Why do cats sleep so much?
You arrive home and you find a ball of fur nicely tuck on the floor. Not even your arrival makes him budge. He is not a dog after all. You go to the kitchen and he is still there, sleeping. He lifts his head, stretches a bit, walks to check on that bag you just dropped, looks at you, turns around and back to snooze. Why do cats sleep so much?
Our feline friends will just doze off anywhere at any time. Even in the craziest positions; all that matter is to take a nap. Why do cats sleep so much and what goes in a cat’s brain. Let’s find out.
Nocturnal animals
Probably the first thing that you notice is that your cat is more active at night. This is the time in which he is more likely to get in trouble. During twilight, your cat will be wide awake and be looking for some action to get into. While the rest of us get up in the morning looking forward to the day’s activities, your cat is looking forward to a spot where to sleep.
It is in their genes
This one probably comes as an obvious one. To respond to the question “Why do cats sleep so much?“, we need to look at their ancestors. Young cats can sleep up to 16 hours in one day; adults sleep even more. Cats respond this way to their hunting habits. They need to replenish energy between “hunts”, just like wild cat ancestors used to do.
Energy Conservation
Cats, just like their bigger and wilder cousins, have the habit of nocturnal hunting and daily sleeping. Your domestic cat is psychologically hardwired for hunting. This prey hunting takes a lot of energy, which is why cats need to rest, to be able to be in prime condition for hunting between naps.
More like napping
You have also noticed that when your cat is taking a nap, his ears twitch when a sound is made. This is because about 75% of his daylight sleeping time is just dozing off. He is still alert and will quickly react to any eventuality.
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