Why do cats sleep so much?

Ari Rednour. 10/25/2020

For anyone who has owned or taken care of a household cat, it is well known that unless a cat is eating or playing in one of their brief moments of energy, they are most likely sleeping. From cardboard boxes and sunny spots on the tile to comfy beds or mini plush homes, cats can be found sleeping just about anywhere. Now, why do cats sleep so much? How are they able to sleep for more hours of the day than they are awake? Let’s look at their biology and natural instincts.

According to PetMD, cats are natural born predators. They are engineered to chase their prey and hunt for their next meal. Lions, for example, sleep primarily in the day and use their restored energy to hunt at night. Similarly, house cats have the hunting and sleep habits of their ancestors and larger relatives. Have you ever played with a cat with a string or laser pointer? Even in what one may call simple games, cats exhibit their natural hunting instincts through their gentle stalking, readying of the paws and their pouncing on a moving object. When a cat “hunts”, whether it is a mouse in a field or a catnip toy in the house, they use an immense amount of energy. The amount of sleep they get during the day is to recharge the battery for their moments of being in an excited state of running, stalking, pouncing and climbing.

Additionally, cats are known to sleep anywhere from fifteen to twenty hours in one day, but their quality of sleep changes in cycles. Similar to a human’s cycle of on-and-off REM sleep, cats shift from moments of deep sleep to periods of normal or light sleep. Deep sleep tends to only last for about five minutes at a timef, while light sleep, or dozing, lasts anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes. In the periods of light sleep, a cat is resting, but in a position ready to launch into action at any moment.

The age of a cat also affects the amount of sleep they need. According to the Animal Emergency Center at Memphis, cats are very similar to humans in that the amount of sleep they need is dependent on their age. For example, kittens, like babies, need large amounts of sleep; therefore, they will sleep for most of the day, except for short moments of energy between eating. Adolescents, like teenagers, have inconsistent sleep patterns and tend to be more active than when they were kittens. At the adult stage, cats by this point have somewhat of a regular sleep schedule that consists of anywhere from twelve to twenty hours of sleep per day. Finally, senior cats have limited energy and activity levels, and they tend to sleep for long periods of time, most likely more than they did as a kitten.

In addition to their own set sleep patterns, cats also have the natural ability to tailor their sleep schedule to match those of their human owners. Oakland Veterinary Referral Services writes that cats will typically adjust their schedules to spend time with their humans or favorite people in the household. Similarly, cats also can adjust their nap schedule to important events of the day, such as feeding times.

While cats may be animals of unconventional sleeping habits, they demonstrate many similarities to humans, but simply in larger quantities. Their natural instincts of hunting remain a part of a house cat’s chemistry, even with their evolution through time. Their larger relatives, such as lions and tigers, share these traits of sleeping as well. But of course, they are in their natural habitats on defense and survival mode. Domestic cats may not need to worry about what may be outside of their house life, but their natural instincts remain ingrained in their blood to continue on for generations to come.

Cover Photo: (Gordon Donovan)