Why Does My Kitten Keep Scratching at Her Water Dish?

When you raise a cat from a kitten, it can be a lifelong learning experience. Cat behaviors can be hard to understand. Learning about some of their natural instincts can help cat owners sort out normal behavior from something out of the ordinary.

  1. Kitten behavior

    • Kittens are naturally inquisitive about everything. They want to explore the world around them with all their senses, and every item becomes a focus of their attention in the form of play. By playing with one another and with the objects in their environment, kittens learn how to use their reflexes, claws and teeth and instincts.

    Instinct

    • There are certain behaviors that are hardwired into cats because of instinct. Instincts are powerful reactions to certain phenomena that can control animals and how they react to specific stimuli. When circumstances occur that trigger a natural instinct, the cat behaves in a predictable way.

    Burying

    • Cats have an instinctive reaction to wetness in that they will try to lick the wetness off or cover it up. If the wetness is on their fur, cats will stop what they are doing immediately, try to lick the wet off and groom themselves. If they come across a wet spot on the ground or in their bedding area, they instinctively try to bury it as if it were urine. This is a natural response to wetness in their environment.

    Learning Behavior

    • Your kitten is still learning the world around her. She has not yet learned to sort out smells and other feedback to tell her what to do and when. When she has come across her water dish, although there is no strong odor of urine, the wetness triggers her response to cover up the wet area. This is especially true if some of the water has spilled around the dish onto the floor.

    Solution

    • A simple solution that may help your kitten to stop scratching at her water bowl faster is to place an absorbent towel under the dish and make sure to get a "non-spill" dish that is impossible for her to tip over. She will soon learn the difference between her water dish spills and own "personal" spills and no longer try to bury water that spills on the floor.