When you think of what cats need, toys, scratching posts, and cat trees might be the first things that come to mind. However, a large-scale survey of 3,083 households in Brazil found that hiding places ranked higher than toys among the items cat owners reported their beloved feline companions "always use." Perhaps we've been slightly underestimating what's truly important to cats.
The term "cat enrichment" has become increasingly common in recent years. There are many options, such as introducing large cat trees, buying educational toys, or creating a viewing spot by the window. Many of you may have bought various items for your cat but felt it was hard to tell which ones were truly useful.
A Brazilian study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science in 2025 offers intriguing insights into this question. It involved an online survey of 3,083 cat owners across Brazil, meticulously analyzing what environmental enrichments they provided at home and how much their cats used them. The top items "always used" included playing with the owner (77.4%), protective nets for windows and balconies (72.7%), and hiding places (54.5%). These were followed by toys (46.0%) and scratching posts (36.7%). This suggests that more cats regularly use hiding places than toys or scratching posts.
Why Hiding Places Become a "Safe Haven"
The authors of the paper identify hiding places as "essential resources for cats to rest safely." Especially for multi-cat households, cats sensitive to sounds like visitors, vacuum cleaners, or thunder, and rescue cats newly arrived at home, a "small space where they can always escape to" seems to be a factor that alleviates daily stress. The study also confirmed a tendency for cats rated as "friendly" by their owners to use hiding places more regularly (correlation coefficient r=0.12, p≤0.001). This data indicates that hiding places function not only for timid cats but also for calm, people-friendly cats as a "place to maintain their own pace."
A point to note here is that this survey targeted cat owners in Brazil. Housing situations, climate, and cat-keeping culture differ from Japan, so the numbers cannot be directly applied to Japanese cats. However, the living environment, with a high proportion of strictly indoor cats (58.1%) and apartment dwellers (40.5%), overlaps significantly with urban areas in Japan. The paper also indicated that "cats living in apartments use a wider variety of items, including hiding places, as if to compensate for external stimuli." In living spaces with limited outdoor views, whether a cat can have a "place where they can switch their demeanor" might become even more important.
Cat Cellar's Role as a "Hiding Place"
furnya's Cat Cellar is often discussed as a scratching item, but feedback from customers who use it daily reveals another aspect. They describe how their cats "were relaxing inside before they knew it" or "calmed down by going in after visitors." The curved, wavy structure and the holes scattered throughout. This enclosed yet not entirely closed shape seems to create a space for cats where they can balance security and curiosity, "hiding yet still being able to see outside." We believe that the cardboard material absorbs sound appropriately and gently accepts body heat, making the "enclosed feeling" inside comfortable for cats.
As the Brazilian study showed, hiding places are one of the most frequently used enrichments in a cat's life. While we need to await future research to see if Japanese cats show the same tendency, the fact that "their own small space where they can always escape to" is used by many cats should at least serve as a guide when considering their living environment. If you've ever bought a toy only for your cat to lose interest in a few days, or found a large cat tree difficult to integrate into your interior, we hope you'll consider the Cat Cellar. Its function as a scratching post naturally comes into play as it's used daily as a hiding place. As furniture that quietly supports your cat just by being placed in your home, it can be a worthwhile choice.
If you have any questions about how to use it, please feel free to send us a message via our official LINE. Our customer support staff will respond.
※Reference: Gonçalves LS, Machado DS, Travnik IC, Sant' Anna AC. Types of Environmental Enrichments Offered for Cats and their Association with Housing Features and Cat Personality. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 2025. DOI: 10.1080/10888705.2024.2448339
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