One of life’s biggest curiosities has been answered and you will now be on your way to understanding your kitty even better. It is widely observed that cats love arranging themselves in the strangest, tiniest of places – from TV boxes to cereal boxes and even the bathroom sink: wherever they can fit, they’ll sit. Studies done reveal that cats hiding in places is linked to comfort-zoning, stress-relieving and insulating.
In the Netherlands, Veterinarian Claudia Vinke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands studied the stress levels in shelter cats. Noticing a significant impact, there was great difference in stress levels between cats that had the boxes and those that didn’t. The cats with boxes got used to their new surroundings faster, had reduced stress and easily interacted with humans. Boxes can act as a safe zone from anxiety, hostility, and unwanted attention, or simply a place to be more comfortable. “Hiding is a behavioral strategy of the species to cope with environmental changes and stressors,” says Vinke.
Have you ever seen your cat snuggle up dangerously close to a heater or fire? Maybe even lie in the hot sun all day, not even bothered they have a fur coat? A 2006 study by the National Research Council reveals that most cat’s environments are colder than their own body temperature with a preference of 30 to 36 degrees celsius (about 6 degrees celsius higher than the temperature tolerance for humans). Crawling into closed spaces to preserve body heat comes from natural survival instinct.
Or maybe they just want to be a cardboard box aeroplane.
