If you’re feeling groggy during the day, and a cup or several cups of coffee just isn’t doing the trick, you might resign yourself to a cat nap. As the name suggests, those kinds of power naps are reminiscent of the ways our feline friends seem to laze and doze their entire days away.
Sleeping may appear to be your cat’s favorite, or at least, most commonplace activity, and there’s good reason for it. Here's what to know about the ways cats sleep.
Why Cats Sleep So Much
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Whether they're domesticated or roaming through the wild, cats need sleep – and tons of it. The reason has been handed down through genetics, a lingering hereditary tendency passed down from the days when, instead of getting a bowl of kibble conveniently hand-delivered right to their mouths, cats had to prowl and hunt down all their food.
Because cats are natural predators, the amount of energy they expend to stalk and catch their prey has to be compensated, primarily through sleep. Cat naps can range from 50 to as long as 113 minutes, according to the Sleep Foundation. And, unlike their human counterparts, cats tend to sleep multiple times a day rather than in one long period at night.
Most cats sleep the majority of their day away, sometimes snoozing for even 20 hours. Baby kittens and older cats tend to sleep the most. But don’t mistake this behavior for lack of vigilance.
In the wild, while cats are certainly predators, they can also fall prey to even larger animals, higher up on the food chain. Cats can remain alert even in their sleep – three-quarters of their sleep is light – and you can tell, by the way their whiskers and paws might twitch or by the fact that they can even knock out sitting up. This extra precaution ensures they can respond quickly to any potential threats or disruptions, even if it’s just you. Tread lightly.
Read More: Can Cats Dream? What Do Their Sleep Patterns Tell Us?
Are Cats Nocturnal Animals?
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Cats are crepuscular predators, meaning they’re the most active in the moments before dawn and at dusk. They’re neither fully nocturnal nor are they diurnal like us, who go up and about in the daylight.
While their sleeping hours might not perfectly echo our own, however, cats undergo REM and non-REM sleep cycles just like we do. Non-REM sleep is when cats happen to be the most alert, even while unconscious, before they eventually transition into rapid eye movement and dreaming sleep, eyes darting back and forth behind closed eyelids.
Read More: 5 Animals That You'll Only Have a Chance to See at Night
What Cat Sleeping Positions Mean
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Nimble and almost impossibly stretchy, cats have been the source of plenty viral Internet jokes for their wacky sleeping and sitting positions. Some even suspect cats can fit so well inside tight bowls or boxes because they can enter a liquid state of matter. Really, it’s thanks to their flexibility, which unsurprisingly allows kitties to adopt a variety of sleeping positions in which they’re comfortable.
Certain positions, like curling into a crescent or ball shape, can help cats protect their vital organs from potential attacks, even while they’re out. Others, like the famous loaf, allow them to preserve and regulate their body temperatures, especially if it’s colder.
Sleeping positions that expose your cat’s vulnerable belly, such as when they’re spread out on their side or on their backs, allow them to cool down in hotter weather, while also demonstrating that you have their utmost trust and regard.
Other positions can just look funny. Take the monorail for example, which is when your cat nods off while sitting atop a higher perch, perhaps the back of your couch. This is another reminder that, as cute as they might be, your cat’s a natural-born predator, one that dozed off while surveying its domain and potential prey from up top – even if said prey are just some toys.
Read More: These Animals Get Creative To Get Some Sleep
Why Do Cats Sleep on You?
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Occasionally, you might catch your cat dozing off by your side or, even more adorably, right on top of you. There are practical reasons behind this, like they are gleaning all the heat they can from our human furnace bodies. It can also serve as a sign of affection, when cats seek safety in your steady breathing and heartbeat.
However, be careful not to hinge your sleep too closely with your pet’s. Not only do cats operate on a different sleeping routine than humans do, but studies have also found that sleeping with pets can negatively impact their owners’ sleep quality and health.
While there are many benefits in finding companionship with other animals, one study conducted in 2023 found that cat owners had greater odds of experiencing leg jerks compared to non-cat owners. (Likewise, dog owners, in that same study, tended to experience more difficulties falling asleep than non-dog owners did.) Researchers aren’t sure yet exactly why this is the case, but it may have to do with fundamental differences in our activity levels at night.
If you find your cat snuggled up with their paws over their eyes, it might be time to check your surrounding settings. Sleeping with their faces covered might be an effort to conserve body heat, or it could form a sort of sleeping mask, to shield your furry friend’s eyes from too much incoming light.
Read More: 10 Things You Have Always Wanted to Know About Cats
Is My Cat Sleeping Too Much?
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Much like how our bodies require different amounts of energy and sleep to function as we get older, so do cats. However, any changes in longtime habits can be a cause for concern, and the same goes for sleep schedules. A major shift in environments – like moving into a new home or encountering a stranger in their vicinity – can disrupt cats’ sleeping abilities.
However, vets caution you to keep an eye out on sudden or unusual changes in your pet’s sleeping patterns, as they could be symptomatic of underlying health conditions. Excessive sleep, for example, according to the Sleep Foundation, may be linked to kidney disease or hypothyroidism – a rare condition in which your cat’s thyroid isn’t producing enough hormones and can’t properly regulate its metabolism. (Though, this condition is often easily treatable with diet changes and supplements.)
Likewise, while most are innocuous and even cute, sleeping positions can also raise red flags about your cat’s health. If you find your cat falling asleep with its head pressed against the wall, according to vets, this is almost always due to some sort of health problem, like hepatic encephalopathy – a type of brain disorder caused by liver failure.
Next time you catch your furry friend mid-doze, remember the importance of knowing their habits well enough to notice if there’s a significant change. Then, take all the pictures you want, and perhaps you’ll be able to catch a dream or two.
Read More: How to Tell if Your Cat Is Sick
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
Seven River Animal Hospital. Understanding Your Cats Sleeping Pattern
Sleep Foundation. How Many Hours Do Cats Sleep?
Britannica. Why Do Cats Sleep So Much?
Experimental Neurology. The polycyclic sleep-wake cycle in the cat: Effects produced by sensorimotor rhythm conditioning
Human-Animal Interactions. The association of pet ownership and sleep quality and sleep disorders in United States adults
