wet and it was just gross! now she has to go downstairs at night to get water. and her food is all over the floor under our island where the bowls are. weird kitty!

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mama_b

· #4 · Apr 10, 2006

We no longer have our kitties.

But we had one that did this. When he wasn't hungry he would scoop his food out with his paw and play with it. I don't think there is anything to be done about it.

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pumpkin

· #5 · Apr 10, 2006

My cat does this. When DP and I moved in together his cat picked up the habit from watching my cat. They pretty much only eat with their paws. I think my cat is part racoon.

3 things.
1. My cat also does this with water. Yes, she will pick up water with her paw, so a cat fountain is an absolute must. She will drink from the bowl if the water is constantly moving.
2. Separate the food and water enough that when the food flies it doesn't mix with the water and create a paste.
3. Try putting the food under a table on on a bookshelf so that its easier to get to if the cat is on all fours. This has slightly cut down on how often they eat with their hands.

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QueenOfThePride

· #6 · Apr 10, 2006

Some cats don't like the smell of plastic, and prefer to eat from metal or ceramic dishes.

Also many cats don't like their whiskers touching the sides of their food bowl. Have you tried a dish that is very flat?

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Yooper

· #7 · Apr 11, 2006

You could try putting the food bowl in a box so that the flinging is contained to the box. Get one big enough for George to get in some good flinging action but then you can just pour the food out of the box and back into the bowl.

Our cat flings water.....and we have not found a solution yet.....6 years.....

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Treece

· #8 · Apr 12, 2006

My cat does this too ( water and food, esp water, any water, so toilet is lid DOWN). I just clean up his mess and enjoy life with my doggy-cat. (He fetches, too. Strange kitty, cool doggy-cat)

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Amaryllis

· #9 · Apr 15, 2006

my cat did this when I mixed 2 flavors of dry food together. She'd scoop out the new flavor and leave it on the floor, and eat the regular one. Then the dog would come in and clean up!

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aisraeltax

· #10 · Apr 15, 2006

one of the suggestions just hit me...we bought a 24 bottle pack of water at BJ's last week and the bottom part (the cardboard its stored in) is now empty. i think i will put their bowls in that and see if i can contain the mess under my kitchen island (thats where their food is).
i can see the cardboard not lasting that long with water and everything, but i can replace it every few weeks and if this works, maybe i will build somethign like that...really simple.
thanks!

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