Why do cats like cardboard boxes?

On 9/15/2013 2:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...
On 9/14/2013 7:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:

As my cats could go out, probably cardboard boxes were boring. I thought
they'd like them but no.
For an indoor cat, different.



All my cats have been in-door/out-door cats, some have been fascinated by
boxes, some have not been able to see the point ;-)

It was a bit disappointing, I got them two boxes and hoped they'd be
delighted and jump in and out of them. They weren't and didn't. Ah, well..
I did try.
They never played with toys either even when I encouraged them by flipping
them about.
Or the cat tree with sisal on for them to claw at for that matter.
I just assumed they didn't need them as they could claw the trees in my
garden (Boyfie often does) and could hunt, thus making pretend prey
redundant.

Most of my cats have loved pretend prey, even though they hunt
regularly. They also use a scratching post. The lesson here is that
trying to draw any conclusions about cat behavior is difficult ;-)

"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...
On 9/15/2013 2:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...
On 9/14/2013 7:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:

As my cats could go out, probably cardboard boxes were boring. I
thought
they'd like them but no.
For an indoor cat, different.



All my cats have been in-door/out-door cats, some have been fascinated
by
boxes, some have not been able to see the point ;-)

It was a bit disappointing, I got them two boxes and hoped they'd be
delighted and jump in and out of them. They weren't and didn't. Ah,
well..
I did try.
They never played with toys either even when I encouraged them by
flipping
them about.
Or the cat tree with sisal on for them to claw at for that matter.
I just assumed they didn't need them as they could claw the trees in my
garden (Boyfie often does) and could hunt, thus making pretend prey
redundant.

Most of my cats have loved pretend prey, even though they hunt regularly.
They also use a scratching post. The lesson here is that trying to draw
any conclusions about cat behavior is difficult ;-)

Yup. I always figure that anyone who starts a sentence with "Cats like ..."
or "Cats don't like ..." hasn't known very many cats.

Joy

On 9/16/2013 5:52 PM, Joy wrote:
"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...

Most of my cats have loved pretend prey, even though they hunt regularly.
They also use a scratching post. The lesson here is that trying to draw
any conclusions about cat behavior is difficult ;-)

Yup. I always figure that anyone who starts a sentence with "Cats like ..."
or "Cats don't like ..." hasn't known very many cats.

Joy

I've only ever been around Persia. I know she loves boxes. We've all
seen videos and heard comments about cats and boxes over the years. But
I agree, you can't sum up cat likes or dislikes in a few sentences.

Jill

Christina Websell wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 9/13/2013 6:03 PM, Rusty wrote:


http://www.theweathernetwork.com/new...xplains/12698/

Winnie

Too funny! Big cats like boxes, too! Thanks, Winnie.

Jill

Neither of my cats, KFC (RB) or Boyfie were ever interested in cardboard
boxes. After hearing on here what a success they were I got them two.
I thought they'd have a great time jumping in and out of them. Both said
"why are those things on the floor? they are in the way"
I left the boxes there for a couple of weeks, but they never embraced the
spirit of it.
Could this be an indoor/outdoor cat difference?

Could be. Although I've seen photos of cats sitting in boxes outdoors,
so maybe not.

Maybe it's because you got the boxes *for* them, intentionally? We all
know that cats turn up their noses at things we bring home expressly for
them. Usually the situation is that someone orders an expensive toy or
cat bed, etc, and the cat ignores it and plays in the box it came in. But
in your case, you gave them boxes, so I guess they had to ignore those.

--
Joyce

He spent one-third of the time telling me about the musical he was writing about raccoons, one-third of the time talking about C++, and one-third of the time demonstrating the plot of Othello using the salt and pepper shakers.
-- A Treasury of the World's Worst Online Dating Stories

Matt Ferrari wrote:


"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...
On 9/14/2013 7:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:

As my cats could go out, probably cardboard boxes were boring. I thought
they'd like them but no.
For an indoor cat, different.



All my cats have been in-door/out-door cats, some have been fascinated by
boxes, some have not been able to see the point ;-)

--
Nik Simpson


Goofy can't resist an empty box

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/...ps74cd115c.jpg

Oh, I don't know. That box is much too big for him. He's not squished into
a box 1/3 his size, so that he droops over the edges like a muffin.

--
Joyce

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me,
for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me
the hell alone. -- Unknown

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 9/16/2013 5:52 PM, Joy wrote:
"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...

Most of my cats have loved pretend prey, even though they hunt
regularly.
They also use a scratching post. The lesson here is that trying to draw
any conclusions about cat behavior is difficult ;-)

Yup. I always figure that anyone who starts a sentence with "Cats like
..."
or "Cats don't like ..." hasn't known very many cats.

Joy

I've only ever been around Persia. I know she loves boxes. We've all
seen videos and heard comments about cats and boxes over the years. But I
agree, you can't sum up cat likes or dislikes in a few sentences.

Jill

I've had indoor/outdoor cats who liked boxes. My two current indoor cats
don't seem to be at all interested.

Joy

"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...
On 9/15/2013 2:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...
On 9/14/2013 7:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:

As my cats could go out, probably cardboard boxes were boring. I
thought
they'd like them but no.
For an indoor cat, different.



All my cats have been in-door/out-door cats, some have been fascinated
by
boxes, some have not been able to see the point ;-)

It was a bit disappointing, I got them two boxes and hoped they'd be
delighted and jump in and out of them. They weren't and didn't. Ah,
well..
I did try.
They never played with toys either even when I encouraged them by
flipping
them about.
Or the cat tree with sisal on for them to claw at for that matter.
I just assumed they didn't need them as they could claw the trees in my
garden (Boyfie often does) and could hunt, thus making pretend prey
redundant.

Most of my cats have loved pretend prey, even though they hunt regularly.
They also use a scratching post. The lesson here is that trying to draw
any conclusions about cat behavior is difficult ;-)


g Isn't it just? But it's so disappointing when, trying to be the
perfect meowmie, you get them all the toys, boxes, scratching posts you
think they'll love, and then they just sneer at them. sob
One of the toy mice I got looked like a real one and I put it on the floor
downstairs when Boyfie was in bed. He came downstairs after his nap and
jumped on it immediately, catching it with a claw and throwing it into the
air. When it came down, all I can say that he was disgusted by my
subterfuge, he stalked off saying "catch your own mice from now on" it
seemed to make him feel like a fool so I haven't tried it again. Maybe
that's anthropomorphic, but he seemed to be cross about being taken in by
this very realistic toy mouse when he has firmly rejected toys for whatever
reasons of his own.
Kitty FC would rather say "Oh, do just **** off with your stupid boxes and
toys!"
Toys haven't gone well here :-(

Tweed

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...
On 9/15/2013 2:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Nik Simpson" wrote in message
...
On 9/14/2013 7:52 PM, Christina Websell wrote:

As my cats could go out, probably cardboard boxes were boring. I
thought
they'd like them but no.
For an indoor cat, different.



All my cats have been in-door/out-door cats, some have been fascinated
by
boxes, some have not been able to see the point ;-)

It was a bit disappointing, I got them two boxes and hoped they'd be
delighted and jump in and out of them. They weren't and didn't. Ah,
well..
I did try.
They never played with toys either even when I encouraged them by
flipping
them about.
Or the cat tree with sisal on for them to claw at for that matter.
I just assumed they didn't need them as they could claw the trees in my
garden (Boyfie often does) and could hunt, thus making pretend prey
redundant.

Most of my cats have loved pretend prey, even though they hunt regularly.
They also use a scratching post. The lesson here is that trying to draw
any conclusions about cat behavior is difficult ;-)


g Isn't it just? But it's so disappointing when, trying to be the
perfect meowmie, you get them all the toys, boxes, scratching posts you
think they'll love, and then they just sneer at them. sob
One of the toy mice I got looked like a real one and I put it on the floor
downstairs when Boyfie was in bed. He came downstairs after his nap and
jumped on it immediately, catching it with a claw and throwing it into the
air. When it came down, all I can say that he was disgusted by my
subterfuge, he stalked off saying "catch your own mice from now on" it
seemed to make him feel like a fool so I haven't tried it again. Maybe
that's anthropomorphic, but he seemed to be cross about being taken in by
this very realistic toy mouse when he has firmly rejected toys for
whatever reasons of his own.
Kitty FC would rather say "Oh, do just **** off with your stupid boxes and
toys!"
Toys haven't gone well here :-(

Tweed




Nor with our cats. There is one noisy kind of toy mouse they have, with a
bell in it, which Edgar likes to bring to our bedroom and throw up in the
air and catch, except that he only does it at 3 am, and when he wakes us up
I throw the mouse downstairs and Edgar goes to sleep.

Agatha, OTOH, sometimes takes a small pebble of kibble or a treat and makes
a football out of it, chasing it around the room and kicking it around. If
it slides under the fridge, she goes off and takes a nap. If it does not,
after a few bouts of kicking her new football around she pounces on it, eats
it, and then takes a nap.

Otherwise, they seem to have no use for most of the toys we got them.

Jay

"Bastette" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 9/13/2013 6:03 PM, Rusty wrote:


http://www.theweathernetwork.com/new...xplains/12698/

Winnie

Too funny! Big cats like boxes, too! Thanks, Winnie.

Jill

Neither of my cats, KFC (RB) or Boyfie were ever interested in cardboard
boxes. After hearing on here what a success they were I got them two.
I thought they'd have a great time jumping in and out of them. Both
said
"why are those things on the floor? they are in the way"
I left the boxes there for a couple of weeks, but they never embraced
the
spirit of it.
Could this be an indoor/outdoor cat difference?

Could be. Although I've seen photos of cats sitting in boxes outdoors,
so maybe not.

Maybe it's because you got the boxes *for* them, intentionally? We all
know that cats turn up their noses at things we bring home expressly for
them. Usually the situation is that someone orders an expensive toy or
cat bed, etc, and the cat ignores it and plays in the box it came in. But
in your case, you gave them boxes, so I guess they had to ignore those.

Of course, but I'm not sure how they'd get a box if I didn't. I gave up
the idea of boxes, toys and sisal posts and stopped trying to be that
perfect meowmie who provides everything.
They didn't want me to, apparently they could both entertain themselves
without my help.

Before I adopted KFC, I thought she belonged to someone else in the
neighbourhood, and indeed she did. I would often find her around my chicken
huts, mousing to her heart's delight and sometimes she would climb up on my
shoulder "helping" me with the chicken feeding and I would let her ride
there.

Well, she moved in, pretending to be a lost cat - it was years before I
found out that she wasn't, she just didn't like her home a few doors away.
TBH, I don't blame her, I wouldn't have wanted to live there myself.

Unlike Boyfriend who was genuinely lost, probably because he was a teenager
who hadn't had the snip and wandered too far looking for girls.
Or, he could have got into a delivery van and got taken out of his area then
got out.

I'll never know.
He landed lucky in KFC's garden and she brought him to me - why I don't know
as normally she wouldn't tolerate another cat in her garden. She was a
terrific fighter. Sally, the cat next door was unable to set foot in her
own orchard because KFC thought it was hers. Luckily my neighbour (who
lived where my awful neighbours are now) was very good about it.
He said "cats set their own boundaries"
so we never fell out about KFC smashing poor Sally up when she had the
temerity to wander in her own orchard.
KFC & Sally often had a stand-off, when they yowled and did those big slow
steps around each other, neither wanting to back down.

Sally always backed down even though she was a lot bigger.
It was a sad day when I drove her dad to the vet to send her to RB. She'd
been sitting on the drive not being herself, crouched, and after some tests,
she had liver cancer.
Her meowmie wanted to have her back home and nurse her. I understood that
but managed to persuade her not to.

Tweed