I have a rather strange question My boy has a very strange "natural" instinct. Every time he eats or drinks something, he feels obliged to bury it - no matter if it is an empty bowl or a bowl full of canine food. However, here comes the strange part The flooring at home is terracotta It is obvious that nothing can be buried, consequently. However, Roni seems to get rather motivated by this fact and puts more and more effort in the act of burring. The whole ritual, nonetheless, is quite noisy and annoying. Well, it is not that big problem during the day because we are not that susceptible to sound during the light hours. BUT it is terrible in the morning and in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, namely these hours are his favorite. Imagine 5 AM and a hell-like scratching and racket!!!!
Does anybody else have that problem? Is there something I can do?

I don´t really know what you can do except close him in a room at night either with you or somewhere where you don´t have those floors but I´ve heard of cats doing that...mine do it sometimes but they go outside so they do it out there...

I wonder if you are overfeeding him slightly. Burrying could be an attempt to store food for later.

Oldwoman that explains a lot! I remembered now that they don´t do it outside...(that was when nature called never with food) but they are fed inside and we give them at least Samba lots of food cause she eats only as much as she wants....and when she´s hungry again she comes and eats a little bit I remember she was trying to bury it! but it was only with her paw she didn´t use claws or anything the only thing you heard was her food dish moving around....now I get it! Thanks!

Well we fill his bow once in the morning and once in the evening. Rarely there is some food left. As I said he even buries the empty bowls
Probably he loves that sound, which we hate

My two "bury" their food, after they have finsihed with it. Into a laminated floor. So they go mad scraping around it all the time and drives me crazy. They do it also to their vomit.

I also believe, that burrying can be a sign of distaste or digestive disorder, but presumably that has been ruled out in the cases described here.

My cats do the scratching thing all the time but they are all trained to the litter box and I thought it had something to do with that, but the over feeding is another good explanation...........except I didn´t think I was over feeding them!!

I had a foster cat who did that, and her previous owner told me that she had been the runt of her litter so "burying" her food was her way of making sure she had a meal to come back to. Usually her bowl was empty when she did it and she scratched on the walls as well as the floor. I´ve seen kittens do the same - also presumably to keep it from being eaten by someone else.

If he empties his food bowl before bedtime, why don´t you put it away in a cupboard until the morning? If he has access to food all day long, he´s not likely to starve overnight if his bowl isn´t out. You could also try putting something under his bowl that a) masks the sound (like a rubber place mat) or b) isn´t pleasant to scratch (like a sheet of tin foil).

Thank you very much for the advice I´ll try it

This sounds weird. My cat, Kimmy, gets very restless at night and early morning. She likes to wake me often by putting her paw under my shutters and throwing them open so I get full daylight which does of course wake me up. She is always hungry - but on a diet. I think your cat might want some sort of attention or perhaps misses a garden. I assume you don´t have one? He possibly misses being able to bury things in the soil. Could you give him a little earth tray? Have you tried a plug in Felliway which might calm him? You can buy them at the vet´s.

Thank you Yes he misses a garden I´ll go check about the Felliway with the vet tomorrow
PS
Thank you all for the pieces of advice Very nice of you

my cat only does that when I give him a treat that I think he will like, but after a couple of chews he´ll try to cover it.

I can´t guarantee the Felliway will work. It is hard to know as it soothes and calms them but as Kimmy has nearly always had one I can´t say what she´d be like without it but vets do recommend it. She is certainly a very relaxed cat now! (but she hates strangers). Good luck and tell us how you get on.

Hey you all I took Roni to the vet just yesterday. He recommended that we just face this "instinct" of his. He said there was nothing I should worry about - he is in perfect health- no digestive disorders or something. However, he claimed that Feliway was not a good idea and that Roni´s natural instincts should not be suppressed. Thus, I put a rag under his bowls yesterday...and the sound was not so terrible I think my parents and I will be able to survive now Thank you all (once again) for the advice

It is good when vets give you advice not to buy something expensive. Roni sounds like such a character I wouldn´t worry too much about him. He´s gorgeous.