Feline Behaviorist Pam Johnson-Bennett is the author of a number of award-winning and critically acclaimed books, including Think Like a Cat and Psycho Kitty. The innovative methods described in all her books are based on Pam's unique way of training by actually understanding the way a cat thinks. She makes numerous television appearances including CNN, Fox News Channel, and National Geographic specials, as well as being a popular guest on many nationally syndicated radio programs. She is now considered to be one of the leading experts on feline behavior.

Q: My two male kittens (OK, they're nine months old) are littermates, and they both have the same quirk when they drink water. They make a motion as if to scratch the floor next to the dish with one or both paws just before beginning to drink, sometimes continuing for a few seconds after they begin to lap. We don't know if that is an ancestral behavior, or if they learned it from their mother. I've had 20-something cats in my life, and I've never seen this. The pawing motion almost looks like it could be involuntary. What are they doing?

A: Even though you haven't seen this with your other cats in the past, it's actually a rather common cat behavior. Some cats paw at or near their food or water dishes for various reasons. It's usually associated with the odor of food and an attempt to "cover" it for survival reasons. In the wild, a cat might cover or partially cover the remains of prey so as not to attract other predators.

With indoor cats, when they paw at the floor around the water dish it's usually because the food bowl is very close by. Trying moving the food a bit farther away instead of having them right next to each other or in a divided dish.

Some cats paw around the water bowl in an attempt to gauge the water level. It may have started as a behavior performed right in the bowl itself, and then just became a habit. Try to always keep a consistent level of water in the bowl.