Cats love having places to hide, and that’s one reason they like boxes so much. Boxes also have unfamiliar smells and are an unfamiliar sight, so they’re new places for your cat to explore. But sometimes, just leaving a box out is kind of boring. If you have several boxes, plus some masking tape, you can make cat houses out of them.
How do you make cat houses out of boxes?
Temporary cat houses are easy to make out of boxes. We just made one out of three delivery boxes. Two were taped together, with a hole cut in one of them to serve as a doorway between the two “rooms.” There’s a third box up on top, with holes cut to serve as a hatchway between the two. The box on top, and one of the boxes on the floor, also have holes that serve as entries and exits.
Most cats like enclosed spaces, and cat houses are a more interesting way to cater to that desire. Petplace says that small, snug places often make cats feel more secure. Things like boxes, laundry baskets, drawers, and more all fit the bill of a small, snug, defined place.
How our cats handle these kinds of cat houses
Of all the cat houses we’ve ever built, this is probably the most complex, and our cats don’t seem to know what to make of it just yet. Kali‘s been inside, and explored as much as she felt she needed to, but she never tried to get out the upper exit. She just pokes her head through the holes and hatchway, and looks at us.
We had to coax Aria to go in, and then she just turned around and came right back out. She wasn’t too fond of it, but that could have something to do with Kali sticking to her when she went inside.
Chase doesn’t even seem to want to go in, but he’s got problems with enclosed spaces when he’s not sure if he’s got a clear exit. Cat houses like this can be confusing at first, and it takes some exploration to find all the ways out. Chase needs his escape routes clearly marked.
We haven’t tried it with Gizmo, yet, but Gizmo loves places like this. She might go in and have to be coaxed out!
It’s important to remember that these cat houses are strictly indoor-only. If you’re looking to build outdoor cat houses for stray and feral cats, click here. Houses made out of cardboard boxes aren’t sufficient for the elements; however, if all you want is to make new hidey-holes for your cat inside, build some temporary cat houses out of boxes, and see what happens. You never know, it could become your cat’s favorite place.
