So… your source to back up your point is an excerpt from a fictional book written by someone who’s expertise is in writing fiction?
Personally, I try not to take the word of someone who is not an expert, or at least versed in that particular area. Just because Pratchett was very a progressive writer doesn’t mean his opinions on gun control should be taken for anything more than his own personal position.
And if we’re just going to cite his fiction as his opinion, we have to assume he was also pro-police violence. I don’t know how much Discworld you’ve red, but even as Vimes progressed as a character and got better in a lot of ways, he always ended up resolving the issue by skirting the actual law and bending the rules to fit his purpose. Often he would espouse how much easier his job and the city would be if he wasn’t restricted by the law. Not everyone else, they still need to follow the law, but Sam Vimes knows better. There were even times when Pratchett would start to push back on that idea like he was going to have Vimes actually understand that police aren’t special and should be as answerable to the law as anyone… then the conflict would always be resolved by Vimes going outside the law and taking it into his own hands. He never learned that lesson. Quite the opposite actually.
So for those unfamiliar, Pratchett was so conservative, he was writing about rogue cops taking the law into their own hands before you kids ever heard those words put together.
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. 🤷