cats

i think we need a video of it.

I think a lot of people here are pretty spot on with the "cats are just weird, IDK." But more than that, there are a couple things that I think it might be. A lot of cat quirks are just instincts for outdoor activities that don't translate indoors but they still have the pull to do it. IT sounds like she's "digging," which is a thing wild cats would do for a couple reasons.

Sometimes they will dig a hole to poop in, then cover it up, but since she's not then immediately taking a shit in your salad bowl, that's probably not it.

It could be a hunting action. Cats dig for bugs often.

But the most likely, I think, is for fun. Cats are pretty intelligent creatures who's minds require stimulation, which means they just find a thing to fidget with sometimes and get stuck on it, like a small child making toys out of random junk. If she doesn't have enough scratching posts, she could be getting that scratching itch out. Or could do with some more toys. Or, again what I find most likely, she did it once and found that bowl to just be a lot of fun. Maybe it's the texture or she likes the way her paws slip on it differently than other surfaces. Cats are curious, so it being a different surface may have drawn her attention and now it's a fun toy for her.

TLDR: cats are just weird, IDK. 🤷

why does [my cat] do this

Sometimes I think they just like fucking with us.

Cat gonna cat

My cat does this on any slippery surface. We call it her treadmill

To get to the other side.

Do you have a horizontal scratching post? They like to scratch both ways - horizontal and vertical sometimes. Mine loves scratching like that in the bottom of cardboard boxes. I hadn't replaced his horizontal scratching post in a month or so after throwing it out, when I got him a new one, he immediately went to it, and scratched it for like 3 minutes straight.

Your cat is vegan and trying to disembowel the bowl