Why This Matters
Where This Started
Rescues kept telling me their cats loved Hide & Scratch boxes — and that Hide & Scratch boxes were on their Amazon Wish Lists. That was amazing to hear... until I thought through the drawbacks of making donations through Amazon.
Three problems that needed fixing:
1. Shipping eats half the donation — When someone buys a single box, shipping costs account for over 50% of the price. The box is $20, shipping is close to $10. Very little value actually reaches the rescue.
2. Amazon pockets the shipping savings — When someone donates multiple boxes through Amazon, they ship them together — but Amazon still charges ~$10 per box in shipping fees. So for two boxes, that's $20 in shipping charges when it actually only costs ~$12 to ship them together. And guess who keeps that extra $8? Amazon!
3. Anonymous donations — Rescues never know who donated, so they can't say thank you, provide donation receipts, or keep supporters engaged.
Give a Cat a Box fixes all three.
Hide & Scratch ships donations directly. When you donate multiple boxes at once, shipping costs get spread across your entire order — so the per-box price drops significantly. That's where the real savings happen. (A full case drops to just $10/box!) And this program connects donors with the rescues they support, so you can hear back from them and they can keep you posted on the cats you helped.
This is a sustainable program. Hide & Scratch makes a modest profit to keep it running long-term. But by shipping directly and pricing to reflect real shipping costs, donor dollars go much further than buying from a wishlist.
Questions? Contact giveacatabox@hideandscratch.com