Frequently Asked Question: How Much Do Cats Sleep?

2023 Author: Alex Livingston | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 11:39

Does our 4-legged friend spend hours and hours in his bunk sleeping? The question then arises: aren't you bored? Well no, everything is absolutely normal: let's see then how much cats sleep.

The feline instinct as a predator

If we choose to get a cat, we must consider its stronger nature: the feline predator instinct. The life of the cat is very much based on the desire to hunt and capture prey, of whatever kind they are.

A Street cat, after a long and tiring hunting, he definitely needs to rest: he will therefore look for a place to do it that is as comfortable as possible.

A domestic catlikewise, he will be driven by the exact same instinct, but his chances of hunting are quite different. Its prey will not be those it finds in nature, but its toys: soft toys, balls of yarn, moving objects that stimulate it.

In itself, then, the cat is a very curious and lively animal, which is always around looking for something: all this inevitably tires him.

And then the point is: it is generally normal that the cat sleeps many hours everyday? The answer is yes.

How long do cats sleep?

The cat always needs to retrieve all of those energies that it wastes chasing its eventual prey: but, where does it get them from? From sleep. So we ask ourselves: how long do cats sleep? How many hours should they sleep to feel fully rested and energized?

The correct answer is: cats sleep from 14 to 16 hours a day. The cat's sleep is generally very light, as he tends to be all the time traffic warden and pay attention to what happens around him: he must never miss anything and must keep everything under control!

There is, however, an important difference to consider: take a Nap is different from deep sleep and relaxed.

It is known that the cat (generally, but not always) has times when it is more lively, others less. Our feline friend is often referred to as a animal ‘ night': This is actually not entirely correct. Just because his eyesight is more developed in the dark doesn't mean he has to be considered as such.

The moments of the day in which cats are most active, in fact, are those in which the light is low, but not entirely absent, such as sunrise and sunset. Why all this? Here we connect to the idea that the cat is a predator and that, as such, it keeps awake when it knows it can find new prey to hunt.

For the rest of the day, if he doesn't play, he sleeps. When we find him curled up on a bunk, with his eyes half closed and half open and ears up, ready to hear any noise, we might think he is simply taking a nap.

Small movements of the tail will be an additional sign of the half asleep: why this light sleep? All this certainly allows him to stay alert and to be able to pick up any movement in the vicinity that may interest him.

Half asleep is therefore much more frequent than deep sleep and can last up to about 30 minutes: after which, gradually, we will move to heavy sleep which will always be very short. This is how the cat cyclically goes on all day.

Deep sleep, on the other hand, is truly relaxing for him. To understand if our friend is sleeping blissfully, it is important to note his too position: if he lies down, relaxed and completely abandoned, with his ears lowered and with some sudden jerking or movement of his paws, then he is truly in the farthest world of dreams.

Sleep is therefore a very important phase in the life of the cat. Let us always remember to give him due attention, to stimulate his intelligence and to play with him, making him move and run. Thus we could avoid boredom and the consequent desire to sleep more than necessary.