Preface

We often see videos of various cats drilling into boxes online, and their cute appearance is really hilarious. But have you ever wondered why cats love boxes so much? And zoologists have found that this is actually a way for cats to gain a sense of security.

relieve stress

Claudia Fink, a veterinarian at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, is one of the researchers who has been focusing on the stress levels of cats in shelters in recent years. At an animal shelter in the Netherlands, she divided the newly arrived domestic cats into two groups and provided boxes for one group, while the other group did not. She found a significant difference in stress levels between the two groups of cats. In the new environment, cats that have been given boxes adapt noticeably faster, have much lower levels of stress, and are more willing to interact with humans.

Almost all cats' first reaction when faced with a tense situation is to step back and hide. Claudia Fink said, "Hiding is a behavioral strategy that cats adopt when faced with environmental changes and stress." This holds true for both cats in the wild and those living in your home. However, wild cats will hide at the top of trees or in caves, while your cat at home seeks peace in a shoebox.

Avoiding problems in a safe place

There is an important issue that needs to be pointed out, cats are actually not good at resolving conflicts. To quote from "Domestic Cats: The Biology Behind Behavior," "Cats do not seem to have developed conflict resolution strategies like other more socially adapted species, so they may avoid intense encounters by avoiding each other or reducing their activity

Therefore, cats tend to avoid problems rather than solve them. In this sense, a box often represents a safe zone, a place where all anxiety, hostility, and unnecessary attention will disappear.

To keep warm

A clever observer will find that cats not only love boxes, but also relax in many strange places. Some will curl up in the sink, while others prefer to hide in shoes, bowls, shopping bags, coffee cups, empty egg boxes, and other confined spaces. This also leads to another reason why cats like small boxes (and other seemingly uncomfortable spaces): they feel cold.

According to a study by the National Research Council in 2006, the heat neutral zone of domestic cats (the temperature range in which individuals with the lowest metabolic rate have a constant temperature) is 30 to 36 degrees Celsius. Within this range, cats feel comfortable and do not need to generate excess heat to maintain body temperature or consume metabolic energy to cool down. This temperature range is just about 6.7 degrees Celsius higher than the human thermal neutral zone, so if you see your neighbor's cat lying in the middle of the asphalt road sunbathing in the summer, you don't have to be surprised.

summary

This can also explain why many cats like to curl up in small boxes and other strange narrow spaces. Corrugated cardboard is a great insulation material, and narrow spaces force cats to curl up, which in turn helps them retain heat. In fact, the study by the National Research Council also found that the temperature around most cat nests is around 22 degrees Celsius, which is about 10 degrees Celsius lower than the lowest value of a cat's heat zone.