Cats love any type of box or box-like container. If you bring home a brand new cat litter box and place it on the floor, your cat will probably get into it and sit. They also love to get inside laundry baskets and paper bags. They especially love cardboard boxes! In this article, I explore what we know about the psychology of cats and their affinity for cardboard boxes. First, before we get into this, have you ever tried this fascinating cat experiment on your cat?
The Cat Circle Experiment
Find a length of rope, tape, or anything that you can make a shape from. When your cat is in the room, make a shape on the floor. You can make a circle or a square. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t matter as long as the shape has a distinct outline and border. Place it in the middle of the room in an obvious place.
Now wait. If your cat is like most cats, he or she will go and sit inside the circle or square. You can extend this experiment by replacing your shape with a sheet of newspaper or something like that. Does your cat sit on it?
Cats Are Drawn to Novel Items
Most cats cannot resist the allure of the circle experiment. As outlined, it doesn’t matter if it’s a circle but ‘circle experiment’ is a good way to refer to it. Placing themselves inside such a shape or on that piece of newspaper seems to be instinctual for a cat. They have an irresistible drive, like moths to a flame.
There are many online posts about how cats’ preferred shape is a circle. In truth, while some cats may be more drawn to a circle than other shapes, it doesn’t seem to matter much what shape you make. All of this is based on informal experiments carried out by cat owners but we have more than enough anecdotal evidence to confidently say that it’s true: Cats are drawn to shapes on the ground.
But further, cats seem to be drawn to anything novel in their environment and if it’s something they can sit on, they most likely will. Make it something that is enclosed and private, like a brand-new cardboard box, and they will take to it even faster.
So, now we have one reason why cats love cardboard boxes and any container, especially if they are new to the environment (or just moved from one spot to another). We don’t know why they love ‘new shapes’ but a box is just another variation of the same thing, a novel thing in the environment that cats seem to be drawn to.
Boxes Are Safe and Cozy
The specific behavioral reasons why cats love to get in boxes are all based on assumptions. One thing we know from scientific studies is that boxes help alleviate stress in shelter cats. So, we can deduce from this that a box feels safe and cozy. Shelter cats are highly stressed and afraid. A box undoubtedly makes them feel protected and isolated.
Web explanations focus on the cat’s role as an ambush predator or its need to hide itself from predators.
I would be worried if I thought my cat got into boxes because he felt the need to hide from predators. And, more often than not, cats seem to be having fun with boxes. It is not always about stress. Sometimes it’s just plain novelty and fun.
Prey Ambush Behavior
In terms of fun, prey ambush behavior is a more satisfactory answer. For a cat, play and hunting are two sides of the same coin. They learn about hunting through play. So, hiding inside a box to stalk and ‘ambush’ their sister, your leg, or a favorite toy, makes perfect sense. This is no different than hiding behind furniture or doors to ‘jump out’ at a playmate.
But when we realize that a cat may be just as drawn to a square shape made from tape, or a sheet of newspaper on the floor, the explanations begin to sound convenient. What is cozy and safe about a squared-off piece of tape on the floor?
Although I’ve said in this article that cats are even more drawn to boxes than shapes, this hasn’t been demonstrated scientifically. It does lead us to a pertinent question:
What came first? The cat’s love for boxes or other sheltered containers or its affinity for shapes to sit on?
Psychology of Cat’s Love For Cardboard Boxes
An educated guess will tell us that a cat in the wild will be drawn to any enclosed and sheltered place to rest, eat, recover, hide, etc. We see this behavior in feral cats who choose to live near human dwellings because they offer places of shelter (e.g. under the house).
The same spaces that could be used for shelter and safety could also be used for play, or in some situations, for ambush. So, for all the reasons discussed, cats are drawn to boxes based on this wild-cat instinct.
It could be, then, that the circle or square you make on the floor is just a psychological proxy.
Nicholas Dodman, Professor Emeritus of Behavioral Pharmacology and Animal Behavior at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, points out that cats will even try to sit in ‘virtual’ boxes with no actual sides.
This virtual box may provide some misplaced sense of security and psychosomatic comfort.
Replace the virtual box with that letter from your old college asking you for MORE money, and the same thing may be true.
Doddman explains that cats like to squeeze into small places because it makes them feel safer and secure. They like small, clearly delineated areas to escape the unpredictable ‘danger’ of wide open areas. He goes on to say:
When young, they used to snuggle with their mom and litter mates, feeling the warmth and soothing contact. Think of it as a kind of swaddling behavior. The close contact with the box’s interior, we believe, releases endorphins – nature’s own morphine-like substances – causing pleasure and reducing stress.
When your cat squeezes into a shoebox, it may be similar to the phenomenon Temple Grandin researched along with Doddman, demonstrating the comforting effect of lateral side pressure. This can work on humans as well, and explains the comforting effect of weighted blankets. Endorphins, again.
Mother cats make nests in isolated, enclosed spaces to give birth to their kittens. Kittens cuddle and snuggle in close with their siblings and mom in these enclosed and sheltered places. It’s all very warm and cozy. Your cat’s love for boxes may be based on sense memories of this time as a helpless baby cat. We think cats knead on us for similar reasons.
I’m not ready to accept that it all comes down to a cat remembering that warm and cozy feeling of being a kitten with mommy. But, it is probably a piece of why cats love an Amazon box more than they love an expensive new cat toy!
Boxes Are GOOD For Cats
Whatever the reasons, when you leave out a cardboard box for your cat to get into, play in, scratch at, etc. you are doing a very good thing for your cat. Boxes and other containers are great sources of enrichment and yes, comfort for a cat. So, keep doing it!
Paper bags are also good for cats to climb into. Plastic bags, however, are dangerous. Don’t leave these around the house and don’t let your kitty play with plastic bags.