Many years ago my wife and I would sometimes cat sit for a neighbor who had nine cats but I rarely saw more than two. She had one cat that was friendly, one cat that was curious but shy and seven cats that hid under the bed. I tried looking for them a few times but never saw them until I realized they were up inside the box spring of her bed.

That was new to me then but I have since learned it is common with timid cats. None of our cats did that until we got Flash. Years later, Puck would make himself a home in our box spring. It is something that I accepted but never liked for a couple of reasons.

I think a timid cat should not be encouraged to hide. I also don’t think he should be forced into an uncomfortable situation but hiding places should probably be closer to areas where family activities are going on. Those hiding places should also be within reach of human hands. Also, If there was ever an emergency, like a fire, retrieving a cat from inside the box spring would be an impossible task. Even during non-emergencies, like a scheduled vet visit, it would be a huge pain to take the bed apart to get your cat.

During our last move, my wife thought of an ingenious way to keep Puck out of our box spring. I took a picture of it at the time and then forgot about it until now.

She placed an old fitted sheet over the bottom of the box spring. It covered the holes that Puck had created and, since the material is a bit stronger than the cheap felt that is on most box springs, making new holes is more challenging. Puck still hid under the bed after that but he never again got up inside of our box spring.

What do you think? Do you have cats that do this?