h/t: Grania
Speaking of luxurious cat furniture. . .
May 3, 2013 • 4:34 am
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
h/t: Grania
Yep, and the cat sits on the boxes, naturally.
Ain’t it the truth! They just LOVE boxes!
Love that box
Love that box 2
Jerry,
Having seen both domestic and big cats in boxes, surely there’s a research paper or two in this trend. Since the only common ground is (a) cats and (b) boxes, and since cardboard boxes aren’t familiar items in the evolutionary history of cats, what’s the driver for this common behaviour behaviour?
You can have the same thing with gerbils in less space (yeah, I know, they’d shred the box). Conversely, will cats use a large version of a gerbil running wheel?
My guess would be the denning instinct. In the wild, cats find a safe, enclosed place to have their litters. A small cave, a hole in a rock pile, space under a fallen tree all provide safe haven. Domestic cats probably like boxes for the same reason. The denning instinct also is in play when cats hide under the bed to get away from scary noises and unfamiliar people.
Oops, this is in reply to #3, Ron Murphy.
You know, that’s one thing you can say about our cat overlords: generally speaking, they’ve got inexpensive tastes. Buy them expensive kitty health food, and they turn up their noses at it and prefer the rank cheap stuff. Buy them a cute cat toy, and they ignore it for a crumpled up piece of paper. Buy them expensive kitty play furniture and they prefer cardboard boxes and grocery bags.
Or perhaps this is just their way of letting us know our pathetic little offerings can never be good enough…
No, no, no. You’ve got it all wrong. Cats often have very expensive tastes. The reason they don’t play with the nice toys you buy for them is because you want them to.
You see, what really turns a cat on is fucking with you. One classic tactic they use to do that is to ignore the things you want them to play with and instead take every opportunity to play with those things that you don’t want them to play with. The level of fun for them is directly correlated to how animated your response is.
I’ve had a box from a DVD player on my end-table for over a year. Any attempt to move it is met with a stern lecture.
Looks like an ocicat. My (former) cat looked just like that.
After I saw this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpiaKul6YQk), I realized that cats have a totally different definition of comfortable.
Hey where is this cat tower from? Never seem this type with paw print logos on it
Cat logic works for small children, too. Yes, my children played with large cardboard boxes when they were small, instead of pink and green plastic objects purchased at Toys R Us.
Beneficial for children & cats. (And the boxes are recyclable!)