Our beloved cats are the most important couch potatoes. Their activity time is much shorter than their resting state. Because of this feature, owners often worry, wondering why their cats sleep so much. Despite the suspiciously high duration, in most cases, cat naps are explained by completely harmless reasons.
Sleep standards for cats by age
All representatives of the cat family are nocturnal predators. They use daytime sleep to digest prey and recover before hunting again. Unlike their wild relatives, domestic pets are not burdened with the burden of searching for food. That's why it seems to us that cats sleep all the time. This is partly true.
In kittens
Newborn kittens sleep all the time, since any activity takes a lot of energy from them. Their sleep duration can be up to 23 hours. By 1 month it is reduced by only a couple of hours. At first, babies wake up only to eat.
The kitten sleeps a lot until 4-5 months. At this age, he is already confidently standing on his paws, becoming independent and more actively engaging in joint games. His rest hours gradually decrease and begin to correspond to those of adult animals.
In mature individuals
The average sleep duration in adult cats is 14-16 hours. But, if your pet sleeps 20 hours and feels good, then this is also normal. Besides age, there are many other reasons that may explain increased sleepiness.
In older animals
A reverse jump towards increased sleep is observed after 8 years. If your pet is no longer a kitten, but constantly sleeps for more than 20 hours, then the matter is that its internal processes are slowing down. Older animals lose their activity and need longer energy recovery.
What else affects sleep duration?
In addition to age, other internal factors, as well as some external ones, influence individual sleep duration. Because of this, pets of the same age require completely different amounts of time to rest.
Satiety
If a cat sleeps peacefully all day, then he does not feel hungry. He uses all this time to digest food. Animals that eat high-protein foods rest especially long.
Physical activity
The energy spent during outdoor games is restored during sleep. But this does not mean that the main couch potatoes are energetic and playful pets. In their case, the time of falling asleep coincides with the end of the game. Having recharged, they are ready for new adventures.
External (including weather) conditions
The calmer, more comfortable and quiet the environment in the room, the easier it is for the animal to fall asleep. Pets sleep the longest when their owners are away. If you install hidden cameras, you can see that the mustachioed pets get up just to drink water.
Sleep duration increases during rainy weather and hot summers. If your pet rests for a long time during the heating season, then dry air is to blame.
Some animals are sensitive to weather conditions. If it’s gray and rainy outside, the pet will sleep almost all the time, except for feeding and going to the toilet.
Breed
The character traits of different breeds are no less important. Persians, Ragdolls, Devon Rexes, Britons and Scots sleep the longest. They are quite lazy and often fall asleep immediately after eating.
More active breeds include Abyssinians, Siberians, Bengals, Siamese, Kurilian Bobtails and Egyptian Mau. Representatives of these breeds love active games with their owner and hunting, so with enough attention they are constantly on the move.
Health status
Representatives of the cat family are good at capturing other people's emotions. A quarrel between beloved owners can cause them great anxiety and worry. When under constant stress during a move or other exciting event, they will hide in secluded places and sleep longer than usual. Also, the reason may lie in the disease.
What to do when your cat sleeps too long
If your pet remains active and cheerful, but spends a lot of time sleeping, try to reconsider his diet: is the animal really getting all the vitamins and is he getting more food than his body needs? I recommend reading about how to feed cats in a separate article.
If there has been surgery, a long trip, a move, or a change of ownership, be prepared that recovery will take time.
Another reason for long sleep is a special period for a cat - pregnancy. Visit your veterinarian to confirm or rule out pregnancy, as well as for additional advice on keeping your pet.
Before a haircut, swimming or a long journey, sedatives are sometimes prescribed. They affect the nervous system, and the cat can spend more time in peace and light dozing.
Concern may be justified if your pet sleeps more than usual and at the same time behaves in an atypical way: refuses food and water, becomes lethargic, rarely shows a desire to play and go to the owner's arms. This may be a sign of improper content, for example, spoiled food and, as a result, poisoning.
A high duration of sleep may indicate that inflammatory processes are occurring in the cat’s body, and during rest the animal tries to normalize its condition.
When symptoms are supplemented by deterioration in the quality of fur, hair loss, changes in stool, or increased temperature, immediately visit a veterinarian. Sleepiness, along with other symptoms, may be a sign of the following problems:
- infection of the body with helminths;
- development of anemia;
- lack of vitamins;
- infectious diseases;
- problems of the cardiovascular system;
- hormonal imbalance.
Sleep phases
The sleep of mustachioed pets consists of two constantly alternating phases: slow and fast. During the first phase, the animal dozes. Despite the slowdown in heart rate, breathing and metabolic processes, his muscles remain tense and his brain remains active. This maintains the sensitive response to external stimuli necessary for survival.
A curled up cat quickly and easily wakes up if disturbed by its owner or a loud sound. The slow phase lasts no more than 30 minutes.
In the absence of stimuli, the first phase flows into the second. At this stage, the body is completely relaxed, so you can see twitching of the paws, eyelids and whiskers. The duration of the fast phase is no more than 7 minutes.
For homeless animals it is shorter, since it is very difficult to wake up at this time. Losing control over what is happening can result in death. Pets do not have this problem - the safer he feels, the longer his fast phase.
Why did my cat sleep longer than usual?
Increasing your sleep duration is not a reason to panic. It is inappropriate to draw hasty conclusions based on this fact alone. Watch your pet. In the absence of alarming symptoms, the changes that have arisen are explained by completely natural and harmless reasons.
Natural causes
Natural causes are associated with the physiological characteristics of the body. These include:
- Boredom. If a cat is constantly sleeping, then they are just bored. Being pets, they are deprived of the need to search for food and sleep. This directly affects activity and is fraught with weight gain. To save your pets from obesity, you need to regularly engage them in active games.
- Pregnancy. Bearing offspring is a very labor-intensive process that takes a large amount of energy.
- Uncontrolled feeding. Veterinarians do not recommend pouring food in enormous proportions. Due to this feeding, animals often overeat, so they take longer to digest. Constant stress on the stomach can lead to unpleasant consequences.
- Extreme fatigue. If a city dweller is taken out into nature, he can spend the whole day catching birds and mice. In this case, sleep is explained by prolonged wakefulness and physical activity.
- Taking sedatives. Sedatives lead to lethargy, reducing activity time. The animal’s condition returns to normal after they are discontinued.
- Recent illness, vaccination or antibiotic treatment. Infections and antimicrobial drugs hit the body hard. Feeling lethargic and overwhelmed, the pet rests longer than usual.
For these reasons, the owner can only watch his pet and not interfere with its recovery. Over time, he will return to his usual rhythm.
After castration
If a cat sleeps after sterilization, then the reason for its drowsiness lies in the anesthesia. During the first 24 hours after surgery, the pet will refuse food and water in favor of sleep.
During the recovery period, coordination is also impaired. To prevent injury, the owner should monitor his pet until she returns to normal activity.
In addition to operations to remove reproductive organs, a similar effect is observed with any surgical intervention under general anesthesia. If the manipulations were performed under sedation, then such deviations are not observed.
Possible diseases and their symptoms
One of the dangerous causes of frequent sleepiness is obesity. Excess weight complicates habitual movements and is fraught with many internal diseases. Regularly monitor your pet's weight to prevent complications from developing.
If an animal is sick, then, in addition to drowsiness, it exhibits:
- hot and dry nose;
- pallor of mucous membranes;
- inflammation of the lymph nodes;
- increased temperature and rapid pulse;
- diarrhea and vomiting;
- itching, dullness of fur and hair loss;
- poor appetite, thirst, or refusal to drink water;
- bad breath and coating on the tongue;
- tearing and redness of the eyes;
- runny nose and breathing problems.
Similar symptoms are typical for allergies, poisoning, helminthiasis, infections, diseases of the urinary, cardiovascular and digestive systems. To find out the exact cause, you need to contact a veterinary clinic. Doctors do not recommend self-diagnosis, since incorrect guesses by the owners can result in the death of the animal.
Cat sleeping positions and their meaning
We have collected typical and not so typical sleeping positions for cats. Only a cat that feels completely safe will sleep on its back with its paws spread wide. But if an animal climbed into a box or pan to sleep, then that’s funny. But this means that the cat wants to protect itself from the world in this way, which means this is a reason for the owner to be wary.
The cat sleeps with its paws outstretched on its back
This position of the cat during sleep indicates that the animal feels quite comfortable. The cat is full, she is not cold, and maybe even hot. She is comfortable and safe next to her owners. Typically, small kittens like to sleep in these positions. Their life is absolutely hassle-free, they are well-fed and safe next to their mother cat.
The stomach is the most vulnerable place of a cat. And if a cat lives in an apartment where a dog can start bullying him every minute, he will choose other cat sleeping positions. What does it mean for a cat to sleep on its back? Only complete peace and complete harmony with all household members. If your pet sleeps like this, then you have something to be proud of.
Cat poses in a dream and their meaning
The cat sleeps curled up
If a cat sleeps curled up, then it is maximally protected from the cold. What does a cat's sleeping position indicate? Perhaps your house is really cool or there is a cold atmospheric cyclone going on.
Many people know the sign that if a cat finds the warmest corner and sleeps there in a ball, then it will be cold. And the pose of a cat in a dream, when it also hides its muzzle with its paw, is even more serious evidence of future frosts. Cats seem to have very developed senses, and they can predict the weather better than people.
In general, cats really love the warmest and softest places to sleep. Soft sofas or pet beds are quite suitable for this purpose. But if you buy a “bed” in a store especially for a cat, this does not mean at all that he will like it more than your battery or the computer system unit, which is heating up.
The cat sleeps on your pillow
Well, first of all, your head is warm. And a cat is a creature that knows its own worth and chooses the best for itself. Secondly, on cold evenings, when the heating in the apartment has not yet been turned on, the owners sometimes have no choice but to warm themselves with the cat.
Sleeping positions of cats when they sleep with their owners are warm, both emotional and physical. And it's also not very convenient.
What does a cat’s sleeping position mean if it not only occupied the owner’s sofa, but also covered itself with the owner’s blanket? This means that the owners love their cats very much and are ready to give them their beds and their comfort.
Cat sleeps in a box
If a cat sleeps in a box, then he can feel safe there. This sleeping position for cats indicates that your pet is anxious. If there are small children in your house who like to drag your cat around, he can seek protection from his abusers in the box. After all, children seem like huge giants to a cat. And their games may be unpleasant for him.
In general, cats have a strange craving for cozy places to sleep. Sometimes it's very funny when the cat chooses a box, a frying pan or your hat to sleep on.
Some cats drive their owners into hysterics when they crawl into clothes on a closet shelf to sleep. Imagine this: you are looking for your things by touch, and then suddenly you find something furry and alive. Sometimes cats find dangerous places to sleep that seem cozy to them. For example, a stove vent in a private house or a panel with wiring. Try to make the most dangerous places for the cat inaccessible to him.
Cat poses in a dream and their meaning
If the cat sleeps in a doll's crib
Young children can place kittens and adult cats in their cribs. Here the sleeping positions of the cats are the same as in which they were placed in their beds. Although usually the cat’s sleeping position is chosen only by the cat itself.
If you try to make a baby out of a cat and wrap him in diapers, he will very cleverly get out of them. Even the magician David Copperfield, who untangled himself from his chains, would have envied the cats' plasticity in this case.
The cat sleeps with half-closed eyes
If a cat sleeps with her eyes half-closed, this does not mean that she does not hear or see anything. This position may indicate that the cat is just dozing and waiting for the right moment to jump up and run to eat or take a walk.
Such sleeping positions for a cat mean that it only lies down for 5 minutes.
The cat sleeps on its stomach with its paws tucked in
The cat's position, in which it sleeps with its paws tucked in, indicates that it is not very comfortable. At any moment she can wake up and take a more comfortable position. It is in this sad position that stray cats often sleep right on the street.
But cats who have owners also often sleep this way. For example, a cat that climbed into the attic and watched for a mouse there for a long time will fall asleep in this way. If the cat was guarding not a mouse, but a sausage from the refrigerator, then he, too, can fall asleep near this magical cupboard with food in this position.
The cat sleeps on the table
If your cat falls asleep on the table, it means that it’s time for you to start training him. The next photo shows a small kitten, which can still be forgiven for this offense. Sleeping on the dining table is very cool: here you have a salad to eat and a comfortable place to sleep.
Typically, owners do not allow their cats to sleep on the dining table. And then the cats take a position on the chairs near this table. These sleeping positions for cats allow them to react as quickly as possible to the sound of an opening refrigerator or a rustling bag of food.
The kitten fell asleep on the table
The cat sleeps with one paw extended
Such sleeping positions of cats indicate their tension. But if your cat sleeps like this on the radiator or on the back of a chair, then he’s just hanging on.
Cats are dexterous balancing acters. If a cat sleeps with its paw extended, then from this position it is more convenient for it to fall so that it lands correctly. But if cats choose such positions on sofas or armchairs in their sleep, this means that they feel insecure.
The cat sleeps in strange places
When there is protection from wind and rain, you sleep especially sweetly. Moreover, the postures of cats in their sleep and their places of rest often seem incomprehensible to people. Have you ever seen a cat who fell asleep in the kitchen sink? What about the cats that sit on the hoods of cars parked in the yard? That’s right, it’s better to park the car in the garage, otherwise not only cats, but also pigeons will rest on it.
The cat sleeps, covering its face with its paw
If a cat sleeps with its muzzle covered with its paws, then according to legend this means frost. But from a psychological point of view, such a cat’s sleeping position signals that she does not want her sleep and peace to be disturbed.
Cats do exactly the same thing as you and I. If light shines in our eyes or noise disturbs our sleep, we try to shield ourselves from the outside world. A cat can even, like a person, bury itself under a blanket or hide behind a pillow.
The cat sleeps, covering its face with its paw
The cat purrs in its sleep
Petting a cat that falls asleep and purrs is a favorite pastime for many owners. Purring is both a sign of friendliness and a signal that the cat is happy and calm. Cats' sleep positions when they purr are usually very relaxed. They hug their owner or some things with their paws. Cats are members of the family, and their condition can be passed on to other members of the household. Just like vice versa, the mood of the owners affects the feelings of their cats.
