Tried making a cardboard cat castle and my cat ignored it for 3 days, now she won't leave the thing

I built a 4-level tower with tunnels out of old Amazon boxes and tape, but she just stared at it until I threw a crumpled receipt inside, now she sleeps in there 8 hours a day - anyone else have pets that decide when cardboard creations are actually cool?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithg261mo ago

The crumpled receipt is the key here, that's her invitation. Cats have this weird thing where they need to see something of yours inside a new object before they decide it's safe or worth their time. My cat did the same thing with a cardboard box house I made, ignored it for a week until I dropped an old sock in there, now it's her primary residence. It's like they need a scent marker to confirm the cardboard is actually part of their territory, not just some random structure waiting to trap them. So yeah, drop a used sock or a piece of your mail in there next time, skip the receipt.

simonl861mo ago

Oh I gotta gently push back on the scent marker thing a bit, not totally though. Cats actually don't really need your scent to approve a box most of the time, they just like the shape and the crinkly sound of anything new. My cat once claimed a plastic takeout container within seconds just because it had a lid that made a crackling noise when she stepped on it. The receipt might have just been interesting because it was crinkly and had a fresh paper smell, not because it was yours. Scent marking is more about rubbing their face on it than finding your stuff inside, you know? They'll rub on anything new regardless of whether your old sock is in there or not.