Why do cats hide under our bed? Because this particular place has many wonderful qualities, from the cat’s point of view.

No matter what kind of cat we have, or why they are hiding, under the bed always has first place in their hearts.

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Placement – Even human architects work on the assumption that our bedroom is our Human Sleeping Den. That is why they are usually sited far away from the house doors and away from high activity areas.

Defense – There is a moat of empty space between the cat and intruders. A certain size of intruder wouldn’t fit at all.

Remoteness – The cat has seen how often we normally go under the bed ourselves. It looks like a private kind of place in this most private room.

Alert System – Cats have wonderful sense-gathering organs. They can pick up vibrations of a floor being walked on long before the footsteps would reach the room’s door.

Field of View – Even if the bedspread reaches all the way to the floor, all around the bed, our cat can distinguish our movements from the shadows cast on the fabric. They can see us coming.

So even a cat who has never seen a bed before will make some instinctive judgments about what makes a place a good hiding place, and will arrive under the bed far more often than not.

We will find that as our cat increases in confidence and security, they can move to what is considered the best place to hang out; on our soft, comfy bed that smells of us.

This move is a great compliment, and we should treat it as such.

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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.