Why Cats Love Boxes So Much

Schrödinger's got nothing on a good cardboard box. Author of "The Lion in the Living Room", Abigail Tucker, takes us into the feline mind, explains exactly what the puss is up to when inside of boxes, and why we find Maru so watchable.

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[frankenviews]

I love how she is simultaneously embarrassed, excited and serious about the topic 😹

[prpann]

not sure why tech insider is showing such a video but I like it!

[meowmeowmmmooomooooomooo]

When my cat goes inside a box, she goes crazy and her eyes become huge and she scratches the box every time she hears a sound until the box breaks

[CavemanTravels]

There is cat lover written all over her.

[sameermohideen]

Yeah, I once saw a lion get into a box and hunt some Zebra.

[kameld]

Only 50 years ago cats became normal domestic animals? So why in old egypt they had cats all over their drawings?

[CassendreXavier]

Cardboard boxes are also always the perfect temperature for a cat:
1) Cats like their environment temperature to be about 20% warmer than we do. So, in a box, they're cozier and warmer, because the box confines their personal space and maximizes their body heat.
2) When it's a little chilly out, the box feels warmer.
3) When it's too hot out, the box feels cooler.
Also the box is a wonderful toy!

[GuitarLessonsBobbyCrispy]

Strange but my ragdoll cat hates boxes. I put a box down on the floor and he runs away. Not sure where he learned that from, maybe from not liking going into the cat carrier.

[IamCasper]

Boxes are the best... I jump in them whenever I can :)

[Nionivek]

There is another aspect you sort of missed: Look at cats play with one another and you start to see a few limitations with how they can attack other felines. A cat on higher ground cannot be pounced, a cat under something cannot be pounced, and a cat cannot really do anything against another cat in a box (It is a rather defensible position).

[wiseguy]

This isn't true of every cat's love of boxes. My cat likes to feel surrounded when sleeping. She's very nervous. She curls up in boxes and goes to sleep.

[BDNeon]

I think another factor behind cats favoring cardboard in particular over other types of boxes is the noticeable acoustic dampening effects of cardboard. Cardboard is two sheets of paper with a zig-zagging paper inbetween them, this creates lots of isolated chambers inside filled with air that act as natural sound-absorbers. I used to work in a warehouse boxing orders, and I noticed when I had a large stack of boxes next to me that that area was almost like a black hole of sound, when I placed my ear directly against the stack it was almost like suddenly being deaf in one ear, it was silence like you've never heard before. Maybe cats enjoy that sensation too?

[NOT-A-Monolith]

My cat just sleeps in boxes and ignores his bed lol

[NinaMarieNPianoKeys]

Me: Hey kitty! Cat:*licking him/her* Me: *pets cat* Cat: WHAT DO U WANT FROM ME HUMANNN???

[tellthetruthna]

Maru is amazing! He is obsessed with boxes.

[tedwatson]

You guys all missed the most important reason---the smell. Smell some catnip, and then smell a cardboard box. The smell is VERY similar. When a cat gets in a box they go kind of bonkers for a minute just like they do when exposed to catnip.

[keldonmcfarland]

I grew up in rural New Mexico and we were able to let our cat outside. She would bring back her kills: mice, rats, birds, lizards, snakes, birds, rabbits. She was a hunting machine. She lived about 19 years. When I moved to Washington, DC and got a cat, I felt bad that she couldn't hunt. I wanted to buy feeder mice for snakes to "give" to my apartment-cat. Unfortunately, I never did. Cats need to hunt. That is how and why they evolved to be our friends.

[mattsamoto]

I do realize that a lone kitty can get realy bored and lonely while we are not there, so i always take 2 of the same litter, so even if we are not there at the moment they are not so lonely and bored. Cause they feel, they think, and love to play cause its hunting practice. Cats are the alpha predator they are also very affectionate. My indoor/ outdoor house cat was the best. She never clawed our furntaure casue she hold a post in the barn she used. Never intintinaly made us bleed, and bring gift to our front door like sayin " LOOK, Look what I got!" ^_^ right before she would walk in, for a nap. she was the best. so smart, brave, she would meet me at the road after school, and she would play in the garden outside. she would follow u around, and knew when were not feeling well and come purr on us to make us feel better.

[adriennestrrr]

Thanks! my owner watched this and she now knows why I like them ! THEY ARE VERYNFUN

[stephenshelton]

All cats love boxes, but my Spence _really_ loves boxes. Half the time he isn't even being quiet in the box but is making all sorts of noises and wrestling around in them.