This is Dali, one of our cats. She’s the most typical of all of our cats (that is IF a cat can be typical), aloof sometimes and snuggly sometimes. She has this ‘thing’ of scooping up her food with her foot. Finally I was able to get her on video doing this.
Thanks Dali for taking 20 minutes to eat dinner…and letting me film you!
Susan Thixton
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Judy
April 13, 2025 at 12:39 pm
SO cute. I think of that as her arm/hand and the back as her feet. Such a feminine way of eating. There are cats that drink water that way. Adorable you were able to catch her on video doing it.
Jo Anna
April 13, 2025 at 1:37 pm
Oh, my goodness. This is amazing. Cats are so wonderful!
Patti Podboy
April 13, 2025 at 12:42 pm
Dali! What a perfect name for that face! And she’s a cow cat too like my Lily. Lily has black markings around her mouth that make her look like she is giving the Elvis “snarl.” If she was male I might have named her Elvis.
My other cat, Elsa, uses her paws to scoop food out of the bowl when she eats.Just like Dali.
Joyce McNemar
April 13, 2025 at 12:50 pm
Wow! Dali is beautiful and her eating style is unique. I wonder what motivates her to begin eating a meal with her paw? Whatever the reason, it’s very endearing. Thanks for sharing the video.
Margo Mann
April 13, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Many cats do not like to eat out of small bowls. Their whiskers get wet food on them and that annoys cats. They like to be clean around their faces. I feed my cats on small flat plates and they can lick the plate clean after they finish their food. Cats don’t like their whiskers to get wet, or full of food. So typical of cats being fussy eaters. But it is good for them to be eating food that is moist. So please try using a small flat plate and see if that works.
Margo Mann
Judy
April 13, 2025 at 1:54 pm
@Margo Mann. Yes I agree! We use flat 304 stainless steel small plates (on top of a stand) for all our cats. So much better for their whiskers.
Susan Thixton
April 13, 2025 at 2:17 pm
Dali does the same thing with her food on a plate.
Stephanie
April 13, 2025 at 6:46 pm
Dali is adorable eating with her paw! Thank you for sharing. I had to laugh when you said it took her 20 min. to finish eating.
Bonnie Morris
April 14, 2025 at 5:42 am
It looks to me that Dali LIKES to eat this way. She’s very feminine and she has a beautiful face, too. Great job getting the video.
Heidi
April 13, 2025 at 1:17 pm
This made me smile. I had a beautiful tuxedo boy (passed last year from B cell lymphoma) who ate like this all the time. He also, when finished, would shake his foot to ‘clean’ it and fling stuff all over! Many a washed wall! He was a treasure.
Margot
April 13, 2025 at 1:39 pm
How precious!
One of our feral cats would often dip a paw in the water dish and the lick the water from his paw. Then repeat the process numerous times. He also preferred to drink from the pool. Even if it meant getting his feet wet if the top step was covered in water.
My first cat as a teen would use a claw to pick up a new food item to give it a good sniff. He would either eat it or fling it into the air if it failed the sniff test.
Patricia A. Mikk and George Mikk
April 13, 2025 at 1:41 pm
My husband and I enjoyed the video of Dali eating with her paw. Cats can really do some interesting things at times. Dali is a sweet looking kitty. Pat Mikk
Tracy Mott
April 13, 2025 at 1:43 pm
Ha, my orange kitty Everett, drinks with his paw!
Maria de la Rosa-Young
April 13, 2025 at 1:47 pm
Susan, she’s adorable. Maybe she would like a raised feeding arrangement? One of our dogs prefers a raised feeder rather than having the bowl on the floor.
Judy
April 13, 2025 at 1:57 pm
I agree. A raised stand with flat plate might be what Dali would enjoy.
Angela
April 13, 2025 at 2:04 pm
I had one that did that with his paw but flicked the food across the room. At least Dali is a neat and polite eater!
Kay Wales
April 13, 2025 at 2:08 pm
If you gave her a spoon, I bet she would figure it out!
Jennifer K Priestner
April 13, 2025 at 2:16 pm
This is too funny, one of our cats does this also! We have to put their food up on shelves away from the dog, and couldn’t figure out how cat food was ending up spattered on the ceiling. After scooping it out with the paw, sometimes she then shakes her paw madly & cat food goes everywhere !
Peter S Poulos
April 13, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Have you tried serving her food on a flat plate so that her whiskers are not coming in contact with the sides of the bowl?
Susan Thixton
April 13, 2025 at 3:10 pm
Yes – she does the same thing with a plate. And she actually prefers the bowl to a plate.
Terri Sidell
April 13, 2025 at 4:21 pm
Soooooooo cute! I had a dog that would finish her dinner then lay down and lick her front paws after every meal. We feed our dogs in their crates with raised bowls.
Lynelle Behler
April 13, 2025 at 4:38 pm
How cute! I can understand not wanting to get wet whiskers lol. Never saw my cats do that, but it reminds me how raccoons eat food with their hands at the sanctuary.
Gwen Hoffman
April 13, 2025 at 6:45 pm
Is it possible she has an ear infection and doesn’t like bending over hat deep bowl?
Susan Thixton
April 13, 2025 at 10:20 pm
She done this her whole life – when eating from a bowl or a plate.
Patricia Ramsay
April 13, 2025 at 8:19 pm
My dad’s cat ate like this – I’d never seen it until then and now your video gives us another one!
Susan Gondola
April 13, 2025 at 8:59 pm
ADORABLE!!!
Sue
April 13, 2025 at 11:31 pm
Dali is adorable! Our Danny will often dip his paw in the water bowl and lick the water off of it. He doesn’t do this with his food.
Paulette Riou
April 14, 2025 at 10:11 am
Hi Susan,
Your cat is sooo cool. I once shared life with an Abyssinian mix who drank with his paw. I also had a handicapped cat (back legs could only kick) who broke out in facial sores and it turned out to be a reaction to plastic, which I was told, was quite common in cats. Now, Bert, a senior cat I share my life with, has cerebellar hypoplasia along with arthritis, so I picked up a large raised glass plate from the second hand store and he uses that. His whiskers don’t touch the edge of the slightly edged plate and he loves it. All my 3 cats get fed on plates. Isn’t it amazing how much there is to learn about these wonderful critters!
Laurie Church
April 14, 2025 at 6:22 pm
She is so Classy ,she doesn’t want to dirty her mouth! Thank you for sharing. She is adorable!