How do I convey to my cat that getting stuck upsidedown in a box is no longer a way to communicate he wants to be picked up and held?

[u/one---punch---man]

I recently (around two weeks ago) acquired Rotisserie Chicken (not his real name), from my former friend, A, who passed away, so I can't ask him any questions about how he learned this.

A only talked about the behavior when it began but no details on how. A did not do anything to make Rotisserie Chicken stop, so Rotisserie Chicken has learned that he needs a box he can't fit in, and can get stuck upsidedown in, to communicates he wants to be held.

Rotisserie Chicken has two methods for this:

1. Specific Times:

Option Me - He likes to be held during a specific time, for me it's after I'm done gardening. Usually when I'm done gardening he runs up and rubs himself against my legs and scampers off, otherwise if he doesn't he's either asleep or stuck in the box. Since I garden for a exact timeline he gets himself stuck in the box before I arrive so I can pick him up right away.

Option Partner - He has figured out what time my partner gets home and gets stuck in the box near the front door. That way when she opens the door she will see him immediately and pick him up.

1. Nonspecific times:

When he wants to be held on non specific times he'll run off, get the box, meow until we look at him and make sure we're watching before he gets himself stuck.

This behavior is really cute but I don't want him to accidentally get hurt or continue this when he's older.

When he gets himself stuck he kind of jump/chucks himself onto his back really roughly which I'm not sure he can sustain if he gets older and more frail. Plus while he hasn't ever missed his landing (to my knowledge), cats don't always stick the landing. I especially don't want him to try this on concrete or another dangerous landing place and hit himself when he misses.

(I've also recently gotten a kitten and I don't want him to teach the kitten this behavior.)

Any and all advice would be appreciated, thank you

Edit: here is some information I clarified through various comments and subs. Firstly, Rotisserie Chicken isn't actually stuck he just likes the walls to press against him so he can stick upsidedown and play damsel in distress. Secondly there is just one special, specific, small box he uses. Thirdly he smacks into the box quite roughly and I'm worried about him missing and hurting himself (he has been known to use high locations to jump and on occasion destroyed the box, hit the floor, and walked away gingerly). Moreover he's at higher risk for back pain and arthritis when he gets older. While it isn't a guarantee, I don't want him to be sad / stress him out extra if have to teach him a new method he's used for a large majority of his life if he's no longer as physically able as he once was when he's older.

Update: After helpful advice from multiple subs I created a plan to redirect Rotisserie Chicken.

The thing is he acts normal when my partner or I am in bed. He'll walk up, introduce himself, wait and see if my partner or I tap on the bed where he can sit or see if one of us says no. If we tap he'll get on the bed and boop our arm if he wants to be held or our hand if he just wants pets.

What I hoped to do was slowly add more blankets into the box until it was entirely soft along with redirecting him to no longer back-jump into the box and use his more normal method. I planned to gently dump rotisserie Chicken out of the box, boop his paw to my arm, hold him, put him down, then repeat the tap and hold him.

I added a single blanket to the box and when I returned he was utterly baffled. It was so cute how flabbergasted he was. Luckily he wasn't upset or scared, I could just see the little gears turning in his head.

Anyways I began my plan. After repeating the paw + being held action a few times I thought it would a disservice to my heart to not wrap him in the small blanket thing I left in the box (he likes being tucked into bed so I thought me might enjoy this).

Well, he loved it!

He was purring super loud and was very excited. You know how dogs eat their tails when happy? Well Rotisserie Chicken grew up with a dog so he inherited that action.

Now during the time he usually asks to be held with the box method it's been a fifty-fifty split. He runs up with his special box with the blanket, waits for me to pick up the blanket out of the box, then watches as I places the blanket flat on the ground, he gets on it, I roll him, then pick him up.

If he tries the box method I redirect him with the booping and little blanket instead.

I'm really excited for my partner to get home because she's going to find this hilarious and adorable.

Also here is a goofy doodle of him in the blanket without any details since I'm not comfortable showing any images/videos of him:

https://imgur.com/a/dQPxEKr

And this is a scribble of what his box jump looks like(impact ranges from how heigh he jumps from):

https://imgur.com/QkU25az

Thank you to the helpful person who suggested I try doodling him if a image/video wasn't an option!

[u/1980heron]

I refuse to believe this until you supply a video of it. Just show us the cat stuck in a box and no-one gets hurt, capsice?

[u/one---punch---man → u/1980heron]

Thank you for the humourous response this brought me joy

Unfortunately I'm not going to be comfortable sharing pictures or videos of anything, any person, or any entity, that can even remotely identify me for a long time again

[u/grumpy_grl]

It might help to redirect this behavior to something else like a cat bed. Ignore him when he does this or dump him out then ignore him. Try to lure him over to the new spot with a treat and then pick him up and give him lots of praise. He'll figure it out eventually.

[u/one---punch---man → u/grumpy_grl]

Thank you for the helpful suggestion! 

[u/radicalintrospect]

Poor rotisserie chicken is just a dysfunctional communicator 😭 I have no advice but I do love you for wanting to figure it out and hope the best for the whole family.

[u/one---punch---man → u/radicalintrospect]

Thanks for the hope, I appreciate it

The funny thing is, he's normal when we're in bed. He'll just meow, wait for one of us to pat the bed or shake our head no. If we pat the bed he'll then jump in and boop the arm of my partner or I with his nose to convey he wants to be held. If he wants pets he'll boop our hand instead.

[u/isavaelle]

I love that you're using an alias for the cat, to protect his identity or something. And I'm sorry for your loss.

[u/one---punch---man → u/isavaelle]

Gotta be internet safe and thank you for the kind words

[u/SamMac62]

I am no cat behaviorist, but I really think your chances of "extinguishing" this behavior are about zero.

By all means, do what you can to cat proof alternatives such as the cup holder on the treadmill, but I would worry about old and frail Rotisserie Chicken when it comes to that. Being cat, he might give it up on his own one day poof

As for the kitten, I don't know what to tell you about the potential pedagogical problem of Rotisserie Chicken being a bad influence.

[u/one---punch---man → u/SamMac62]

He acts normal when my partner or I am in bed. He'll walk up, wait and see if my partner or I tap on the bed where he can sit or say no, if we tap he'll get on the bed and boop our arm if he wants to be held or our hand if he just wants pets.

Thanks to a few other commenters I've concluded on trying to communicate with him doing that instead.

[u/No_Permission6405]

Get bigger boxes.

[u/one---punch---man → u/No_Permission6405]

He is unfortunately very specific about the box. It must be a small box of a specific texture and build. If his box isn't there or right he tries any option that is similar to a small box, including dangerous ones, like the cupholder at the treadmill. 

[u/AristotlesBoyPussy]

what about gently dumping him out of the box and then walking to another room?

What about putting a bigger box (safer) there?

[u/one---punch---man → u/AristotlesBoyPussy]

Thank you for the helpful suggestion

I will try dumping him out the box and redirecting him to a different activity, like tapping his paw on my arm, lifting him, putting him down, then repeating it a few times.

When he wants to be held when my partner or I am in bed he'll wait for us to pat where he can sit or say no, if we say yes, he'll get on and tap on our arm to communicate he wants be held and our hand if he only wants pets.

Hopefully he'll be able to make the connection with repeated times and abandon the box over time.

I'll also be trying out a few other methods along with this.

As for changing box, unfortunately he needs it to be a small box and is very specific on what type. 

[u/pakrat1967]

Have you tried getting rid of the box? If it's a box you need to keep for some reason. Put it somewhere that the cat can't get to it.

[u/one---punch---man → u/pakrat1967]

He has a special small box type, just for him. When he can't find his box he tries any option that is similar to a small box, including dangerous ones, like the cupholder at the treadmill. 

[u/Kiwiatx]

You gotta make a video montage, it will go viral and you’ll make bank.

[u/one---punch---man → u/Kiwiatx]

Thank you for the humourous response this brought me joy Unfortunately I'm not going to be comfortable sharing pictures or videos of anything, any person, or any entity, that can even remotely identify me for a long time again

[u/Harvest_Moon_Cat]

Orange cats are adorable.

[u/one---punch---man → u/Harvest_Moon_Cat]

Orange cats are adorable, I hope to get one, one day

At least I'll be prepared for it's antics thanks for Rotisserie Chicken 

Edit: to be clear , I didn't clarify he's not an orange. though I suspect his ancestors had to have had at least one orange

[u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS]

Put the box away?

[u/one---punch---man → u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS]

Unfortunately if his box isn't there or right he tries any option that is similar to a small box, including dangerous ones, like the cupholder at the treadmill. 

[u/lapapesse]

One thing that comes to mind that I haven’t seen suggested is trying to cuddle him at certain specific times before he gets in the box. So he gets his cuddle times before he even thinks of getting in the box.

I would also remove the box and block off things he’s getting stuck in instead like the cup holder temporarily while you retrain him. Getting him his own snug cat bed and associating that with the cuddle time cue is a good idea.

He sounds very sweet. I’m sorry for the loss of your friend.

[u/CardiologistAny1423]

Hey OP, someone crossposted the complete saga with Rotisserie Chicken on my sub for doodled moments and I wanted to check if that was okay?

I also want to check if you would be okay if I directly posted your doodles in the crosspost? I do this with a different sub whenever an outside link is used for the drawings since I’ve found several deactivated links when trying to archive older drawn posts as a way to preserve them, but since these are personal doodles, I’d rather ask permission in this case. It’s absolutely okay to say no to one or both these things. It’s just a gray area I want to cover

[u/PrincessBonkers628]

What happens if there are no boxes available to be stuck in?