Nest

– Cat seems to have taken a shine to boxes all of a sudden.
– How do you mean?
– Cardboard boxes. She likes to sit inside them. When they fit, obviously. We're talking shoebox size here, not anything too small.
– Like egg boxes.
– Egg boxes are far too small. And would be uncomfortably shaped, even if they were bigger.
– You must buy a lot of shoes.
– No, hardly ever. I just happen to have received a few parcels recently in similar-sized boxes. When I leave them on the floor, Cat sits in them.
– Perhaps try not leaving them on the floor.
– I know. But I feel her life must be fairly empty and uneventful at the best of times, so I don't want to deprive her of one of her few innocent pleasures.
– But you then have a living-room floor littered with shoebox-sized boxes.
– Yes. I know.
– Isn't her cat bed the same sort of size? And soft and cosy to boot?
– She seems to have lost interest in her cat bed. I don't know why.
– Perhaps it's a subtle signal to you that it could do with a wash.
– Do you think so? I mean, not that you agree it needs washing, but that you think Cat would feel aggrieved enough to drop a hint in this way.
– You should never underestimate the way cats think. They may appear flighty, fickle, unable to concentrate fully on a matter of importance for any length of time, yet underneath it all they can be quite single-minded when they want to be.
– But what should I do about the cardboard boxes?
– Try reasoning with her. Slowly remove one box a day and see if she notices. I'm sure cats can't count. At least, not very well.