What affects us affects cats
Yes, cats can and do sometimes sleep with their eyes open. But, then again, so do people sometimes but much more rarely. For people, the condition is known as nocturnal lagophthalmos. The difference between cats and people is that cats can sleep with their eyes open normally and naturally whereas for people it is …
Domestic cats don’t always curl up when they sleep but they often do. It’s the default position. Although, we do see some extraordinary sleeping styles for the domestic cat; being totally stretched out is also not uncommon inside the home. But being curled up and stretched out are linked. I’ll explain what I mean. …
Domestic cats prefer to sleep on polyester fleece to cotton-looped towelling according to a study (I don’t have the title). This seems to make sense as fleece probably keeps them warmer. The heat is trapped. In another study, the welfare of cats in a testing laboratory (horrible places) was improved by providing soft resting …
When domestic cats sleep in the “dead position” (i.e. they look as if they are dead) it’s because they feel sublimely secure in their home environment. They are belly-up and therefore vulnerable. I don’t think you’ll see this very often if ever in the wild. I’m referring to the wildcat ancestor of the domestic …
Domestic cats are polyphasic sleepers. Humans normally engage in monophasic sleep – sleeping once at night for about 8 hours. Sometimes humans sleep in 2 periods over the course of 24 hours: once at night and once at siesta. This is biphasic sleep. The word “biphasic” means in two phases. Polyphasic means in many …
Indoor/outdoor domestic cats are likely to sleep more in winter. I explain why…. Of course, I am referring to domestic cats. There will be a difference between domestic cats and wild cats because the reason why domestic cats sleep more in winter is because they don’t want to go outside. They are confined to …
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 …
All observant cat owners and lovers will be aware that their cat dreams and when they dream they twitch their whiskers, eyes, legs to varying degrees and move their mouths. They also might make some noises. They are going through a period of deep sleep and they dream just like humans. I have watched …
