Why Cats Like Cardboard Boxes

Nearly every owner has asked themselves why their cat prefers to play in the box their new toy was packaged in, rather than with the toy itself. This is a common phenomenon and can be explained in a variety of ways. There are many reasons why your cat loves to play in boxes. Read on to find out more.

Boxes Provide a Sense of Safety

The main reason your cat loves to play inside cardboard boxes is for the feeling of safety it provides. Boxes play to your cat’s natural instincts of desiring a safe place to hide in or hunt prey. Cats are instinctually ambushing predators. This means that in the wild, your furry friend would capture its prey with the element of surprise. Boxes provide the perfect cover your cat would need to trap its meal.

Being inside the box reduces stress for your cat since it can observe from the box and not be seen. This is important to cats because if they were out in the wild, other predators would hunt them.

However, due to their lack of conflict resolution strategies, cats would much rather run and hide from their problems, than face them head-on. A cardboard box provides the perfect place for your cat to hide and avoid any conflict, hostility, or anxiety-inducing scenarios.

Cardboard Keeps Your Cat Warm

Cardboard boxes make great insulators. Cats love to stay warm and the ideal indoor temperature for a cat is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit or 21 degrees Celsius.

If your home is a bit chilly, you might find that your cat will tend to curl up inside a cardboard box to stay warm. Even if it is perfectly warm inside your home, you may still find that your cat prefers to snuggle up inside a box to take a nap. Again, this is because of the safety and comfort they provide. After all, cats do spend a considerable amount of their day sleeping—anywhere from 12-16 hours!

Cats are Curious, Territorial Creatures

Everyone knows that cats are some of the most curious creatures alive. Because of this, they tend to inspect every new thing that is brought into the house. The new box smells different to your cat, so you may find it sniffing the box or rubbing itself against it. Rubbing its face against the box actually transfers scent from the glands that are inside the cat’s cheek area.

Oddly enough, this is normal cat behavior and is its way of transferring its scent to the box—claiming ownership of this new object. A cat can display its curiosity in many ways and jumping into boxes is just one of them. These seemingly strange behaviors are oftentimes a reflection of their natural hunting instincts. These natural instincts have served them well over the centuries, helping them escape danger and hunt prey efficiently.

What Can I Do to Change this Behavior?

If you don’t want to keep a bunch of empty cardboard boxes lying around your house for your cat to hide, play, and sleep in. What can you do? The best option is to provide alternatives to the cardboard boxes.

Provide a Shelter for Safety

Make sure that your cat has a place where it can feel safe. Cats also love to have safe and secure places within your home where they can retreat. Cat houses provide the same sort of feeling that curling up inside of a box does. They offer a small, secluded space that your cat can retreat to when it feels particularly stressed or anxious.

It is important for your cat to have its own space where it feels safe and protected from the elements or any potential “threats”, especially if you have multiple pets or if a new pet is introduced into the household

Provide a Warm, Secure Place

As mentioned before, boxes provide a warm place for your cat to lounge in since they make great insulators. If you want to replace the box, you’ll need to provide an alternative for your pet to keep warm and toasty. A great way is to provide them with a window perch. Cats love to lounge in the sunshine and we often find them snoozing near windows.

This is because it is usually warmer near a window that gets plenty of sunshine. Attaching a cat perch to your window or placing one next to it, will allow your pet to get its warmth from the sun, as well as do a bit of birdwatching. Aperch also gives it a place where it feels it has a good vantage point from any predators—which is always a plus.

If you’re looking for a standing option, rather than one that attaches directly to the window, the PetFusion Ultimate Window Cat Perch is a great choice. It also doubles as a climbing tree.

Feed Your Cat’s Curiosity

We all know just how curious cats can be. Sometimes it may feel as though they need constant stimulation, and boxes do make great toys for your cat to play in. But if you want to find a good alternative, you’ll want to consider getting your cat a good interactive cat toy. These will keep your cats busy and provide them with their daily recommended amount of exercise.

Cats have a lot of energy and if they don’t have any fun, interactive toys to play with, they will try and make their own fun. Cardboard boxes provide an element of fun for them as they hop in and out of it and maybe even chew on the sides.

There are many great options to choose from when it comes to interactive cat toys, and we’ve gone over some of the best of them.

Making sure your cat has something fun to do is very important for its overall health and well-being. Most cats do not meet their daily requirement, and many are overweight or obese.

Another benefit of having a good quality interactive cat toy is that when your cat is more active during the day, it will be less likely to be active at night. Many cat owners wonder why their cat decides to be much more active during the night than during the day. This may be in part due to the lack of physical activity your cat has during the day.

Making sure that your cat has something fun to do during the day may lessen the frequency of its nighttime adventures.There are many reasons why cats love to play in cardboard boxes. Many of those reasons can be explained by normal instinctual habits. Providing adequate replacements for the boxes will help keep your cat happy and healthy.