Does anyone else's pet eat with their paws? 0.o

[natynat]

My 1-year old cat Keisha started a new habit. She eats using her paws. This is a very new habit...and it's cute...but I'm just wondering why she does that, and if there are any other pet owners with "special" cats like mine.

Here is what she does: She sits in front of her bowl, and using her paw, she scoops out 3-5 bites of her dry food onto the floor and eats off the floor. If she is particularily lazy, she will sprawl out in front of her bowl and using her paw, bring 1 piece of her dry food to her mouth at a time. It takes her a lot of time to eat this way...and I'm wondering if she's just bored because when she is very hungry (i.e. when she wakes up) she will eat like a normal cat from the bowl.

So........comments? Ideas?

P.S. she "drinks" water this way too sometimes...

[vesper]

My fat cat does that. Not as much as he used to. It is cute!

[natynat]

Lol...your fat cat? Do you have skinny cats that don't do this? Hmm but Keisha isn't fat I just think of her being smart...and using her hands like a human...kinda lol.

[alicia]

*supposedly* it's because their whiskers touch the inside of the bowl when they're digging in and they don't like that... I take that with a drain of salt, but I don't have whiskers so I don't know.

Or, alternatively, they are just bored?

[ninna]

My cat drinks with her paws. She simply won't stick her face in the water bowl. She dips her front paw in the water then licks it off and keeps dipping and licking.

(omg. That actually sounded dirty.) LOL.

But seriously...she reminds me of a raccoon when she does that. Raccoons tend to use their paws in that same manner.

Oh..and my cat has always done this-- when she was a skinny kitten and now that she is fat old hag of a beast. LOL

[alicia]

Also, I don't think vesper meant it was a trait related to the size of the cat,... just crazy cat people like him (and me!) use the size of the cat to differentiate from the plethora or cats we have as pets

[vesper]

(omg. That actually sounded dirty.) LOL.

In the context you were using, it never crossed my mind... but it does sound dirty now! LOL!

fat old hag of a beast

Ha ha ha!

[glowworm2k]

My cat drinks with her paws. She simply won't stick her face in the water bowl. She dips her front paw in the water then licks it off and keeps dipping and licking.

(omg. That actually sounded dirty.) LOL.

But seriously...she reminds me of a raccoon when she does that. Raccoons tend to use their paws in that same manner.

Oh..and my cat has always done this-- when she was a skinny kitten and now that she is fat old hag of a beast. LOL

My kitty Sherry used to do this into my cup of tea!! (It looked cute, but ewww!)She also liked to eat with her feet, although she would go one step further and pick the pieces out of the bowl and take them right to her mouth with her foot

[Natalka]

We did have a cat once who liked to do that; it's very cute!

We also had a cat who used the water bowl as his private bath. He'd dip in his paws and clean himself - the other cats were not happy with this!

Now we have one cat who is perfectly happy to eat the pieces of cat food which have fallen out of the bowl - she eats them first. The other cat will not lower herself to do that. However, should chicken happen to hit the floor, no problem!

[natynat]

*supposedly* it's because their whiskers touch the inside of the bowl when they're digging in and they don't like that... I take that with a drain of salt, but I don't have whiskers so I don't know.

Hmm that's what I read on the Internet. But she ate like a normal cat for a year...and now all of a sudden her whiskers bother her? Mind you...she only started doing this after she got fixed. Maybe something changed in her system or preference or I dunno what.

[natynat]

Thank you guys for sharing your insights and experiences. I feel more reassured now

[Natalka]

About the whiskers - our youngest is just over a year old, and over the past few months, her whiskers have grown a LOT longer - so that's still a possibility.

[natynat]

About the whiskers - our youngest is just over a year old, and over the past few months, her whiskers have grown a LOT longer - so that's still a possibility.

Note taken. Maybe I'll get a flat plate for her to eat from instead of a bowl .

[Andit]

It could well be the size of the bowl. Quincy doesn't do this, but he shares a water bowl with the dog (a large salad bowl) & when he drinks, he leans over the water to drink from the opposite side. With regards to the whiskers theory, I've been known to tease him by pressing his whiskers back & touching noses with him - he then spends an hour primping, making sure his whiskers are back in their proper position. He is a very vain cat.

[danip467]

Here's our lazy kitty. The other one will pick up the food and eat it like that. this one will just knock the food out and then chew it off the floor, much more dog like than a cat should be.