This is about giving your cat a really good present.
I recently wrote that YouTube was bad for cats. I still believe that. What I meant was that in general it is bad for cats because there are too many videos and far too many comments that demonstrate a disrespect for the cat. I think this undermines the cat’s status in society.
However, there are some good cat videos on YouTube, of course there are. This is one of them. Really good cat caretakers make them but even then you get idiot comments on YouTube. Sorry to go on about that but I think Google is too laissez-faire with respect to allowing rude comments.
How often do we give our cat a real cat present? A present that would have come from the mind of a cat; not something from the shelves of a megastore. A cat present that comes from hard labor! I have never done that and probably should have.
Ruth and Barbara gave the present of a cat enclosure to a bunch of cats. That’s a nice present too.
Here’s a tower of boxes present. Cats in general (Maru in particular) like or love boxes. They like to crawl into them. The person who built Rufus’s box tower is a really good cat caretaker. A role model it seems.
Why do cats like to get into boxes? It probably has something to do with feeling safe, hiding, protection. It think it is those sorts of emotional drives that are fundamentally at play. Cat play tunnels are based on similar cat behavior.
The only wild cat that comes to mind that has similar tendencies is the sand cat which lives in burrows under the ground. This provides protection in a landscape, the desert, that has little natural cover to protect a diminutive cat. Although all wild cats find cover near rocks or in dense undergrowth.
I’d like to thank Marc for finding the video and telling me about it.
I think the best present you can give your cat is your time spent with him. Rufus enjoyed “helping” his human make the box tower as much as he enjoyed the actual box fortress I’m sure.
This would not be a good present for Monty. He has a fear of corrugated boxes. When I brought him home from Animal Control they gave me a carrier which was basically a corrugated box with handles and air holes. He went to the vet in it until I found him a better carrier. Whenever I’m breaking down a box or getting rid of some old boxes Monty puffs and runs. I doubt he would go into a box willingly. He likes small spaces, but just not if they are made from corrugated boxes.
Thanks Ruth. I guess, like people, cats like different things. In general boxes are popular with cats. But not always. It seems pretty clear that Monty associates corrugated, cardboard boxes with an unpleasant experience.
What a lovely video a pleasure to watch and what a clever and kind man he is to do that for his cat, and how happy Rufus looked to be involved with it all.
This is the best ever. I think the video is going viral, as it should. Rufus was so happy, and had a hand in it beginning to end. You can see the quality of their relationship. I love it.
dw
Yes Rufus’s caretaker is one of the best! I love the way he talks to his cat, showing him the plans for the box tower….and what a tower it turned out to be! Any cat would love that, it’s such a good idea.
Yes we built a cat run for our ex neighbour, sadly it’s gone now as are all the cats and we still miss them terribly, but they did enjoy the run for a while so it was well worth it.
I think cats hiding in boxes is a throw back to the days of their ancestors living in caves, they only had one entrance and could guard that, no predator could creep up behind them.
I find it fascinating that cats thousands of years later still have the instincts of their ancestors, they are much cleverer than some people give them credit for.
I like the way he talks to his cat too. It is the right way to interact with your cat. The mood is right. He did a really nice job.
I love this video, it’s beautiful and very inspiring. I want to do the same for my cats as a weekend project. I think it does require some engineering. Best to do as this chap has done and make a plan on paper!