Study tells why cats are obsessed with cardboard boxes

Maru in a box!

INTERNET cat sensation Maru knows a thing or two about boxes. The Scottish Fold kitty from Japan has been photographed and filmed countless of times doing what he loves and knows best: squeezing himself in all kinds of boxes or containers to hide all or just a part of him.

But it's not just Maru who experiences an irresistible attraction towards cardboxes. All cats do, even tigers and lions!

Why cardboard box? Well, science finally has the explanation for this endearing, bordering to crazy cat behavior.

Wired.com first reported how researchers at the Utrecht University have established that cats find comfort and security from the four corners of a box. They came up with this conclusion after separating 19 new cats from a Dutch animal shelter into two groups. One group was given empty boxes to use, while the other cats have none.

They wanted to find out which of the two groups would experience less stress and therefore adjust better by being in a new environment. After three or four days, the researchers noticed a significant decrease in the stress levels of cats with boxes compared to those without. At the end of the 14-day experiment, both groups have reached the same stress scores, but the cats in the “boxed” category reached that point 10 days earlier.

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Cats' community box. (Photo by Midor Inakayama/Pinterest)

The researchers, who published their findings in the Applied Animal Behaviour Science, believe that being able to hide, spy, rest, sleep and even play inside a box provides a cat some sense of security and protection, especially when it finds itself in a new place. As a cat tries to adjust to and know its new environment, the box gives it privacy and peace. The box also lessens the chance of the cat being bothered by other animals or humans, allowing the sensitive animal to calm down and relax.

Researchers also believe cats find cardboard boxes to be very comfortable. The material is a good insulator to keep kitty warm and it can be easily scratched by restless claws.

In addition, cats know that the cardboard box is sturdy enough to be a fortress, but one that they can easily destroy if they want to, and without the human being too upset about it. Cats also seem to love the versatility of those four flaps that open and close the box. Those flaps present endless possibilities for hiding and stalking!

A cardboard box is a cat's bestfriend. If you have one lying around – a shoe box, pizza box, grocery box, any box – let your cat have it and watch happiness unfold inside that box.

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