Haiku by Cat: Another
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Today’s haiku is by Calvin.
Cats love to sit in boxes. Even big cats, like tigers.
But nobody knows why, unless he or she is a cat, and they’re not telling.
We humans have tried to understand this behavior by exploring the essence of boxness, exploring what “box” means to our feline friends. We’ve covered the topic at length here at Life with Dogs and Cats. (See Cats and Boxes: A (Not-So-Scientific) Study / Box Proclivity in Cats: Testing the IGNORE (Intention Gratification Negation Of Realization and Expense) Theory.)
But even that is somewhat baffling, as to some kitties, “box” can mean nothing more than four short cardboard walls — floor optional — as Athena has demonstrated by making herself comfortable within the two-inch-high walls of our Not A Box, a roughly rectangular cardboard shape that was used for packing material, but co-opted by the cat as A Place To Lie. Or exemplified by the cat that loved to sit inside a circle loosely drawn on the floor by a power cord.
I also believe that boxness is why a cat will sit on a single piece of paper — most often one you are trying to read at the moment — because it is different than the surface it rests on. Newspapers, magazines, and assembly instructions are nothing more than wall-less boxes.
Thus, box is in the eye of the beholder, open to as much interpretation as human artists might give when painting a landscape.
Box is within. Within a circle. Within walls. Within the borders of the book you’re reading. Within a laundry basket, bookcase, bag, or, yes, even an ordinary cardboard box.
Within the mind of each cat.
Which we will never understand.
Do you leave boxes out for your cat(s)? Or dogs? My dog Rosie used to love hanging out in boxes, and we used to keep at least one out for her at all times.
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Our favorite box is one made into a hiding place by covering with a t-shirt. The neck is the entry. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo and Cooper Murphy
That’s cool. I would love to see how you made that. Was it a pinterest idea?
We love boxes! And laundry baskets…’specially when they have clothes in them.
They are best with clothes in them. Clean clothes. So you can make them even better by adding cat furs.
Bear doesn’t like boxes at all. Kitty LOVED boxes and any time there was an empty (or mostly empty) box, you could bet she was in it!
Bear is the first cat I’ve ever heard of who doesn’t like boxes. Maybe he’s a dog in disguise?