Duration and characteristics of sleep in a cat

The duration of a cat's sleep cannot leave anyone indifferent. For some people, the animal's ability to sleep day and night is surprising, for others, bewilderment, for others, sincere envy. Some inexperienced owners are even worried that their pet can spend a significant part of the day in serene sleep. This fact should not be alarming.

The ability of cats and cats to spend a significant part of the day in a dream is inherent in them by nature itself. In their natural habitat, representatives of the feline family spend very little time hunting, but this requires an enormous amount of energy. Sleep allows animals to restore wasted resources, providing them with the energy required for the next search for food.

Despite the fact that domestic cats and cats do not need to feed themselves, natural instincts affect their daily routine. Spending part of their energy on active games or eating, cats recuperate through sleep. It is noteworthy that the duration and frequency of sleep in the feline family depends on a number of specific factors.

So, the least activity during the day is shown by small kittens and elderly individuals.Kittens and older cats spend most of their waking hours on eating, grooming and playing. In turn, cats and cats of young reproductive age prefer to play and actively explore the world around them while awake. Another factor affecting the duration and frequency of a cat's sleep is the state of the animal's nervous system. This factor can depend on both the breed and the individual characteristics of the pet. So, professional breeders claim that the most active cat breeds include:

• abyssinian;
• siamese;
• Turkish van;
• oriental;
• Bengali;
• Egyptian.

It is believed that animals of these breeds are characterized by increased activity during the day. They are distinguished by special curiosity, mobility and playfulness, so they prefer movement and games to sleep.

Quite strongly affects the cat's sleep and the current state of the nervous system. If the animal is under stress or has spent too much time in active games during the day, then it will be difficult to fall asleep. In terms of susceptibility and tolerance to disturbing circumstances affecting the nervous system, cats are indeed very similar to humans. Environmental features and conditions of detention are another significant factor that can affect a cat's sleep.

The duration of a cat's sleep in adulthood is a rather arbitrary value, depending on the individual characteristics of the animal, its state of health and the conditions of its maintenance. Observations show that the average sleep time of a healthy adult pet can vary from 12 to 20 hours.

A more alarming symptom is sleep loss in adult animals, accompanied by restless behavior, mournful meows, weight loss, vomiting and problems with stools. Researchers have calculated that the average healthy cat, who lives for about 15 years, takes a little less than 9 years to sleep in its entire life. Consequently, the active part of life is a little over 6 years old.

Due to physiological characteristics, kittens need prolonged sleep, which can take up to 22 hours a day. While awake, babies usually communicate with their mother, play, explore the world or eat food (mother's milk). The older the kitten gets, the less time it takes to sleep.

By the age of two months, this figure is reduced to about 20 hours a day. Usually at this stage of life, kittens are taken away from the cat and transferred to new owners. The daily routine of a two-month-old kitten usually includes 5-6 meals, after each of which the baby falls asleep for 2-3 hours. The awakening of the baby after feeding, most often, occurs with the next appearance of a feeling of hunger or the urge to use the toilet.

Experienced cat breeders claim that kittens spend about 3-4 hours a day on vigorous activity. Part of this time, the breeder may well devote to playing with babies, encouraging their curiosity, activity and interest in the world around them. By about 4–5 months, kittens begin to gradually switch to the daily routine of adult animals. By this stage in their lives, their sleep duration can range from 16 to 18 hours a day. By the age of 9–10 months, young animals almost completely enter the adult regimen.

As the kitten grows up, you need to carefully monitor it. If the baby spends a significant part of the day in a dream, you should not worry about his health. However, if the kitten is nervous, sleeps little and restlessly, meows plaintively, or is constantly looking for a secluded place, it should be shown to a veterinarian.

Interestingly, the time of year and weather conditions can also affect the length and frequency of sleep in domestic cats and cats. It has been noticed that in winter, as well as in cold, rainy and inclement weather, animals sleep more soundly, more often and longer. Of course, cats do not hibernate. The increase in the duration of sleep in the cold season is usually associated with a slowdown in metabolism.

All these processes are due to nature itself, because in winter a living organism needs more energy for self-heating. However, in the cold season, most predators in their natural habitat have problems getting food.

Here the resources of one's own body come to the rescue, which releases energy from fat reserves and at the same time reduces its expenditure in order to save, as if switching to an "energy-saving mode". For these reasons, during the cold season, domestic cats and cats not only gain weight, but are also reluctant to expend energy. They prefer a full and long sleep to any activity in the winter.

It may sound funny, but cats and cats are capable of dreaming. Felinologists (specialists who study the physiology, behavior and characteristics of domestic cats) argue that dreams in these animals can be completely narrative in nature. This, in particular, is evidenced by the behavior of pets in a dream. Based on the characteristics of the dream, sleeping animals can touch their paws, wiggle their ears, frown and even make sounds.

Some cats sleep with their eyes open, which often scares their owners. In some cases, this may be due to the peculiarity of the posture in which the animal fell asleep. Sometimes in a dream, cats take a position in which the eyelid or eyelids are pulled back under the weight of the animal's weight. This often happens with very deep and sound sleep.

If the cat sleeps with open eyes occasionally, then this should not cause alarm. However, in the case when such a phenomenon is observed regularly, the animal must be shown to a veterinarian. In some cases, sleeping with open eyes may indicate the development of problems such as glaucoma, increased intracranial pressure, and facial nerve palsy. Many cats prefer to sleep on their backs, which cannot be called the most comfortable and physiological position for them.

The length and frequency of a cat's sleep are very individual parameters, depending on the unique characteristics of the animal. If your pet leads a measured lifestyle, preferring to doze off a significant part of the time, curled up in a corner, do not worry about his health. Moreover, you should not wake your cat, believing that she sleeps too much during the day. Such actions can disrupt the natural biological clock to which the animal's body is accustomed.

You can learn more about the cat's sleep pattern in the following video.