It's no secret that cats love boxes - as soon as an empty box appears in the house, the cat is instantly inside it. But what is it that attracts pets so much?

stress in cats

Veterinary scientists conducted a study on whether a box in which a cat could hide would help reduce stress in animals living in a shelter. Answer: Yes, using cardboard boxes that a cat can climb into and hide in reduces her stress levels, at least for the short term.

No matter how fun and funny the use of this method may seem, the goals are extremely serious. Domestic cats can experience severe stress while in shelters. And this not only makes the cat unhappy - it also affects their immune system, increasing the chance of infectious diseases.

The box experiment

During the experiment, the cats that got to the shelter were divided into two groups - for one group, cardboard boxes were offered in which to hide, while the others were left without shelter. The behavior of the cats was assessed over a two-week period. By the third day, the cats that could hide in the box showed much lower levels of stress. Some out-of-the-box cats were fine as well, but others were showing clear signs of stress. However, by the end of the experiment, all cats no longer experienced any stress.
The sample size was small, only about twenty cats, but even this made it clear that a cardboard box can be a very important factor in reducing stress levels when a cat is in a new place.

However, the question as to why they like cardboard boxes, and not other shelter options, remains open. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the cardboard allows you to retain heat.

Already inside? There are many suggestions, we will never know for sure why this is so, because cats are mysteriously silent. But some theories in this regard sound quite logical.

Shelter

In the wild, cats have larger predators such as foxes. Thus, it is interested in being as invisible as possible in the most vulnerable situation for itself. For example, during sleep. Therefore, it makes sense to find a quiet place for a daytime rest. If the cat is in hiding, predators are much less likely to detect it.

In addition, cardboard and paper retain heat well.

Curiosity

Cats are curious, they like to explore everything new that comes into the house. They will circle around the new item, gradually approaching it until they have a chance to come up and sniff it. If all is well, they will jump on him (or into him, whatever happens). This also applies to boxes. If the cat is especially lucky, she may find something interesting in the box to play with. For example, a piece of rustling packaging.

There is also an opinion that this is such a special cat sport - to jump into any empty container. Whether it's a closet shelf, or an empty suitcase prepared for packing things. And even an empty pan.

Ambush

When a cat is stalking its prey, it clings low to the ground and hides behind grass stalks. The box is the perfect place for an ambush. Who among us has not been attacked by our own cat while walking past an empty box.

Texture and sound

The rustling sound made by the box upon contact with the cat's claws delights the cats. Cats enjoy making these sounds. In addition, cats love to chew on cardboard, perhaps they like to feel its texture on their teeth and gums.

Cardboard also provides the cat with the opportunity to sharpen its claws on it, marking the territory.

Perhaps you have some ideas of your own about the cat's predilection for boxes? Feel free to share, suddenly you are close to a discovery in felinology.

Scientists from the Netherlands have found out the reasons why cats willingly hide in boxes. It turned out that climbing into the box, the animals are trying to deal with stress and, in addition, keep warm.

Cat lovers, rejoice! You may be upset that your cat is still indifferent to her expensive new DJ table scratching post, but there is one item that will almost certainly pique her interest. And this item, as the materials posted on the Internet irrefutably prove, is a box. Pretty much any box. Big boxes, small boxes, irregular boxes, no matter what. Put some box on the floor, on a chair, on a bookshelf and watch your Barsik or Murka immediately take possession of it.

But how can we understand why empty boxes attract our house cats with such strange force? This feline mystery, like many other oddities in the behavior of cats, science has not yet been able to unravel to the end. The box provides cats with obvious hunting conveniences: the cat is an ambush predator, and the box allows her to hide and lie in wait for prey from there (and then return and sit in seclusion). But it is clear that this is not the only issue.

Fortunately, veterinarians and biologists who study animal behavior have some more interesting leads. The fact is that, if you study all the facts in a complex, it becomes clear that cats probably do not like boxes so much as they simply need them.

Behavior model "box with a mustache"

As you know, it is quite difficult to understand the feline psyche, moods and desires. After all, cats are not very good at studying and experimenting. And yet, scientists do quite a lot of research on the behavior of cats that are the subject of other experiments (for example, as laboratory animals). Over 50 years of this research - many of which examine environmental enrichment - has led to a pretty obvious conclusion: your furry pets choose secluded places for comfort and safety.

And it seems that for a number of reasons this is actually the case, but for cats, who often find themselves in stressful situations, a box or some other special shelter (inside the enclosed spaces in which they are already located) can significantly affect both her behavior and physiology.

Veterinarian Claudia Vinke, from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, is part of a team that recently conducted a study on stress levels in sheltered cats. While studying domestic cats at a Dutch animal shelter, Vinke set up boxes for one group of cats to hide in, and left another group of animals without these artificial hiding places. She found that the stress levels of the cats in the two groups were significantly different. As a result, cats that had the opportunity to hide adjusted to the new environment faster, showed much less signs of stress from the very beginning, and were also more willing to communicate with people.

You quite rightly noticed that in stressful situations, almost all cats try, first of all, to run away and hide. "In response to changing environments and stressors, this species has evolved a behavioral strategy that seeks to hide," Vincke wrote in an email.

And this applies to cats in the wild as well as to their domestic relatives. Is that instead of climbing a tree, a lair or a cave, your pet may choose a shoe box as a convenient shelter.

Box instead of communication

In addition, it is important to note that cats are completely incapable of making decisions in conflict situations. To quote from The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour: “Cats do not seem to be able to strategize in conflict situations to the same extent that other animals do. living in a flock. Therefore, they may be trying to avoid dangerous contacts, trying not to meet individuals that threaten them or reducing their activity.

Therefore, instead of settling the conflict, cats prefer to run away from their problems or avoid them altogether. And the box in this sense can often become a safe zone, a place where sources of fear, anxiety, hostility and unwanted attention simply disappear.

Undoubtedly, such theories are not entirely convincing, since they explain such a passion for boxes in cats only by their lack of ability to adapt to stressful situations. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that the behavior of the cat Maru in the following video does not show any signs of stress.

The principle of "I'll climb wherever I can"

Those who carefully observe cats will notice that many cats choose not only boxes, but also other unusual places to rest. Some people like to curl up in a ball in the bathroom in the sink. Others prefer shoes, vases, shopping bags, glasses, egg cassettes and other small cozy places.

Which suggests another reason for your cat's addiction to especially small boxes (and other seemingly uncomfortable places) - she's trying to keep warm.

According to a 2006 study by the National Research Council (NRC), the thermoneutral zone for domestic cats ranges from 30 to 36 degrees Celsius. This is the temperature considered “comfortable” for cats, and at this temperature they do not have to generate additional heat to keep warm, or expend metabolic energy to cool. It turns out that such a temperature range is 20 degrees higher than that of a person, and therefore it becomes clear why the neighbor's cat likes to soak up the sun on a summer afternoon, stretched out on hot asphalt.

This may also explain the fact that many cats love to curl up in a cramped cardboard box or in other unusual places. Corrugated cardboard is an excellent heat insulator, and the small size of the box makes it necessary for the cat to curl up into a ball or take other unimaginable positions, which, in turn, allows you to save body heat.

What's more, in the same NRC study, scientists found that where most cats live, the temperature is just over 22 degrees, which is a full 14 degrees below the minimum thermoneutral zone threshold for domestic cats.

Therefore, here is the answer for you: the box keeps you warm, protects from stress and is simply a cozy place where the cat can hide, relax, sleep. And why is it convenient for her from time to time to make sudden attacks on this huge unpredictable monkey, next to which she has to live.

Original publication: http://www.wired.com/2015/02/whats-up-with-cats-and-boxes/?mbid=social_fb

The fact that cats love boxes has been noted more than once. Surely, many cat owners paid attention to the fact that as soon as a box of a more or less appropriate size for a cat is freed from its contents, the cat will not fail to climb inside.

Many attempts have been made to explain why cats love boxes, but the true reason for cats' love for boxes and bags remains unknown, since cats themselves are in no hurry to reveal the reasons for their behavior. Similarly, there is no exact explanation for why cats love bags. However, some theories explaining this sound quite plausible.

Cats love boxes and bags. So why?

Theory one: the box as a shelter for the cat

Those cats that live in the wild have enemies larger than themselves. These include, for example, wolves, foxes and dogs, in a word, canines of large and medium size. Naturally, cats had to learn to mask their presence, becoming almost invisible in a vulnerable situation. To do this, they use the most unimaginable shelters. Cats have retained this passion for finding shelters to this day, continuing to show it even at home, where they are not threatened by any foxes. In addition, paper and cardboard hold heat well. Agree, this is a pretty good explanation of why cats like to sit in boxes.

Theory two: cat's curiosity is to blame

Cat and curiosity are almost synonymous, and these animals just love to explore everything new that comes their way. If they meet an unfamiliar object, they will walk around it in circles, slowly approaching it. And so on until the cat comes close to the object and gets the opportunity to sniff it properly. If nothing suspicious is found in the smell, they will climb on it or into it (depending on the design of the item). It is possible that something interesting will be found inside the item to play with, for example, with a piece of rustling packaging. Perhaps cats like to sit in boxes precisely because it is interesting there.

There is an assumption that in boxes the cat is cozy, warm, calm and interesting.

There was also a version according to which jumping into any container is something like a cat's "national" sport. And it doesn’t matter what it will be: an empty pan, an open suitcase prepared for putting things in it, a closet shelf or a box.

Theory three: the box is like a hunting ambush

In natural habitat conditions (however, at home too) when, she tends to hide behind grass stalks and presses low to the ground. In this regard, the box is almost an ideal place for an ambush. And, probably, every owner who thinks about why cats love boxes has been attacked by his pet from such an ambush at least once in his life. Why not answer the question?

Theory four: boxes and packages as a musical instrument for a cat

The rustle that a box or bag makes when it comes into contact with the claws of an animal gives cats indescribable pleasure and this is another reason why cats love boxes. In addition to the fact that cats are delighted to “play” on the box with their claws, they also like to gnaw on cardboard. It is also possible that they like the feel of the very texture of cardboard on their gums and teeth. In addition, cardboard gives the cat the opportunity to sharpen its claws on it, thus marking the boundaries and important points of its possessions. The enjoyment of rustling is also the reason why cats love bags.

The value of boxes and packages is that they are both an ambush and a musical instrument.

Of course, these are just possible explanations for why cats love boxes, but agree that they are quite consistent with the behavior of a cat and their inclinations, which these animals demonstrate living in the wild. It cannot be ruled out that not one of the above reasons is true, but all of them, and it is possible that others will add to their list.

Almost every house has a fluffy and purring lump. Communication with these graceful and capricious animals brings pleasure and peace, and some scientists even seriously practice cat therapy.

In any case, where the cat lives, there must be a secluded place for her, which the pet will choose on its own. Very often, indoor predators prefer ordinary empty shopping bags or boxes, which are not always their size, to specialized houses. So why do cats love boxes and bags?

Scientific research

This question has been of interest even to the scientific minds of our world for a very long time, and there are a huge number of versions on this subject. Renowned Dutch veterinarian Claudia Wink has been studying the behavior of cats in shelters for a long time. The crucial experiment in her work was with newly arrived animals that were still under stress. Wink seated them in two different rooms, one of which was equipped with various shelters, and the other remained free for prying eyes. As a result, animals with the ability to stay alone with themselves adapted to new living conditions much faster.

The result of the study was to confirm the opinion that it is easier for cats to run away and hide from problems than to solve them, regardless of their size and habitat.

Desire to relax

As Patrick Bateson and Denis Turner write about the biology of domestic cats: “Cats do not develop conflict resolution strategies in the same way that gregarious and more sociable animal species do. So they can try to sidestep hostile encounters." This explains why cats love boxes and other hiding places. A small space, which the animal feels with its whole body, represents for them a kind of fence from the rest of the world. In the box, the cat feels protected and independent from extraneous attention, and this happens instinctively. That is, even a very sociable and friendly fluffy sooner or later wants to be alone and relax. Most often, this is necessary for animals to rest, which explains why cats like to sleep in boxes. But after all, some pets prefer to sit in tight shelters and while awake, what motivates them to such behavior?

Low temperature

Why do cats climb into boxes just to sit in them? This question also has an answer from scientists who have long been studying the behavioral characteristics of these pets. They explain this with a feeling of cold, because a comfortable ambient temperature for domestic pussies is a temperature of as much as 30-36 degrees. Only in this range do animals feel relaxed, since they do not have to generate additional heat on their own. If in the hot summer the sun burns much stronger, then the cat covered with fur needs, on the contrary, to look for a place to cool off. In any case, cats' comfortable temperature range is much higher than ours, which is why cats like to sit in boxes even in a heated room, where a person can even be hot.

By the way, the choice of cardboard or wooden boxes is explained by the ability of these materials to better accumulate heat. Airtight bags made of synthetic materials can scare away the animal with their smell, but they keep the heat just as good.

Emotional Comfort

The most interesting thing in this matter is the nuance of why cats love boxes that, to put it mildly, are not their size. Very often, owners of furry predators notice how their pets are diligently trying to fit into a box half the size of the cat itself. Why not choose a bigger room for yourself? In fact, in order to completely relax and feel safe, the cat needs to feel with its own body that no one can attack it, and for this it is necessary that the walls of the box support it from all sides.

This need is instinctive, because in the wild cats are always on their guard and can only sleep in what they think is a safe place to hide - on top of a tree or in a hole. Falling asleep on the chandelier at the pet, if it succeeds, then then she will definitely feel that the person is not satisfied with such behavior, although, most likely, she will not understand why, but no one will interfere with fitting in a cozy cramped box on the floor.

Material Features

So why do cats love cardboard boxes? First of all, this is the most common material; boxes from any other are extremely rare in homes. In addition, it should be noted that only paper or wood can best create a feeling of comfort and warmth. Natural material can remind the animal of the scents of the wild, even if the animal does not go outside. If the predator has access to free movement outside the home, then such attachment only intensifies.

Matter of habit

A special opinion on why cats like boxes is the version about the artificial inoculation of this habit by a person. The thing is. that domestic cats give birth to offspring most often in cardboard containers, and therefore, the smell of this material becomes native to kittens from birth.

It is from the very first days that animals associate the aroma of cardboard with warmth, comfort and security, and so that a pet likes to sit on his hands with the same force, you can try to teach him to do this from childhood.

The need for privacy

In nature, cats are not herd animals and always live alone, fiercely defending their territory. In an apartment, it is difficult for a small predator to share space with household members, so he needs his own corner for privacy. In this case, the box is also the best shelter, since it is able to hide the cat from all sides, giving him a true sense of comfort and privacy.

Ambush for the hunter

Cats are real predators and, even spending their whole lives in an apartment, do not forget about their instincts. In nature, they overtake their prey, slowly creeping up, or directly from an ambush, and a secluded small box in the house is just right for this.

This game of “hide and seek” was experienced by many cat owners when predators jumped right at their feet from a secluded shelter.

Finally

So why do cats love boxes? There are many conclusions on this subject, and they are all correct. Trying to determine a specific cause in the case of a particular cat is sometimes pointless, the main thing is that in such a tight space the animal feels good. Each pet will definitely be grateful to its owner for having such a comfortable shelter.