One of the many strange behaviors cats display is their desire to sit in squares. There was a time when many social media posts were about cats sitting in taped squares on the floor. Try this with your kitty too. All you need to do is take pieces of red tape and stick them on the floor in the shape of a square.
Observe what your frisky pet does next. Should yours be a multi-cat household, then expect double the fun. Watch how many kitties take refuge in the squares while the rest ignore the red boxes. Also, there is no ruling out fights and brawls when there are fewer squares, and many kitties are vying to occupy them.
Bites, scratches, and accidental injuries are possible in such circumstances, and if it gets really heated a vet visit is inevitable. Although cat insurance can help deal with unanticipated vet bills, that is no reason to allow your fluffy furballs to continue to engage in a heated brawl.
If you haven’t bought pet insurance already, contemplate purchasing a policy, so no munchkin goes without medical help during distressing health situations and emergencies. In the meantime, read this article to learn why cats love sitting in squares.
Why?
Note that cats love to take shelter in squares, whether two-dimensional taped ones or three-dimensional cardboard boxes. Feline fur babies like to squeeze themselves into tight spaces because those spaces offer them much-needed security.
Open spaces can be potentially risky because there is no way to predict from which direction somebody is going to ambush them. On the flip side, enclosed spaces offer limited options to predators, bigger animals, and cruel people to attack.
Plus, the external threats will have little choice to get to the cat in the box but from the front. This way, the cat is well protected from the back and sides and can quickly pounce when it senses danger. Also, this guarded place allows the cat to watch the things happening around it without getting involved.
At the same time, know that mother cats prefer birthing in compact spaces. This ensures the safety of the young kittens and makes it easy for the mamma cat to care for them. Baby cats accustomed to sleeping in small spaces with their mother and littermates may feel comforted when they nap in boxes as adults.
So, although a square has no walls, kitties can find it comforting to stay inside them. In a cat’s world, being in a square is better than nothing at all. However, if a kitty ignores the squares on the floor, the cat is probably brave enough to roam around openly.
In a multi-cat environment, it is always best to provide all kitties with equal resources regardless of their importance. Give every cat a box so it can retreat into its safe zone when stressed out or take a peaceful nap without being bothered about pesky animals and people disturbing it.
Still, you can expect fights for silly reasons, like one cat trying to infringe on another cat’s resource even when it has its own. Consider being prepared with a medical financial backup in terms of cat insurance so that dealing with unexpected health scenarios and emergencies is less financially cumbersome. Pet insurance covers a furball’s testing, treatment, and medications during accidents, injuries, particular illnesses, and more, which is why you must contemplate purchasing a policy.
