Why Does My Cat Sleep All Day Long?
You likely notice a number of things about your cat that tend to be true across the board. Of course, there are always going to be differences from one feline to the next, but perhaps the thing that is true in most cases is the fact that cats love to nap. In fact, they may spend up to 20 hours every day sleeping!
This may make you wonder why cats sleep so much. You’ll be happy you know it isn’t because they are lazy, it has a lot to do with genetics. You should also realize that your house cat has predator instincts, even if they tend to snooze frequently.
PetMD states that house cats are very similar to big cats in the way that they are genetically wired. Your cat never knows when they will have to go on the hunt and chase down food, so they spend a lot of time conserving energy. In the case of your house cat, however, hunting is typically nothing more than looking for where the food bowl is located.
Most humans consider cats to be lazy because of their extensive sleep schedules. According to the Oakland Veterinary Referral Services, cats are crepuscular, which means that they are more active early in the morning around twilight and dawn. This is beneficial in the wild because some of the bigger predators tend to be active during the night, so they don’t run into each other often. In your home, it just seems as if the cat is asleep at all times while you are working or during the daylight hours.
You will also like knowing that cats may sleep a lot but they don’t necessarily get a lot of deep sleep. As a predator, your feline has to be ready to be instantly awake at any time. If you look at the way your cat is sleeping, you often see that they are positioned in such a way that they can go into action very quickly.
The lighter naps that they take are between 15-30 minutes long. During those short periods, deep sleep only lasts for about 5 minutes. So if you want to do your cat a favor, let them nap as often as they like.