Safe hiding spots?

Ellis75

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 23, 2020
Messages
60
Purraise
101
Hi all! My cat, an approximately two year old male, loves finding small, enclosed hiding spots. I don't have an issue with that, of course, but a couple of his favorite spots are in questionable areas. A while ago, he became obsessed with a corner of the kitchen that's under the cabinets; unfortunately, it's also next to the oven, so I kept blocking it off. He kept getting through, I kept blocking it again, until finally I managed to block it in a way that lasted for several months and he lost interest for a while. Recently, he broke through and has become obsessed again. He also recently discovered that the fabric bottom of the love seat has a hole in it and has been climbing up into the chair. Unfortunately, I can hear him scratching and biting the wood in there, and I've found a couple staples on the floor that I think came out of the chair, so I really don't want him in there either. I've put the chair on its side, with the hole too high for him to reach, until I can figure out a permanent solution, and he has been upset and managed to tear a small hole in the bottom of the chair to try to get back into it.

This is all a long-winded way of asking if anyone has ideas for safe, attractive hiding spots that might tempt him more than the less ideal spots? He has a covered bed that he loves, and he hangs out under my bed sometimes, but his interest in these other spots is obsessive at times. I think it's a combination of the darkness and the small space. I just made him a little covered house out of a cardboard box and he's dozing in there right now, but I don't think it's dark enough to hold his interest the way the other spots do. Does anyone have any spots they've made, or ideas to make the spots he does have more attractive?
 

Mr. Meow

Special needs cat expert.
Super Cat
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Messages
846
Purraise
2,630
Location
Ohio
Start by trying citrus scented items on those places you don't want him to be in. Could be a spray, could be a cleaning wipe, could be an air freshener, but most cats avoid citrus scented things.
As for good places, try a laundry basket filled with blankets.
 

Norachan

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
May 27, 2013
Messages
32,668
Purraise
32,854
Location
Mount Fuji, Japan
It sounds like he's a bush dweller rather than a tree dweller. A lot of my cats love their cardboard box shanty town on top of the wardrobe, but I have one or two who prefer to hide at ground level.

Cardboard boxes are great. Try putting a few behind your sofa or at the back of a closet that you can leave open for him. I guess the heat of the oven is what attracted him to his first spot under the kitchen cabinets.

If you really want to splash out you could treat him (and yourself) to a kotatsu.

Best Kotatsu Tables of 2021 - Traditional Japanese warm tables

They really are worth the money. My cats hibernate under our kotatsu all winter
 

Juniper_Junebug

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 21, 2020
Messages
626
Purraise
1,844
I sympathize. Despite my best efforts to close it off, my cat found the secret pocket under my sofa-bed that is meant to store sheets, within minutes of coming to her new home. (I put up with it because I don't use the bed function these days, and luckily, she doesn't really hide, she just amuses herself in small spaces). Have you tried taping a couple of the slender soda boxes end to end? And maybe putting that under a bed? Or what about several USPS priority mail boxes:

20210125_150716.jpg
 
Top