After my kitten smelled the milk it kept pawing at the floor nearby but wouldn’t drink; this happened before — I gave it a clam and it smelled it then pawed the floor with its whole paw, no sound. What’s going on?

Hello, based on your description, the kitten smelled the milk, didn’t drink, and pawed at the floor — this mainly points to three situations. First, the cat isn’t very hungry at the moment and, smelling the food, wants to bury it to eat later. Second, the cat isn’t familiar with that food and is trying to bury it. Third, the cat finds the smell unpleasant and wants to bury it quickly.

Note that cats are not suited to drinking milk, which easily causes stomach upset, so a cat not drinking milk is perfectly normal behavior.