The comfort of avoiding objects such as boxes is particularly important in stressful environments. For example, when a stray cat is brought indoors for the first time, the best way to release their fear and anxiety is to find a shelter.

Gabriella Smith, a doctoral student in comparative animal cognition at Vienna veterinary University in Austria, said that this behavior stems from a simple animal desire. We think it is a way of comfort. From an evolutionary point of view, it makes sense and lateral pressure is more comfortable.

The comfort of avoiding objects such as boxes is particularly important in stressful environments. For example, when a stray cat is brought indoors for the first time, the best way to release their fear and anxiety is to find a shelter. According to a research paper published in the journal PLoS One in 2019, Dutch scientists found that hiding ability is very important to reduce the stress situation of cats who have just arrived at the animal shelter. At the same time, researchers used the non-invasive cat stress score to measure the stress level of cats, which is based on the cat’s posture Sound, behavior and activity to assess the stress on the cat. The results showed that when the staff took away the shelter used by cats in daily life, they would overturn the litter box and hide under it.

Cats love the box far more than its three-dimensional structure. In 2021, Gabriella published a citizen scientist paper. She hoped the public would provide relevant data about cat experiments. The research report was published in the Journal of applied animal behavioral science, focusing on whether cats will sit on Kanizsa contour, Kanesha’s outline is taped to the floor to form a two-dimensional rectangle.

“Unlike an ordinary box, kanesha’s outline has no three-dimensional structure, but only a two-dimensional structure. Through this two-dimensional test experiment, it is an in-depth analysis of cat’s visual cognition and boundary perception,” she said The experimental results show that cats like boxes very much. They even choose to squat in a two-dimensional rectangular box.

People are probably most curious about why cats are so keen on boxes? One theory is that boxes can help them avoid dangerous situations, Gabriella said: “from the perspective of cat evolution, this view makes sense. When it needs to recognize that there are significant differences between the two things, it often chooses a compromise, because it doesn’t want any animals to go into the box and bring danger. At the same time, it’s safe to avoid dangerous situations such as suddenly falling into a cliff.”

Another possible explanation is that cats like boxes because they are ambush predators, which has not been scientifically verified. After all, all cat owners can prove that domestic cats usually like to hide their bodies with boxes, house corners and any covered objects before jumping on unsuspecting toys or humans.

Gabriella said: “when I play with cats, they do this. They like to hide behind some objects, and then suddenly jump out and jump over. If there are 3D objects as a cover, it makes sense and can be explained, but we don’t know why they like the two-dimensional rectangular structure on the floor?”

It is reported that cats are not the only cats that like boxes. According to the daily observation of zoo staff, large cats, including pumas, lions and tigers, usually like to live in box structures or play with boxes of various sizes. (Ye Qingcheng)

The comfort of avoiding objects such as boxes is particularly important in stressful environments. For example, when a stray cat is brought indoors for the first time, the best way to release their fear and anxiety is to find a shelter.

Gabriella Smith, a doctoral student in comparative animal cognition at Vienna veterinary University in Austria, said that this behavior stems from a simple animal desire. We think it is a way of comfort. From an evolutionary point of view, it makes sense and lateral pressure is more comfortable.

The comfort of avoiding objects such as boxes is particularly important in stressful environments. For example, when a stray cat is brought indoors for the first time, the best way to release their fear and anxiety is to find a shelter. According to a research paper published in the journal PLoS One in 2019, Dutch scientists found that hiding ability is very important to reduce the stress situation of cats who have just arrived at the animal shelter. At the same time, researchers used the non-invasive cat stress score to measure the stress level of cats, which is based on the cat’s posture Sound, behavior and activity to assess the stress on the cat. The results showed that when the staff took away the shelter used by cats in daily life, they would overturn the litter box and hide under it.

Cats love the box far more than its three-dimensional structure. In 2021, Gabriella published a citizen scientist paper. She hoped the public would provide relevant data about cat experiments. The research report was published in the Journal of applied animal behavioral science, focusing on whether cats will sit on Kanizsa contour, Kanesha’s outline is taped to the floor to form a two-dimensional rectangle.

“Unlike an ordinary box, kanesha’s outline has no three-dimensional structure, but only a two-dimensional structure. Through this two-dimensional test experiment, it is an in-depth analysis of cat’s visual cognition and boundary perception,” she said The experimental results show that cats like boxes very much. They even choose to squat in a two-dimensional rectangular box.

People are probably most curious about why cats are so keen on boxes? One theory is that boxes can help them avoid dangerous situations, Gabriella said: “from the perspective of cat evolution, this view makes sense. When it needs to recognize that there are significant differences between the two things, it often chooses a compromise, because it doesn’t want any animals to go into the box and bring danger. At the same time, it’s safe to avoid dangerous situations such as suddenly falling into a cliff.”

Another possible explanation is that cats like boxes because they are ambush predators, which has not been scientifically verified. After all, all cat owners can prove that domestic cats usually like to hide their bodies with boxes, house corners and any covered objects before jumping on unsuspecting toys or humans.

Gabriella said: “when I play with cats, they do this. They like to hide behind some objects, and then suddenly jump out and jump over. If there are 3D objects as a cover, it makes sense and can be explained, but we don’t know why they like the two-dimensional rectangular structure on the floor?”

It is reported that cats are not the only cats that like boxes. According to the daily observation of zoo staff, large cats, including pumas, lions and tigers, usually like to live in box structures or play with boxes of various sizes. (Ye Qingcheng)