Boxes Reduce Feline Stress
Are you one of the 58% of cat owners who give your cats Christmas or birthday presents? Were you disappointed when Fluffy ignored the wildly expensive cat toy in favor of sitting in the container came in?
It’s no surprise that cats love boxes and sacks. It’s long been suspected that kitties’ magnetic attraction to boxes is because they’re ambush predators. But cats are also prey, and boxes (or other cranny) offer a great place from which to bushwhack dinner and a safe place to get away from larger carnivores. But recently researchers have determined that boxes reduce feline stress.
In a 2014, behavioral biologist Claudia M. Vinke, Ph.D. headed a Dutch study about reducing stress in shelter cats. Vinke’s team gave boxes to some new cats being admitted to a shelter. A control group received no boxes. The study found that cats who received a hiding box recovered faster in a new stressful environment than cats without boxes.
In an email interview, Dr. Vinke said, “As behavioral biologists we are always eager to explain questions from the perspective of the biology of the species.”
She said in a stressful situation a cat’s first reaction is “to withdraw and hide. So quite probably, hiding is a behavioral strategy to cope with environmental, challenges and stressors.”
According to Dr. Vinke, as with many other species, fight is another coping option, but for the cat, fighting is a risky strategy. A cat risks becoming injured during combat. Dr. Vinke says, “The size of box doesn’t matter; it’s perceived as a safe hiding place.”
The study concluded that “the hiding box appears to be important enrichment for the cat to cope effectively with stressors in a new shelter environment the first weeks after arrival.”
Rescuers, shelters and vet offices, please take note: Your best feline enrichment and stress relief tool will be arriving at no charge with your next Amazon order.
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