IT’S grocery day today and when my human comes back, there are going to be cardboard boxes and paper bags to play with. I am very excited and I am all set to hear the sound of the car parking; and as the key turns in the door, I will be there to greet her, so close to her feet that she will worry about tripping over me or dropping groceries on me. Yes, that’s how life is for anyone with a pet cat.

We may appear mysterious, elusive creatures when we feel like it but when we want to, we are as friendly as puppy dogs. In fact, my friend Joji is so like a puppy dog in his ways that his family often calls him “Jojiii … puppy dog!” And although being called a puppy dog can offend him a bit, the love and affection it comes with makes him purr and blink at them lovingly.

Going back to the shopping, boxes and cartons, you may be wondering why I am so excited about boxes and bags. Well, we cats enjoy the comfort and security of a small confined space, it’s like a little den or cave for us. We often like to curl up in a small confined space to sleep, and why not? We sleep 18 — 20 hours a day, so it makes sense that if we’re going to spend that much time sleeping, we should do it in a place where we feel safe.

A box is a security blanket for a cat, and can relieve stress and anxiety.

We are attracted to boxes by instinct. We feel as though we are hiding from predators somewhere in the jungle and the other pleasure is that while hiding in there, we can spy on the world around us and pretend we are waiting for tiny birds or mice so we can attack then without them seeing us. Sometimes my human puts a little blanket for me in the box or drops a toy in there so it becomes a happy and warm comfort zone for me.

Paper is another fascinating invention for us cats. It intrigues us and as it makes a crunching sound and the texture is interesting. You can lay a piece of paper on the floor in a wide-open room, and your kitty will go sit right on top of it instead of sitting on the carpet next to it! When the paper loses it crunch, we reject it, so remember to change it often for your cat as no cat enjoys sitting on un-crunchy paper.

Sometimes we just don’t like you reading the newspaper. If you look at it from our point of view, our kitty minds think that you find the paper so interesting, you keep looking at it.

Makes us a teeny bit jealous and we jump on your newspaper so that you can look at us, make eye contact with us, pet us and tell us how beautiful we are. That is pure kitty thinking.

Some of us also like to nap on magazines, open books and even documents lying on the desk because paper helps us retain our body heat, and if it is hot around us, paper keeps us cool. And if they are your books or papers, it certainly makes a connection because we like to leave our scent on anything that belongs to you —makes us feel secure and happy.

I think I just heard my human’s car parking and when she comes inside laden with stuff, I can’t wait to get in the way, jump on the table and inspect the groceries and then play with boxes and bags. There’s always plenty to do between naps!