‘Look at this, Mum,’ beamed the Boy-Child when a big cardboard box appeared at the top of the stairs, just outside the door. ‘A special, warm room close to the big house. Just for us’
‘This has to be a very advanced invention,’ replied the Wild Child. ‘It looks so comfortable and friendly, it’s inviting us climb inside!’
And they did. For some strange reason, cats seem magnetically attracted to boxes. They just can’t resist them, including cats that have never seen a box in their lives. It must have something to do with the 100th monkey effect – more specifically the 100th cat effect!
“The hundredth monkey effect is a hypothetical phenomenon in which a new behaviour or idea is claimed to spread rapidly by unexplained means from one group to all related groups once a critical number of members of one group exhibit the new behaviour or acknowledge the new idea.”
The box rapidly became their new ‘home’ – close enough to the leafy palm so they could run down the stairs and hide if anyone or anything disturbed them. They were still very skittish and fled at the slightest thing – a fast move, a loud voice, an unknown human at the door, a car hooting in the street.
The box provided shelter from the tropical rains that pelted down and the winds that howled. Although they still sometimes sheltered under the leaves of the fan palm in the rain, it didn’t take long for them to realise that the box was better. Especially when the cardboard box was put into a big plastic box that made it even warmer and saved the cardboard from getting wet.
Cats Just Love Boxes
What is it about cats and boxes? Even if they have never seen a box in their lives, the attraction is nothing short of magnetic – be they big cats or small ones. For a cat, a box is the best thing ever. No other toy can compete.
The question humans ask is, why? What is it about a box that is so appealing? The answer remains elusive and may never be known, but there are some fairly reasonable theories. One is that boxes provide a warm and insulted space in which cats feel safe, comfortable and secure. Boxes provide a snug, private, enclosed hidey-hole to which they can retreat to hide, relax or sleep. They also help reduce stress, relieve anxiety and help cats to adapt to changes in environment.
A recent study conducted by Ethologist1 Claudia Vinke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands was performed on a group of newly arrived shelter cats – half were given boxes and the other half were not. The cats with boxes were significantly less stressed, they recovered faster, got used to their new surroundings much more quickly, and were more interested in interacting with humans. And, because cats tend to run away, withdraw or hide from stressful situations, a box provides a safe zone to disappears into.
To a cat, a box can also provide hours of pleasure and fun because the texture of carboard is perfect to bite, scratch, chew and shred – which most cats do with gusto!
Science has also now proven that cats even love imaginary boxes. In a study published in Applied Animal Behavior Science, animal cognition researchers including co-author Gabriella Smith of Hunter College worked with pet owners to set up an optical illusion of a square shape on the floor. Of the 30 cats who completed the experiment to the researchers’ satisfaction, nine regularly sat in either one of the Kanizsa or regular squares. This indicates that cats seem to have a strong preference for positioning themselves inside squares, or a space with boundaries similar to a box.
If something even vaguely resembles a box, a cat will sit in it!
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159121001258?via%3Dihub
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/646421/cats-imaginary-boxes
https://www.purina.co.uk/articles/cats/behaviour/common-questions/why-do-cats-like-boxes
https://www.wired.com/2015/02/whats-up-with-cats-and-boxes/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266857928_Will_a_hiding_box_provide_stress_reduction_for_shelter_cats