Why Cats Need a Place to Hide
A place to play when they’re curious. A place to retreat when they want privacy. Here’s why both belong in your cat’s home.
· By ITNaps
Your cat walks into a tunnel and stays there. No chasing, no dramatic pounce—just a quiet pause. A product designed for play can have a quieter job, too: giving a cat somewhere to withdraw from the room around them.
That changes what you look for in a hiding place. The question becomes less about how entertaining it looks and more about whether your cat can use it comfortably, leave it freely, and spend time there without interruption.
A little concealment has a purpose
The 2013 AAFP/ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines describe a safe place as somewhere private that a cat can retreat to. Enclosure and partial concealment can be useful features.
Research has also examined hiding opportunities in shelters. In a 2019 randomized trial with newly arrived shelter cats, cats given a hiding box showed a faster decline in behavioral stress scores than cats without one. The study concerned shelter boxes during quarantine, illustrating why access to a retreat matters when a cat encounters an unfamiliar setting.
A retreat works when the cat chooses it
Ohio State’s Indoor Pet Initiative describes a refuge as a quiet area a cat can enter and leave freely. Once the cat is there, people and other pets should allow that quiet time.
For a tunnel in a shared room, apply that idea with a simple household rule: a cat resting inside gets to stay there. Keep hands out of the openings, and let children watch from a little distance. If you need to invite the cat over, do so from outside the tunnel rather than reaching in to retrieve them.
What the tunnel adds to an open bed
The ITNaps Cat Tunnel Bed places a structured tunnel around a removable central cushion. The two areas offer different physical experiences: an open place to settle on the cushion, and a covered route around it.
The tunnel’s internal support helps it retain its shape. There are two openings on opposite sides; the mesh panels on the other sides are windows, not additional exits. That distinction is useful when deciding which way to position the bed.
Before choosing a spot, measure its 75 × 75 cm footprint on the floor and then add space beyond both openings. The footprint tells you where the furniture fits. The extra space tells you whether your cat can approach it and walk away without squeezing between it and a cabinet.
Make room for your cat’s actual preferences
Watch which part your cat uses. Do they pause inside, stretch across the cushion, or walk through on the way to another favorite spot? Those observations are more useful than trying to produce a particular scene.
Check the 21 × 14.5 cm openings against your cat’s build, too. Our Cat Tunnel Bed size guide shows the measurements to consider before choosing. Comfortable entry matters more than matching a weight range alone.
For the first few days, keep the setup simple and give the new object time to become ordinary. Our introduction guide offers a gentle starting point.
A useful retreat does not need constant activity around it. Sometimes the clearest sign that a space has found its place in the home is a cat doing very little inside it.
For a home with more than one cat, see why two usable exits matter.