My (recently adopted) cat refuses to eat from a bowl unless I'm staring over his shoulder. Instead, he scoops his food onto the floor. This is a messy habit that baffles me. Any ideas to save my carpet?
by 
wander-er-er the vulcanologist
ANSWERS: 10
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Find a carpet-free feeding area for your cat.
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Don't feed her on carpet. Feed her in the kitchen or in a room where there is tile/linoleum, etc. Some cats and dogs just take the food out of their dish to eat. You'll never break her of it, so just learn to live with it.
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you can buy pet mats to feed your cat on. my dogs do this all the time. its weird but i think a lot of animals do it. my dads dog used to tip his biscuits out of the dish everytime so now my dad just puts them on the mat without the dish lol.
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Put a pet mat under it if you don't have a carpet free area to feed her. They sell them (cute ones I might add) at Pet Smart and Petco. I put one under my pet's food even though it is on the floor without carpet.
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finding a carpet free area to feed her sounds good. but i would suggest you to place the food-dish over a newspaper so that you need not worry about cleaning the rugs over n over again.....well i switced to thgat bcos i was fed up of washing the pet mat evry weekend....:)
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Your cat has a fear of his head being in tight places. He may be suffering a slight phobia. Being that he is adopted it is possible that as a younger cat he has had a experience that causes him to react that way. You have to help him over come his fear. I suggest that you dispense with the bowl for now and place his food on a flat surface like a place mat that can be kept clean. Star out with a large one. a month later keeping with the same color use a smaller one. Continue in the fashion a month at a time until you can use the same color shallow food bowl as the mats. He should be fine by then. Also do not stand over him as he eats. Give him space.
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What size is the bowl is the food being kept in? I know my cat never liked his bowl at first because it was kind of deep and narrow. I think he didnt like his whiskers touching the sides becuase he always scooped his food on the floor and ate it. Try a different bowl. One thats shallow and wide.
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just put a napkin under his bowl, just sounds like he is really nervous
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put a plastic mat under it like you would put under a computer chair to keep the marks off the carpet so just put it on one of those
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One of my cats does this too. He takes a mouthful out of the bowl and drops it onto the floor to eat it. Maybe it's so they can keep a better eye on everything around them so they can "escape" easier if they have to. (they don't want to get caught and this is a vulnerable position).
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