Why do cats sleep so much?

On the armchair, on the sofa, on the windowsill, by the fireplace, and next to the computer. Wherever it’s quiet, warm, and safe. Cats sleep an average of 15 hours a day, some of them can sleep up to 20 hours a day. Why so much?

Why do cats sleep so much?

Cats spend almost twice as much time sleeping as humans. Sleep duration may vary depending on age, size, and temperament, but that doesn’t change the fact that 2/3 of a cat’s life is a squinting life (only bats and possums sleep more than cats!). Let’s be more specific: many hours of a cat’s sleep are not a stone, uninterrupted sleep. Most of the time it is a nap, from which the animal can wake up very quickly.

Why is this? The cat is a predator, its instinct tells it to be alert and always ready to hunt its prey. When he takes a nap – which usually lasts between a quarter of an hour and an hour – he arranges his body in such a way that at any moment he can break away to attack. The deep sleep phase lasts about 5 minutes, after which the cat returns to its nap. And so on, he alternates until he is fully awake.

Many cat owners think their pet is active at night. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the night the cat sleeps, the most active being just after sunset and immediately before sunrise.

If the owners are away for most of the day, the cats spend that time sleeping. Sometimes the house cat has a habit of sleeping at night, which can be very uncomfortable for other residents. You can try to change this habit. Simply provide your pet with more intensive entertainment during the day – if he does not have the opportunity to take a nap during the day, he will have to regenerate his strength like the rest of the family – at night.

Weather changes can also affect a cat’s sleep. There are also other factors such as the breed, age, temperament, and health of the cat. Sleep duration also depends on whether the cat spends time indoors or likes to wander around the yard (indoor cats sleep much more).

Cats do not like to waste energy unnecessarily. The lifestyle of most cats is to sleep during the day, sleep at night, and be very active in the morning and at dusk. This is how they were programmed by nature as typical predators. A long sleep between times of increased activity helps them recover.

Do cats dream?

It is now believed that cats and dogs dream just like humans. A cat’s sleep is divided into three phases. Superficial sleep – is the most common. In the superficial sleep phase, the cat is very alert and ready to wake up at any moment. Most often, in this phase, the cat makes all the sound and gives the impression that it has closed its eye only for a moment.

The second phase is deep sleep. The cat, as a predator, even in this phase, is alert, but yet much more relaxed than in the phase of superficial sleep. The body is more relaxed and the senses do not register all external stimuli as clearly.

The third phase is the REM phase. In this phase, the cat sleeps very deeply – sometimes you can see small vibrations of the paws and hear murmurs. It is in this phase that your cat is most likely to have dreams.

What can a cat dream about? Probably, as with humans, during sleep, the cat’s mind processes what happened during the day, so we can assume that it often dreams about playing with its owners. It is interesting to note that cats never meow in their sleep – this activity is reserved for waking communication.

Where does the cat prefer to sleep?

Wherever it feels safe. For a cat, feeling safe is more important than feeling comfortable. That’s why we often see pictures of cats falling asleep in the strangest places, in even stranger positions. Most often, these are places where the cat is warm – he likes to nap in the sun, on a windowsill, near a radiator, on the warm lap and belly of his master. Th e position in which a cat sleeps says a lot about her. Most cats sleep curled up in a ball or with their paws curled up, looking like “bread. Does your cat sleep on her back, exposing her belly? Congratulations! This is a sign of great confidence. Only cats who feel very secure sleep this way.