Cat scooping food out of dry food bowl

[Zevida]

My rascally cat who just turned one year old likes to put her favorite toy (a hair tie) in her dry food dish, eat some food, and then she tries to fish the hair tie out of the bowl. Which results in her using her paw to scoop copious amounts of food out of the bowl and onto the floor.

I use a very wide, shallow dish. Initially I thought maybe she was scooping food out to eat because maybe the bowl was too deep and whisker fatigue, so that’s why I went with the very wide and shallow bowl. I’m tired of cleaning up her mess. Any suggestions for alternate food bowls or approaches?

[RedHorses]

I had a ball with adjustable holes that let the dry food out a kibble at a time. The cat has to bat the ball around to get their food out. My cat loved it.

[CanadianTrotter]

Try picking the hair tie up and hide it away until after she’s done eating.