When I leave out my cat’s food on the floor, she likes to drag a cloth or a paper bag over it. She moves the cover when she wants to eat, then replaces it again when she leaves. Why does she hide her food?

Answer

Actually, it’s not unusual for pets to hide their food. They can do it for several reasons, the most common one being that they find the scent of it offensive. This happens sometimes when pets are ill and don’t feel like eating or when their diet is suddenly changed. If you cat is eating well and keeps returning to her food, however, an offensive odor is probably not the problem.

Hiding food can be an instinctive behavior. If she were in the wild, your cat would eat what she needed and hide the rest of her food until she was hungry again. So this may be her way of hiding from predators and scavengers. Also, she could just be doing it to play. Cats are experts at finding endless ways to entertain themselves; this may be something she does to make eating more of an adventure, much like children who draw smiley faces in their mashed potatoes.

At any rate, your cat’s food hiding is nothing to worry about. You can think of it as a cute little personality quirk--one that’s probably a lot of fun to watch.