Today’s Zippy:
(#1)
Zippy finds cardboard boxes aesthetically satisfying as well as soothing to crouch in.
Zippy praises the boxes of Uline — a huge company with an enormous inventory. From Wikipedia:
Uline is a distributor of shipping, industrial, and packing materials to businesses throughout North America. Uline offers over 30,000 products in stock, including corrugated boxes, available in more than 1,350 sizes.
… Uline was founded in 1980 by Dick and Liz Uihlein and originally distributed a single item, a carton sizer. Dick and Liz Uihlein started their business in their basement, although the company has grown to now employ more than 4,500 people.
(The company is named for its founders, in a spelling that people will find easy to cope with.)
Zippy isn’t the only one who likes to sit in boxes. Note my posting of the 11th on claustrophilia, which refers to a paraphilia, but also to a simple pleasure provided by being in an enclosed space, like Zippy’s in his cardboard box.
And then there are cats, like this kitten:
(#2)
From I Fucking Love Science, by Stephen Luntz on February 9th: “Why Do Cats Love Boxes So Much?”, about cats and their hiding boxes:
Veterinary scientists from the University of Utrecht have answered the question we have all been asking, “Will a hiding box provide stress reduction for shelter cats?” They provide their answer in Applied Animal Behaviour Science.
Spoiler warning: The answer is yes. In the authors’ words, “The application of hiding boxes decreases stress in shelter cats, at least on the short term.”
And this is good for the cats: less stress means less disease.
Leave a Reply