Why Do Cats Love Cardboard Boxes?

 

You purchase the best toy, bed or tower for your cat.  You get it all unpacked and set up and find your cat happily camped out in the cardboard box it was delivered in!  What's up with that?

Any cat owner will confirm that cats love any cardboard box - whether they fit into it or not.  How many things have you ordered for your cat only to find that they'd rather get in the shipping box?  

 

No doubt you've seen the BCR cats do the same thing many times during a box-opening video - the actual gifts barely come out of the box before someone jumps in to claim it!  Bunny (pictured) in particular has always been a big fan of the cardboard box and loves napping inside one!  One of her favorite beds in the world is inside a cardboard box!  Sometimes anything that's cardboard will do just fine, as Valencia (below) would agree!

 

Scientists are now finding out that there are real benefits to cats having access to cardboard boxes (and other shapes)!  Recent research conducted by Dutch scientists monitored 19 cats in a Dutch animal shelter.  Ten cats got cardboard boxes and nine did not.  Only four days into studying the 19 cats, the results already strongly demonstrated that the 10 cats who had access to cardboard boxes had less stress, adapted to their new situations better and showed faster recovery time from necessary medical care, too. 

 

So, when your cat claims a box for his own, it might be a good idea to let him have it!   CLICK HERE to read more about this research.