Some cats will scrape around their food and water bowls using the same action that is normally associated with toilet habits in the litter tray.
There are a number of theories on this behaviour. One suggests that the cat, not wishing to consume the whole contents of his bowl, is attempting to cover it to return to it at a later time. Another theory suggests that the cat is not finding the smell of the food particularly appealing and the covering is an attempt to cleanse the area and remove the offensive contents.
If this scraping around becomes an issue for you it may be worth giving your cat smaller more frequent meals or offering dry food, and then ‘leftovers’ will not represent a problem.
I am the feline behaviour specialist at feline charity ‘International Cat Care’. We are about engaging, educating and empowering people throughout the world to improve the health and welfare of cats by sharing advice, training and passion.