Contents
- 1 How many hours does a cat sleep?
- 2 stages of cat sleep
- 3 Cat sleeping habits
Number of hours cats sleep
Cats sleep on average 15 hours a day, and the period can extend to 20 hours a day, as they sleep for long hours to conserve as much energy as possible; To make sure that they are ready to hunt many prey, as cats need to make a great effort in hunting while searching for food, and it is worth noting that the only animal that shares with cats the number of long hours of sleep is the opossum.
Cat sleep stages
Cats go through more than one stage when they sleep. As it first enters the stage of superficial sleep or what is known as slow-wave sleep (SWS), and this stage represents 75% of the total cat sleep cycle, as it lasts between 15-30 minutes, and the senses of cats are alert at this stage, and they sleep in different positions. Alertness, which allows them to take an appropriate and quick reaction when responding to an external stimulus during sleep.
Cats spend the last 25% of their sleep cycle in deep sleep, or what is known as the rapid eye movement (REM) stage. The stage lasts for 5 minutes, then the cats return to the stage of superficial sleep, and continue to move between the two stages until they wake up.
Cat sleeping habits
Cats have special sleeping habits, the most prominent of which are the following:
- Old and young cats sleep longer than young cats.
- Cats' sleeping habits are affected by the weather. For example, cats sleep longer in cold weather, and the severity of cats' vulnerability to weather varies according to their age, species, health, temperament, and so on.
- Cats are more likely to fall asleep after exerting great effort.
- Sometimes cats sleep out of boredom.
- Cats are most active at dusk and dawn, which means that most of their sleep takes place during daylight hours.
- Cats dream of different subjects from their lives during sleep, just like humans, but the difference between human dreams and cat dreams is related to the number of colors that cats see; Her dreams are often only green, blue, and gray.
