Well you tell me because one of my cats does the same thing and always has. So I place a good square of paper towels under the bowl and then toss after she is done.

 

Her range is about 12 feet, which makes placing paper towels a bit impractical :-(

 

According to what I read this behavior speaks to their making a meal more into what it would be in the wild. The whole experience of hunting-catching prey is marginalized by just pouring it into a bowl so it's a play so to speak. In that vein perhaps if you engage in some hunting-type playtime for a minute or two it might give her what she needs to satisfy that instinct.

Another cause might be the TYPE of bowl. If it is deep and narrow it might push the whiskers back causing pain. But it seems the other reason is more like what she is doing. Maybe just plop the food on a sheet of wax paper and let her eat it off the floor?

In the end most cats are not fully domesticated and depending on how they were socialized there is a lot of behavior that runs counter to what we would 'like' for them to do.

Hope this helps!

 

Put her bowl in the bathtub (or shower with door/curtain closed) and then close the door until she is finished eating.