Scientific theory on why cats love boxes

Why do cats like boxes???

Large boxes, shoe boxes, and even just items that look like boxes – cats, it seems, can't resist squeezing into cardboard spaces.

The most popular is that cats are instinctively drawn to boxes because they offer security and shelter from predators while they stalk their prey.

According to a report by Bryan Gardiner in Wired, veterinarian Claudia Vinke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands recently studied stress levels in shelter cats.

She discovered that cats who had boxes got used to their new surroundings faster than those who didn't because the boxes acted as a coping mechanism.

Boxes also offer safe places for cats to take a nap. Felines can sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day, so seeking out a hidden place would help their chances of survival in the wild.

'Cats like boxes because they are cryptic animals; they like to hide,' Stephen Zawistowski, science adviser for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told Business Insider.

Small places are ideal insulators, which may explain while a cat will try and curl up in a shoe box.

A similar behaviour takes place when a cat sees a circle drawn on the floor.

If you mark one out using chalk, string, masking tape or flex, a cat will enter the circle and refuse to leave.

This may sound implausible, but dozens of photos of cats 'stuck' in just such circles have sprung up on the internet.

THIS I have never seen before! So weird and cool at the same time! Now I have to go find someone with a cat to go try this on!

Cats and boxes bring me great joy.

a reply to: Anyafaj

I gotta make this for my cat Jake.



Gonna try the circle thing tmr.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: Anyafaj

I gotta make this for my cat Jake.

Gonna try the circle thing tmr.

That is way too funny!

I've seen this pic on the internet like a thousand times, but it still cracks me up every time I see it:




If this little guy is hiding in the box while he's on the prowl to stalk some prey... Did anyone bother to tell him that he's doing it all wrong ?

My own baby in her boxes over the years.

(Why it came out sideways I rally don't know, it is normal on my computer, but uploaded here sideways, go figure. Sorry.)


Down sizing and getting rid of a ton of stuff

www.youtube.com...

What? No Maru?



If there are cats and boxes, there has to be at least some Maru ...

a reply to: boymonkey74

thanks for the laugh, that picture made my night!

a reply to: Anyafaj

THANK YOU what a fabulous thread and best laugh of the day. Clarissa our little cat loves boxes, the insides of the wasting maching and tunble dryer, drawers anything she can snuggle down into. Cats just give me such great company and fun. She's snoozing on my lap as I type this.

originally posted by: Shiloh7
a reply to: Anyafaj

THANK YOU what a fabulous thread and best laugh of the day. Clarissa our little cat loves boxes, the insides of the wasting maching and tunble dryer, drawers anything she can snuggle down into. Cats just give me such great company and fun. She's snoozing on my lap as I type this.

You're welcome. I saw the article and I thought, pet forum, well, we must induct it with wondrous articles! LOL

Huzzah! (I hope to find more in the coming days as I'm addicted to animals. BTW, I have a dog who's name is similar to your cat's, My daughter named our dog, Calyssa. She named her after a Barbie princess in animated Barbie movie. I call her Callie for short, or my Vicious Little Vampire. LOL)

It is a widely accepted theory in certain scientific circles that cardboard boxes are time machines. A proper pilot can simply sit in the box and transport themselves anywhere and anywhen they desire. I suspect kitties just have a lot of business to tend to.

The simple short answer is that cats are insane little weirdo's that do insane little weirdo things
but i like General Eyes's theory

originally posted by: GENERAL EYES
It is a widely accepted theory in certain scientific circles that cardboard boxes are time machines. A proper pilot can simply sit in the box and transport themselves anywhere and anywhen they desire. I suspect kitties just have a lot of business to tend to.

No way! So which three incarnations of The Doctor do I have living with me?

To feel safe my rear.

It's because they get great pleasure out of scaring the hell out of both humans and other animals, when they jump out and grab you unexpectedly.

Furry little demons.

originally posted by: GENERAL EYES
It is a widely accepted theory in certain scientific circles that cardboard boxes are time machines. A proper pilot can simply sit in the box and transport themselves anywhere and anywhen they desire. I suspect kitties just have a lot of business to tend to.

originally posted by: chiefsmom
To feel safe my rear.

It's because they get great pleasure out of scaring the hell out of both humans and other animals, when they jump out and grab you unexpectedly.

Furry little demons.

Our cat loves to go into, and curl up in, plastic bags. She stays in there quite content that we can pick up the bag with her in it and carry her anywhere. LOL