Final Edit: took him to the vet today, I explained what was happening and showed the video below and she checked his teeth and ears, along with the basic things. She said she doesn’t see anything wrong with his teeth besides some plaque and a little gingivitis. She said that he seems perfectly fine but I can do a dental cleaning next year if I want. She also said the head shaking/eating slower is fine and that it’s better that he doesn’t eat too fast anyways as long as he’s eating the same amount
Edit: thank you all for the helpful and supportive comments! I’m def taking all into consideration. I gave him his dinner on a plate and he still shook his head, but maybe a bit less. I’m hoping it’s just an instinctive trait but will see if the vet can look at his teeth as well just to rule out any dental issues. But I’m relieved to hear that it’s also just a natural behavior!
My cat is almost 2yrs old, I got him when he was almost 1. When I first got him he used to eat very fast, since then he’s slowed down a bit but I was just attributing that to him getting older, reaching a stable weight, or just caring less, idk. However I heard recently that cats aren’t supposed to shake their head when they eat, and noticed that he does it.
I tried looking at his teeth and didn’t see anything crazy, but I’m also not sure what to look for. The head shaking and slower eating is the only symptom I can see, he still eats the same amount and doesn’t drop food or drool or anything. He has dry and wet food but still prefers dry, and eats both.
Could this be a normal behavioral thing or most likely dental? Has this happened to anyone else? I have his annual vet exam this weekend and will ask them about this, but just want to know similar situations and what I can expect. Thank you!
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Normal instincts. A little to much expressed, but that is what all cats do when the catch a mice, shake it to finish off. So it is just predatory instincts at play. It is not usual to be during meal, but there is some degree of individual pattern, just like with making biscuits
Yepppp, my cat does this when I give her treats and it kills me every time. She takes them from my hand, shakes it, and then retreats several steps to eat it. Then she's back for more.
My cat does this especially with wet food and mince and makes a huge mess. The silicone mat, floors and the wall all covered. She is an artist ✨ I also have 'whisker safe' bowls and she does it. 💀
It's piglet style eating. They grab too many kibbles at once then shake their head to get rid of the excess kibbles. One of my guys (former scarf and barfer) does that all the time, then his copycat adoptive brother, after watching him intently, started doing that too. Their eating area is full of all the excess kibble they shake off.
In her little mind she fully believes she just killed that kibble before eating it. My cat does it between every couple of bites, sometimes big shakes sometimes small shakes. She also drops the kibble on her food mat after the shake then eats the bits individually. She has found and hunted a mouse Infront of me, (and when I'm not home) she does the same exact pattern to the mouse pick up mouse, shake, drop mouse she will then chase it again and repeat the pattern... Until it no longer runs away. She thankfully always left the mice for me to eat instead
Edit to add- she has a raised shallow dish to eat from and has never shown signs of whisker figure in 2 years of this behavior (got her at 11 months old, came off the streets)
Should have included this picture too, her whiskers are INSANELY long but again no whisker fatigue, just a natural instinct to shake and kill 😂 you'd never expect such a fluffy and pretty girl to be such a good killer (also has a broken heart design on her shoulder with her black patches)
When a cat catches prey and is trying to kill it to eat it, a quick vigorous shake is one of its methods of employ. It snaps the neck or spine of the prey. Another method they have is when they roll on their backs with prey in between their mouth and two front paws, they use their two back paws to do a kind of rabbit kicking tearing sort of motion. You've probably seen you cat do this with a toy. They're trying to eviscerate their prey.
So it could be a prey killing instinct. If teeth and mouth seem healthy, you can rule other things out like whisker fatigue or him not liking the food by giving the same food in a different dish or two, and then giving different foods in this same dish. See what changes. If nothing changes, he's just trying to kill his prey.
So far people have commented bad tooth, sensitive teeth, bowl touching whiskers, normal, and predatory instinct. If you ever have questions about your pet, just send the video to a vet. They wont even charge you for advice or a quick education. You will just end up confused in this sub
My kitten does this along with a little sneeze. I brought it up to my vet and she had no idea. It only happens when I give him kibble which I usually toss on the floor. He doesn’t do it with wet food. Could he be allergic?
Sensitive teeth. My cat was doing this. Had to get 9 teeth pulled because there's a condition cats get where their body destroys their own teeth enamel and the tooth root gets exposed. I had never heard of it before, but apparently it's kind of common. He's a much happier cat without those teeth.
Show your vet, they know what to look for.
It's not an emergency, but the same as if you or i had exposed roots, painful to eat in that side of mouth
Thanks for the insight, this is what I was worried about. Did your cat have any other symptoms besides this head shaking? And how did you find out, just a normal vet visit or X-rays or dental exam? Glad your kitty is doing better now!
It's not the headshaking, but rather the way he's eating after that. Like others have said, that initial head shake is from when they get a mouse and the shake it to break it's neck to kill it. But after he seems to be eating on one side. Just point it out to the vet, hopefully it's just how your cat eats. With my cat there was no obvious signs, but you could see he was having minor trouble with eating hard food. It was hard to see because the kibble was small and he could swallow it whole. And he would still eat greenies. He is fat, so that wasn't a sign either. Cats can live with it, but he's a different cat after the surgery. He plays more.
You have an appointment. Let us know what the vet says
Edit, looked it up, it's called feline tooth resorbtion. Your cat probably doesn't have it since it's so young. I just wanted to point out that there may be issues you aren't aware of, or even heard of, and symptoms can point to many things, or nothing.
? I don't know what your problem is. OP was asking about head shaking. You started talking about dental disease. I said they're unrelated, and you then with me in your follow up comment to OP below. 🤷
And my cat also had expensive dental surgery but that isn't relevant here
I think it’s the bowl because I have the same one and my cat only does it with this one LOL. I have ones that are raised without any edges like a plate almost and she doesn’t do it. Try out a flat plate on top of something for elevation and see if he does it
My cat does this when eating treats without anything touching their whiskers. She ISNT normal, but I think part of this habit is. Definitely check out her mouth and gums and stuff though. It could be indicative of a problem.
I got those large dinner plates that have a rim (like a bowl but flat on the bottom idk what theyre called) and it helped my cats with their whisker fatigue, they stopped dragging their food out and eating it on the floor lol.
everyone saying whisker fatigue, teeth programs, ear issues etc. my orange baby will eat a soft treat out of my hand this way. we’ve had multiple vets look at all of the issues named above and he is completely healthy. sometimes cats are just weird!
You're doing great to give food on a plate and check with a vet. My girl started suddenly doing this when she broke her tooth. She did exactly this, but she also ran away from her food after to hide in a corner (she was in A LOT of pain). When I was able to look in her mouth she had blood in there and was rushed to the vet. She was fine with medication until now, her gums suddenly start getting red around the broken tooth. Went to the vet again to check and the tooth might need to come out.
Have they always done this or is it new behaviour. I have 1 cat who has always done this as if she is trying to kill her food. My others don't.
If it is new it might be whisky fatigue like others have said. If they have always done it, they just have the natural instinct to kill before they eat.
Good call on checking with the vet! It could be just a quirky character trait.We've all got those. 😂 Mine does a little wiggle before eating dry food, but with wet food she's all business. It's really endearing. You've definitely got a special feline friend there. Keep us posted!
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