Why Do Cats Sleep So Much? Normal Sleep Hours by Age

"Why do my cats sleep so much? My cat slept when I left for work and is sleeping when I returned home". If you have asked yourself this kind of question, you should know that you are not alone in this matter.

Short answer: yes, this is absolutely normal. Why do cats sleep so much? The reason is that cats are short-burst hunters whose bodies are meant to save energy for active bursts of hunting, playing, and other activities and to restore it during the pauses between the bursts. Typically, adult healthy cats sleep about 12-16 hours a day, while the younger and older cats even more. The important thing is not the exact numbers but their changes.

Below we will examine a typical day of a cat hour-by-hour, discuss how many hours do cats sleep depending on their age, reveal cat sleeping positions meanings and conclude with a practical checklist.

How Many Hours Do Cats Sleep a Day

First of all, let us find out the numbers. How many hours do cats sleep a day, on average? According to the veterinary sources, such as VCA Animal Hospitals, the normal range for adult cats is about 12-16 hours. Thus, the answer to the question, how many hours do cats sleep a day compared to us is that a typical cat sleeps twice as much as a typical human being does.

Here is the breakdown for different age categories – the practical answer to the questions how many hours do cats sleep a day by age and how many hours do cats sleep by age:

Kittens (0-4 weeks old): about 20-22 hours. Waking up only to drink milk.
Kittens (1-6 months old): about 18-20 hours of sleep. The sleep is divided with short bursts of playing.
Young cats (1-6 years old): about 12-16 hours of sleep. This is the period with the most active life.
Mature cats (7-10 years old): usually 14-16 hours of sleep with somewhat prolonged naps.
Senior cats (more than 11 years old): 16-20 hours of sleep. Slowdown is normal but big changes require attention.

How many hours do cats sleep in 24 hours also depends on the way the cats live. The cats living indoors with little to do have more sleep than the ones with a stimulating environment at home. However, sometimes this is a result of boredom sleep, which is an actual phenomenon.

Cat Sleeping Positions

Cat sleeping positions reveal a lot about your cat's feelings. Let's use this list to interpret cat sleeping positions:

Curled in a tight ball, the tail covering the nose – preserving heat, common for cooler places. Slightly defensive posture.
Loaf-shaped posture with paws tucked under – short nap; cat can easily wake up and leave.
Stretched out on the side – comfortable.
Sleeping with the head in an odd position or pressed to the surface – usually cute but "head pressing" when the cat is awake can be a signal of disease.
On the back with belly exposed – maximum comfort. See below.
Sleeping in the litter box – this is not a comfortable position; it usually means stress, sickness or competition over the resources.

Meaning of cat sleeping positions is not definitive, of course. There are other factors, such as the temperature, surface and cat's age that influence cat sleeping positions meaning. Interpreting cat sleeping positions meaning along with appetite, energy level and behavior in the litter box gives a much better result.

Why do cats sleep so much after a bath?

A bath is very tiring for most cats. They spend energy on resisting and then spending energy to dry and warm up. Long sleep after a bath is just recovery process. If your cat remains lethargic next day, better consult a vet.

Cat Sleeping on Back

Cat sleeping on back with belly showing means that the cat is in a very comfortable situation. The belly is the most sensitive part of the body and the cat shows it only in a very comfortable environment. Please note that sleeping on its back doesn't mean that the cat offers you to touch its stomach. Many cats will grab your hand if you try.

Why do cats sleep so much all of a sudden?

If your previously moderate-sleeping cat suddenly started sleeping much more, pay attention. Such a dramatic change in sleep behavior can mean pain, fever, infection, toothache, arthritis, kidney diseases or any other condition – cats are masters of hiding discomfort. The sudden change in sleep behavior is one of the few symptoms which are visible.

Why do cats sleep so much during the day?

Cats are crepuscular animals and they are most active at dawn and dusk – the time when their prey is also active. Why do cats sleep so much during the day? Because they preserve energy for their preferred time slots. If you ever woken up at 5 in the morning from your cat running in the corridor, you've seen the biology in action.

Typical behaviors of cats during the day:

Several naps with the duration of 15-30 minutes each.
Long sleep during the middle of the day in a sunny place.
Very fast wake-up when hearing the sound of food bag.

Possible problems:

The cat sleeps through the meal times it usually doesn't miss.
It's very difficult to wake it and/or it looks confused after wake-up.
It sleeps in strange and hidden places it doesn't usually use.

Most of the sleep is light. Cats spend a significant part of their sleep period in a light doze when ears still react to the sounds and a small part of their sleep in a deep state with REM periods. During the latter ones you will see twitching whiskers, paddle-like movements of paws and soft vocalization. So the answer to the question why do cats sleep so much during the day lies in the fact that a significant part of this "sleep" is actually light watchful sleep. The researchers believe that this phenomenon is related to dreaming similarly to humans. How many hours do cats sleep at a time? Usually it varies from a quick nap for 15 minutes to several hours.

How Many Hours Do Cats Sleep at Night

Here comes the answer to the question of how many hours do cats sleep at night that is different from the one we have just discussed. How many hours do cats sleep at night? Very often less than we would like. Many cats sleep for several hours at night and are active during the dawn period.

The following steps will help you to adjust your cat's sleeping schedule to yours:

Play actively in the evening. 10-15 minutes of playing with the wand toy will make your cat tired.
Feed it after playing. Hunt, catch, eat, groom, sleep – this is the natural sequence. Feeding after playing will help your cat relax.
Make days interesting enough. Windows, puzzle feeders and rotating toys will prevent boredom naps leaving the energy for the night.
Don't reward early morning demands. Feeding your cat that yells at dawn will teach it that yelling gets rewards.
Use automatic feeders for reliable feeding in the morning.

Please keep in mind that unlike adults, cats don't sleep in one block during the night. How many hours do cats sleep in 24 hours is more important than the schedule of sleep.

Why do cats sleep so much in summer?

The heat makes everyone sleepy, including cats. Why do cats sleep so much in summer? Because they decrease their activity and heat production by sleeping. The typical day of many indoor cats in the summer looks like this:

Morning: the most active period – playing, eating, walking by the windows.
From late morning to late afternoon: long naps on cool tiles, in bathtubs or in shady spots.
Evening: increased activity with the falling of temperatures.
Night: short naps with short periods of playing.

If your cat sleeps much more in July than in January, it's totally normal. Only remember to provide plenty of water and shady cool places.

Why do cats sleep so much when it's hot?

Some cats are very silent purring cats, others seem to be roaring when purring. Why do cats purr loudly? There are several reasons why cats may purr loudly:

Kittens

Typical sleep when it's hot: The upper limit of their regular range

Things to watch out for: Dehydration, lethargy between naps

Adult cats

Typical sleep when it's hot: Longer naps during the day, active during dawn and dusk

Things to watch out for: Panting or open-mouth breathing

Senior cats

Typical sleep when it's hot: Can sleep most of the day

Things to watch out for: Weakness, dehydration, confusion

Cats cannot regulate their body temperature with panting. A cat that pants, breathes with mouth opened and/or acts confused in hot conditions should be moved to a cooler place and taken to the vet immediately.

Cat Sleeping with Eyes Open

This phenomenon looks creepy, but cat sleeping with eyes open is not dangerous. Cats have a third eyelid (nictitating membrane) and during light sleep the eye can stay partly open while the membrane covers a part of it. It's a light, watchful sleep when cat can react to anything happening in the moment.

What the owner can do: note whether it happens rarely. If the third eyelid is visible while the cat is awake or one eye looks different from the other, consult the vet, because this may indicate a disease or eye problem.

Do Cats Dream? A Closer Look at Cat Sleep

The scientists cannot ask cats what they dream about, but they can study the brain activity. The classic studies of sleep behavior of animals in the 1960s, including the famous experiments conducted by French neuroscientist Michel Jouvet, showed that cats experience REM sleep similar to the one in humans. In one of his experiments he disabled a small portion of brain stem of the cats, which normally prevents muscles from movement during REM, and the cats woke up and started to behave as if they were stalking and pouncing while sleeping. This is as close as we can get to the confirmation that cats dream about hunting.

What it means for an average cat owner? Two things. Firstly, it is normal for cats to have twitching and quiet chirping while sleeping. Secondly, REM sleep is not the whole story about sleep. When people ask how many hours do cats sleep on average, they include a lot of light doze sleep during which cats still are aware of their surroundings. If you sum only deep sleep, the numbers are much closer to the ones of humans.

This also explains why the answer to the question how many hours do cats sleep a day can be very different from one household to the next. The cat that dozes lightly on the windowsill during all the day will be counted as "asleep" by one owner and "watching birds" by another. To compare the numbers, it is necessary to calculate how many hours do cats sleep on average in your household during a week, not just a single weekend.

Why Cats Sleep Where They Sleep

The cats choose warm, high, hidden and scented with their owners' scent places for sleeping because this is safe for them. Beds, laundry basket, fridge top, computer keyboard and so on. What is abnormal is to sleep in the litter box. If your cat does this, consult the guide why a cat sleeps in the litter box – it usually means stress, the appearance of a new cat or ill health condition.

Clean and comfortable litter box is not a bed, but it helps to create a distinction between a cat that spends a lot of time in its own territory and a cat that avoids it. Paco & Pepper olive pit litter is dust-free and easy on paws, and many owners of multi-cat households tell us that the box stays cleaner between scoops. This is one of the small aspects of a peaceful household – the others are quiet areas, warm beds and predictable routines.

What to Do Today: A Quick Checklist

Note approximately how many hours your cat sleeps on an ordinary day, so you will be able to see the changes.
Introduce 10-15 minutes playing period in the evening, followed by a meal.
Provide at least one warm and high place to rest and one cool place to rest in summer.
Check water bowls and fountains every day, especially in hot conditions.
Schedule a vet visit if your cat suddenly sleeps much more, sleeps poorly, doesn't eat or hides.

This article is for information purposes only and doesn't replace advice from your veterinarian.

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