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By Lucy Notarantonio
Senior Reporter
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Cat owners know all too well that getting a feline into a carrier can feel like an Olympic sport but one woman has found an unexpectedly simple solution, and the internet can’t get enough of it.
A TikTok video posted by @luna_the_shorthair_tabby shows her tabby sitting inside a clear storage box in the vet clinic's waiting room.
The clip captioned: "When you’re running late for the vets and your cat refuses to go in her carrier but she loves boxes," has earned more than 116,000 likes and 1.2 million views, striking a chord with cat owners everywhere.
Read More on Pets
According to pet food company Purina, cats’ obsession with boxes isn’t just quirky behavior—it’s rooted in instinct. Enclosed spaces give cats a sense of comfort and security, which is why a plain cardboard box can become their favorite hangout.
In 2014, research conducted at a Dutch shelter involved observing 19 cats for 14 days. Half were given a hiding box and half not.
The cats with hiding boxes showed noticeably lower stress by days three and four, and their stress levels were consistently low across the group. Cats without boxes displayed a much wider range of stress responses.
The findings suggest that providing a hiding box helps cats settle into a shelter environment more quickly, highlighting its value as a simple but effective tool for reducing stress during the crucial early weeks after arrival.
Researchers note that further study is needed to understand how hiding boxes work for group‑housed cats, their long‑term benefits, and whether they can help reduce disease outbreaks in shelters.
TikTok Reacts
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The video has received more than 630 comments, many from cat owners sharing their own carrier struggles.
"As the owner of two cats, I always wonder how many cat owners have to cancel their appointments because they can’t get their cats in a carrier," one user wrote.
Another commented: "I work at a vet clinic [and] had a lady bring her cat in a collapsible mesh laundry hamper."
A third added: "My mom used to be a vet tech and many people just bring their cats in pillow cases."
The owner replied: "Ooh that’s so smart."
Newsweek reached out to @luna_the_shorthair_tabby for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the case.
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