We did have one very snooty cat who would "bury" the food if she didn't
like it. She'd walk up, take one sniff, and then spend about 5 minutes
burying it from all angles. She was a drama queen.

Maybe her instinct was telling her to bury that crap so that no other
cat would be poisoned by it.

Rhonda

jr via CatKB.com wrote:

I have noticed that the cat will often sniff her food and that starts
pawing the ground around her bowl (similiar to litter box covering). I had
previously thought that this was there way to say, 'no way' to the food but
she just comes back later and eats it. Is she just trying to cover the
food for when she returns later?