Does your cat sleep too much?
You may been asking yourself, 'why does my cat sleep so much?'. Our feline friends are true masters at falling asleep any time, any place, under any circumstances. But why?
It's in their genes...
Cats can sleep between 16 - 20 hours in one day. That sleeping habit is a result of the cat’s evolution, nutritional habits and physiology. In the wild, cats have to hunt in order to eat, and the stalking, chasing and killing of prey burns a lot of energy. Sleeping helps cats conserve energy between meals.
They aren't always in a deep sleep...
Around 75% of cats' sleeping time is spent 'snoozing'. In that state, cats can get all the rest they need, but they’re still alert enough to awaken at a moment’s notice. You can tell when a cat is in light sleep because their ears will twitch and rotate toward noises and their eyes will be open a tiny bit. Even when they’re sitting upright, cats can slip into a doze.
...But they can sleep deeply and even dream...
The remaining 25% of cat's sleeping time is spent in deep sleep, but older cats might spend as much as 30 or 40% of the time at that level. Cats in deep sleep are usually curled up with their eyes tightly closed. Sometimes, they might even have their tail over their face. Deep sleep is critical for the body’s ability to regenerate itself and stay healthy. It’s also the time when your cat will dream. If you’ve seen your cat’s whiskers or paws twitching while they're asleep, there is a pretty good chance they're dreaming!
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