5 reasons why a cat sleeps next to its owner

Cats are interesting animals. They are quite independent, but at the same time insist on regular attention from their family members. They often sleep, but can be quite playful while they are awake. Sometimes they can be loud and annoying, and sometimes they can be sweet and cuddly. Luckily, most cats like to rest at night, just like their human companions.

Getting settled at night usually means going to bed. So, you might be wondering why your cat likes to sleep next to you every night. Is their own bed not comfortable enough? It turns out that cats like to sleep next to people for more reasons than comfort. Here are the reasons why your cat may like to sleep next to you at night.

They defend their territory

One of the main reasons why cats love to sleep with their owners is to protect their territory. They consider the entire house to be their territory, but they also take pride in being part of the family pack. So, when their family sleeps, they want to be there to protect them as part of their territory. Their most valuable "possession" is their people, so naturally they will want to be around you all night as well as during the day.

Pet behavior

If a kitten is used to sleeping in its owner's bed, this behavior becomes a bad habit for a domestic cat. It is difficult to wean him from getting into a person’s bed, although he has long stopped trembling and freezing. Having become an adult and independent (in his opinion), the cat still feels vulnerable during sleep. And since he sleeps most of his life, the owner’s smell calms him down and gives him a feeling of security. A person is many times larger than his pet, and the animal feels confident and invulnerable under his protection.

When settling down on a chair or sofa, the animal experiences similar emotions, but since the sheet and blanket smell most strongly of a person, the pet prefers to sleep on the bed.

There is also a scientific explanation for why a cat lies down on certain places on the owner’s body. Looking for the warmest place, the cat finds it where the person’s temperature is elevated. The disease always begins with inflammation and increased temperature in the diseased part of the body and neighboring tissues. If the owner has a stomach ache, the cat lies down in this place. They twist their knees - the pet curls up on its owner’s legs.

Some cat owners notice that after their cat sleeps in their bed at night, they feel much better. They are confident that the animal has cured or taken over their weakness. There is a logical explanation for this:

The cat has a placebo or zootherapy effect.
People experience the usual lack of sleep, and after getting enough sleep, they immediately feel good.

Unhealthy organs attract the cat with their warmth, and therefore he likes to sleep on the warmest part of the human body.

They like communication

Another reason why cats love to sleep with their human companions is that they love companionship, and having you go to bed every night is familiar to them. If you let your cat sleep with you even occasionally, it can quickly become a habit that's hard to break, especially on nights when you don't want her to sleep with you.

Where cats sleep: energy

Many people come and go to a house or apartment. Some are positive, others are negative. Both positive and negative energy gather in the room.

Places where biofields intersect attract cats. They try to choose similar points for sleep. The reason for the strange behavior of the animals is as follows:

The animal senses negative energy and tries to normalize it.
A negative biofield has a detrimental effect on a person. Cats try to draw out bad energy.
Cats convert negative waves into positive ones.

The animal often changes its sleeping place, following the sources of negative waves. Sometimes furry pets go to sleep on the table. According to the superstition, a cat lying down to sleep on the table after the guests have left means these people wish bad things to the inhabitants of the house. The pet tries to protect its owners by expelling negative energy.

Important! According to superstition, a cat sleeps on the table if someone in the household is at risk of illness.

If the owners spend a lot of time at the computer, the cat may choose a computer desk as a sleeping place, trying to attract the owner’s attention. Electrical devices emit electromagnetic fields. The pet chooses where magnetic fields intersect, warning the owner about the risk posed by the computer.

A cat sleeping on the table is not always a bad omen. Often the animal climbs higher for better visibility and control of the territory. To understand exactly why the cat sleeps on the table, moving the table to a different place will help. If the animal stops climbing onto the table, then the table was in a bad place.

Ways to get your cat out of bed

If you don't want your cat to sleep next to you every night, there are a few things you can try to get her to startle before bed. Start by simply asking your cat to get out of bed before bed. If this doesn't help, try the following options:

Move the cat bed . Remove a bedside table or place a TV tray next to the bed and place one of your cat's beds on top. Hopefully your cat will sleep in her own bed and feel as if she's sleeping in yours.
Close your door . Closing the bedroom door is a surefire way to keep your cat out of bed at night. They may meow and howl the first few nights, but patience and persistence on your part should curb the irritation and help your cat accept his nighttime reality.
Offer to a friend for the night . Give your cat a new furry bedtime buddy to cuddle with in bed. With luck, they will be satisfied with the warmth, friendship and security it offers.

One or all of these options may be right for you and your cat, so it's a good idea to try them all before deciding which ones are best for your family.

Cat and man

It is important for cats to take part in the life of the owner and be part of the events that happen. By lying down in a person's place, his clothes, or jumping into his arms, they feel in the thick of things, and with the help of smell they receive additional information.

When a cat rubs against a person and his things, she leaves her scent and accepts him as a member of her pack. Especially if the kitten was separated from its mother early, this is exactly how it perceives the person. The cat worries about him and if he senses problems in his body, he lies down on the weak spot, sharing his healing energy.

For reasons unknown to humans, a cat likes to fall asleep not in a cat house, but in a human bed or in a chair. Pregnant women most often experience discomfort when an animal sits on their stomach. They worry that the pet will cause harm by the pressure of its weight on the developing fetus. And some are afraid that the cat feels some kind of deviation. In fact, the animal is simply leaning against a warm and living place.

Final comments

Many people don't mind their cats sleeping next to them. However, not every cat owner feels the same way. I hope the information presented here will help you understand the reasons why your cat insists on sleeping with you and what you can do about it if you don't like it. How do you feel about cats sleeping with their human companions? Let us know what you think in our comments section.

Posted by Christian Adams An American expat living in Metro Manila, Philippines for over a decade, Christian is a lifelong cat lover and the proud father of two rescue cats, Trixie and Chloe. Both girls used to be among the crowds of homeless people who roam the cities and countryside. Three-year-old Trixie was rescued from a litter found under a neighbor's porch, and two-year-old Chloe was brought home by Christian's young son, Henry, who discovered the crying kitten in the parking lot.

Sleep norm for a cat

It’s worth starting with the fact that long sleep is considered normal for representatives of this species. Our pets are descendants of wild cats, and some habits remain in the blood of domesticated animals.

In nature, cats can sleep sweetly only after a successful hunt and on a full stomach. During rest, food is digested. If the animal is hungry, it falls asleep for a short time and sleeps restlessly.

In modern conditions of a comfortable life, pets do not need to spend a long time looking for food, because caring owners feed them regularly. The cat will spend more time digesting food, because he does not need to recuperate for hunting.

There is no single sleep standard for cats. It is believed that an individual can spend 12 to 16 hours sleeping per day. The duration of sleep depends on many factors: age, living conditions, temperament of the pet, health status and even its breed.

Age

The period of growing up requires an abundance of energy, so newborn kittens can sleep 20-22 hours a day, waking up only to snack. By three months they sleep 16-18 hours a day, and by the eighth month of life they begin to sleep like adults.

If you have an older pet over 8 years old, be prepared for him to spend more time sleeping to regain his strength.

Breed

Carefully bred breeds for domestic keeping are far removed from their wild ancestors and they retain less and less of the typical behavioral responses of a wild cat.

The British Shorthair, Maine Coon, and Siberian cats like to sleep longer. But emotional and active Abyssinians, Siamese cats, and Orientals will devote less time to rest.

Conditions of detention

In the cold season, animals tend to take a place near a heat source - they sleep better there, so their rest becomes longer. Some cats also react to the weather - when it’s cloudy outside, relaxation in the warmth lengthens. At the same time, if it is very hot outside, cats often rest for a long time, thanks to which they normalize their body temperature and cope with high temperatures.

If you pick up an animal on the street and are worried that it sleeps a lot, don’t worry, most likely, the pet is simply sleeping in a comfortable environment.

I invite you to watch a video that contains interesting facts about the duration of a cat’s rest:

Actions for drowsiness in kittens

In the absence of pathological reasons, you can ensure normal development of the baby and shorten the duration of sleep as follows:

choose the right diet;
avoid overeating or starvation;
protect from external noise;
arrange a place to sleep;
do not disturb during sleep;
watch out for small children who may harm kittens;
provide access to fresh air in the apartment or house;
carry out preventive protection against helminths and fleas.

If the cat constantly sleeps, looks sick, refuses to eat, or has other alarming symptoms, it needs to be shown to a veterinarian.

At an early age, not all animals are the same, even if they were born by the same mother. Strong babies quickly adapt to the external environment and new nutrition, while weak ones require more effort. If a kitten sleeps for a long time and plays little, this does not mean that he is sick. The main indicator of health is a good appetite. In this case, food should be nutritious and age-appropriate. Mature kittens aged about 4 months can sleep for a long time during the day due to their nocturnal lifestyle. If the baby is raging, rolling up rugs, at night, during the day he regains his strength. Purrs that live outside come into the house occasionally and sleep less than their indoor relatives.

Symptoms of diseases with drowsiness

A cause for concern is the baby's unhealthy appearance and passive behavior. Diseases can be identified by the following signs:

refusal of food, water;
dry or too wet nose;
lethargy;
limb weakness;
brittle wool;
increased body temperature;
underweight;
plaintive meow.

With the help of sleep, the animal tries to overcome the disease, but it does not always work. To restore the kitten's strength, the intervention of a veterinarian or a change in the owner's attitude is required. For example, you should change the food, take your pet for a walk when it is fresh, etc.

Peekaboo

How many times have you run around your apartment in a panic, looking for a cat that seemed to have disappeared into thin air? Yes, most cats have this crazy habit of settling down to sleep in a secluded place. Hiding is normal behavior for cats, especially when they want to get a good night's sleep. They do not like noise and value privacy, usually finding a quiet and dark place, such as in a laundry basket or on the top of a clothes rack, where they sleep most of the day.

Most often they go to places that have only one entrance. This way they don't have to stay on guard all the time. They often choose spaces that are away from family members. Tight and confined boxes make cats feel safe. The sides of the container act as armor that protects the animal from predators. This way he doesn't have to be on guard all the time, making it easier to relax. In addition, boxes help cats reduce stress.

Metal in bed

Most beds and sofas have metal springs or parts. Unfortunately, this metal can enhance and distort the Earth's natural magnetic field, leading to restless sleep, nightmares, headaches, anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, eyestrain, and muscle spasms. To find out whether your bed contains residual magnetism and whether it can be magnetized, Vicki Warren advises using a compass - slowly moving it across the bed every 30-35 centimeters. The compass needle should point north. If this is not the case, you should be wary. It is very important to protect pregnant women and young children from exposure to electromagnetic fields. It is harmful for a child to sleep in a metal bed, since the baby’s body is extremely susceptible to electromagnetic fields. A safer alternative is a wooden cradle or crib. Moreover, it turns out that high levels of electromagnetic fields in a pregnant woman's bedroom can contribute to the birth of a child with autism! If throughout pregnancy a woman sleeps in strong electromagnetic fields, her child may develop some deviations from the norm in mental development during the first years of life.

How to feed a kitten correctly

Exactly how much a baby should eat depends on his age. So, for the first two months the cat needs to be fed 5-6 times a day, the daily amount of food should not exceed 150 grams. In the period from 3 months to six months, the cat needs more food - up to 240 grams (four feedings a day).

At 6-9 months, the baby’s diet increases to 250 grams, but you need to feed it no more than 3 times a day.

At 10-12 months, when the period of active growth ends, in order for a cat to lead a normal life, it is enough to receive two feedings a day (morning and evening) with a daily intake of no more than 200 grams.

However, this scheme is not a dogma; it all depends on the individual characteristics of the organism, the breed and the principle of feeding - natural food or specialized feeds, the instructions of which always detail the number of meals and the daily norm.

It should be borne in mind that kittens require more protein, amino acids and some minerals than adult animals. The baby should receive a daily dose of protein - the main building material for the body - in the amount of 30% of the total food.

For the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and the prevention of constipation, the kitten should always have free access to clean, fresh water.

Your own tuning fork

Our body is able to repair itself while it sleeps. To do this, it has its own internal system, which operates on the basis of very weak electrical impulses. These impulses are produced by the brain and are used to communicate between cells. After all, what is our body? Basically - water with a high content of minerals, that is, an electrically conductive environment. The cells of the brain, bones, nerves - all vibrate at their own frequencies, and our body acts as a tuning fork tuning them to the desired frequency. This phenomenon has a scientific name - resonance. But if other, foreign vibrations (an external electric field) arise nearby, the body's cells will be confused about what they should do and how quickly. And in the place where we sleep, the impact of external sources (electrical wiring in ceilings, walls and floors) on the body becomes thousands of times stronger than the effect of the electrical system of our own body. Long-term exposure to these electric fields can disrupt the ability of our body's cells to communicate within themselves. In fact, a person spends approximately one third of his life sleeping, which is why it is important for us to make sure that our bedroom is protected from electromagnetic field disturbances.

Why does a cat take the owner's place?

If a cat lives in the house, then its owner cannot help but notice some peculiarities in the behavior of his animal. Cats and cats can surprise; they give rise to a lot of questions and superstitions. If a person is about to sit down on a chair, then the cat is right there. The pet jumps onto the chair right in front of the owner's nose.

It seems that the pet is doing this on purpose, as if he wants to demonstrate his leadership and audacity. The owner at this moment usually adjusts and does not interfere. However, the situation is somewhat different. The cat tries to take exactly the place of the owner, since the elusive smell of a person remains there. Cats have a keen sense of smell.

The pet expresses the mood to be close to its owner. The same thing happens when a cat goes to sleep on its owner's clothes.

After the owner gets up from the chair, the seat retains heat for some time. A soft, warm chair that also retains its owner's scent is a great place to sleep. If a feline jumps onto a chair before the owner sits down, this is a sign that the pet is attracting attention. You need to try to give the animal some of your time, communicate, scratch the cat behind the ear.

Causes of drowsiness in kittens

In addition to natural physiological reasons, the duration of a cat’s sleep is influenced by external factors:

Lifestyle;
nutrition;
weather;
presence of irritants.

Kittens sleep longer if they are fed and have played a lot. Prolonged sleep is needed to fully recuperate. A short period of wakefulness on hot, sultry days, before rain, when atmospheric pressure decreases, the level of nitrogen in the air increases. Hormonal levels influence sleepiness. Females sleep longer. In addition, the activity of pets directly depends on the breed. If the kitten sleeps a lot, but during the waking period shows normal activity and looks completely healthy, there is no reason to panic. When the baby grows up, gains strength, changes his lifestyle, the regime will change.