What is so dang fascinating about boxes, cats?! (From 2015)
. Working with domestic cats in a Dutch animal shelter, Vinke provided hiding boxes for a group of newly arrived cats while depriving another group of them entirely. She found a significant difference in stress levels between cats that had the boxes and those that didn't. In effect, the cats with boxes got used to their new surroundings faster, were far less stressed early on, and were more interested in interacting with humans.
It makes sense when you consider that the first reaction of nearly all cats to a stressful situation is to withdraw and hide. "Hiding is a behavioral strategy of the species to cope with environmental changes and stressors," Vinke said in an email. This is as true for cats in the wild as it is for those in your home. Only instead of retreating to tree tops, dens, or caves, yours may find comfort in a shoe box., "Cats do not appear to develop conflict resolution strategies to the extent that more gregarious species do, so they may attempt to circumvent agonistic encounters by avoiding others or decreasing their activity."
So rather than work things out, cats are more inclined to simply run away from their problems or avoid them altogether. A box, in this sense, can often represent a safe zone, a place where sources of anxiety, hostility, and unwanted attention simply disappear. Of course the problem with these explanations is that they make box attraction seem like a symptom of a mal-adjusted, stressed out cats. I don't know about you, but to me, Maru does not appear to be suffering from high levels of stress in the video below.Astute feline observers will note that in addition to boxes, many cats seem to pick other odd places to relax. Some curl up in a
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