Do cats’ paws fall asleep?
In other words, do cats get pins-and-needles in their feet? We don’t know the answer for sure. We can guess pretty accurately, though, that cats don’t get pins-and-needles in their paws and lower legs – the area below the hock. You won’t find scholarly articles on this but there will be anecdotal evidence.
My anecdotal evidence
I can provide anecdotal evidence which supports this. About 4 days ago on 20th November 2022, my cat was curled up on my legs in the early morning while I worked on this website. I got up to get breakfast and he got up too. He cried out in pain or discomfort. I tried to touch him, and he cried again. Within about 3 minutes my concern for him that he might have injured his hind leg evaporated as he moved normally. For those three minutes he did not move normally. He’s been normal since. I can only believe that it was pins and needles.
What happens when feet fall asleep?
Pins-and-needles in feet are caused by pressure on nerves and blood vessels feeding the feet. Because a blood vessel has been compressed it can no longer supply nerve cells with the nutrients that they need to function properly. Pressure on the nerves can block transmission of electromechanical impulses. Consequently, the brain receives mixed signals which it translates as paraesthesia or pins-and-needles.
Why no pins-and-needles!? Photo in public domain.
Cats’ feet don’t fall asleep
I don’t think that cats get pins-and-needles in their feet. This is based upon decades of observation of the cats that I’ve lived with. They’ve never demonstrated to me any signs of getting pins-and-needles. However, you might think that they would get this condition because they lie down so much, and you see them partially sitting on their curled up-front paws. This is probably why the question has been asked. If humans sat down in the way the cats do and remained still for so long their feet might fall asleep.
Jumping forward a couple of years 2 November 2022, today, my cat was lying against my legs for a couple of hours and when he got up, he hissed, growled and limped. I thought he had acquired an injury when he was outside. Either a bruise or a sprain or perhaps even a broken leg. I was particularly gentle with him throughout the day but when I went out for a walk, he casually sauntered up to the front door to join me without any sign of a problem in his hind leg. I can only think that he had pins and needles because he was lying on his left hind leg in a certain way which caused them. I can’t think of any other reasonable cause, so my opinion has changed somewhat from two years ago.
One possible reason why cats’ feet don’t fall asleep (if I’m correct!) is because the blood supply to their paw pads is said to be better than the blood supply to our feet. This means that they can withstand lower temperatures. Cats do seem to have a greater tolerance of cold objects on their feet than humans.
Cats are built through eons of evolution to lie around in positions that might cause circulation problems for humans but for cats there’s no problem. And cats are great survivors and predators; designed to be snoozing one minute and leaping into action the next. If evolution had given them pins-and-needles it would have upset their chances of survival.
A cat’s feet are not more compact than ours. Their feet extend from the hock which is the joint that you see halfway up the leg. Cats are digitigrades meaning they walk on their toes. Therefore, the opportunity for compression of blood vessels and nerves would, on the face of it, be the same as for humans. Perhaps cats sit and lie down in a way which prevents this compression occurring but I’m not sure. I think you’ll find that the pins-and-needles in people occurs under certain situations such as crossing legs and sitting down for a long time. Cats don’t cross their legs! Although, as mentioned, they do curl the front feet up under them when sitting in that Sphinx-like position. I’m going to argue that cats position themselves in a way which prevents their feet going to sleep and/or their anatomy is built in a way which prevents pins-and-needles.
Diabetic neuropathy
An interesting sub-question is whether cats can suffer from diabetic neuropathy. This is nerve damage in the feet due to diabetes. Cats can be diabetic and in fact there’s been an increase in this illness due, it is claimed, to the increase in obesity in kitties. Diabetic neuropathy can cause numbness in the feet or they tingle and burn. It’s a bit like pins-and-needles. The condition is caused by high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period which damages the nerves.
It seems that domestic cats can suffer from diabetic neuropathy. There is an interesting story on the Internet which points to this possibility and a cure. It concerns a morbidly obese cat weighing 21 pounds, JackJack, which is more than twice what it should be. She struggled to stand up after a nap. When she succeeded in getting up, she had difficulty walking and lost her balance. Her owner diagnosed diabetic neuropathy having also diagnosed feline diabetes mellitus or type II diabetes i.e., sugar diabetes. The owner has suffered from diabetes since 2015 despite being underweight. She decided that her cat had acquired insulin resistance because of her lifestyle. She took the blame for it in many ways.
Other signs that her cat suffered from this condition was that she walked on her hind hocks. In other words, she stopped walking on her toes. She learned that dry cat food was no good as a single food source and that her cat had been eating it her entire life. She ordered wet cat food and served it up under a control diet i.e., 2 to 3 schedule meals per day and monitored her cat’s weight. She quite quickly improved on her account. Her cat lost 2 pounds in five days and on 3 May 2025, five months after starting her on the new diet she weighs 15.3 pounds and is “incredibly active”.
This is a good example, as a side issue, of curing feline type II diabetes through diet which very much supports the ideas of author and veterinarian Elizabeth Hodgkins DVM is expressed in her book Your Cat. In this instance wet cat food + reduced weight = cure for type 2 diabetes.