Is the reason cats get into boxes because of the comfortable temperature?

The colder it is, the more cats want to get into boxes. While it's easy to dismiss this behavior as simply "liking small spaces," there's another often-overlooked reason: temperature.

According to the National Research Council (NRC) standards, a comfortable temperature range for cats is 30-38°C. This is considerably higher than the 20-25°C humans find comfortable. A living room set to 22°C with air conditioning would therefore feel a bit chilly to a cat. Veterinary fields abroad also point out that the room temperatures in many homes fall below the thermoneutral zone (comfortable temperature range), and it is possible that cats experience daily temperature discomfort.

When cats feel cold, they start looking for places to warm themselves. A sunny spot by the window, in front of the stove, under the covers, or on someone's lap. And as is well known, inside a cardboard box. Curling up, sleeping in an unusual spot – these signs of being cold are hard to notice unless you're consciously looking for them.

The reason cardboard boxes are warm lies in the structure of the material. Cardboard has a sandwich-like structure, with flat paper glued to both sides of a corrugated core, and many small air pockets are trapped within the corrugations. These air layers act as insulation, making it difficult for heat to pass through. This is why it feels completely different from the cool touch of metal or stone. When a cat gets inside, another mechanism comes into play. The cat's body heat itself accumulates inside the box, eventually creating a tiny greenhouse-like space a few degrees warmer than the outside air. The heat source is none other than the cat itself. This is how the phenomenon of a slightly warm interior of a box occurs even in a room without heating.

This "small greenhouse" seems to affect not only temperature but also psychology. A randomized controlled trial conducted at an animal shelter in the Netherlands reported that among newly admitted cats, the group provided with hiding boxes showed stable stress scores about 7 days earlier than the group not provided with boxes (Vinke et al., 2014).

This was a study comparing stress indicators based on behavioral observations of 23 cats. Interestingly, cats with a box did not stay cooped up; instead, they started exploring the room sooner. Having a small, enclosed space gave them the confidence to take that first step. Perhaps a cat's desire for a box is less about escaping and more about seeking a base from which to move forward.

Before turning up the heating, consider adding another place where your cat can warm itself. It's more efficient than raising the overall room temperature, and from a cat's perspective, being able to choose for themselves must be more comfortable. The Cat Cellar is essentially a piece of furniture that perfectly embodies the meaning of choosing cardboard as its material. With a presence that doesn't stand out in the living room, it serves as your cat's small greenhouse throughout the winter. Once you welcome it into your home, it can be used for a long time, and scratched surfaces can be replaced. Even when the seasons change, I believe it will be a worthwhile choice.

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※References:
National Research Council. Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats. National Academies Press, 2006.
Vinke, C.M., Godijn, L.M., van der Leij, W.J.R. Will a hiding box provide stress reduction for shelter cats? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 160: 86-93, 2014. DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2014.09.002