Sleep - Behavior of cats

There's no doubt about it: cats sure know how to sleep. Although the amount of time spent napping varies from cat to cat, and depends on the cat's age and personality, felines spend an average of 13 to 16 hours each day curled up in slumber. Only the opossum and the bat sleep more – napping away almost 20 hours a day.

Nobody is sure why cats sleep so much. Cats evolved from a long line of hunters and predators – and their sleep patterns reflect that. For one thing, they are crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk), since most of their prey is active at these times. This gives them plenty of time to sleep during the middle of the day.

A lot of people wonder whether cats dream. That's easy to answer – of course they do. Cats are mammals, like us, and need sleep to rest their minds and bodies.

It is believed that the body's natural state is in sleep. We stay awake only through constant neural activity within a brain region called the reticular activating system. When we, or our cats, are tired, we lie down, preferably in a quiet, dark room, close our eyes and sleep comes. The reason this happens is because we have shut down the 50 percent of afferent (inward) bombardment that comes from muscle tension, and have effectively curtailed auditory and visual stimulation.

In other words, when you are fully relaxed, lying down, and are not listening or looking at anything, you fall asleep. We all know this, which is why we go to bed in the evening, turn off the radio, draw the curtains and turn off the light.