Why do domestic cats sleep so much?

This is a very common question. It has been answered many times. I have a problem with the question because I don't believe that cats do sleep "so much". They snooze a lot more than humans (if they are not geriatric humans!). But domestic cats don't genuinely sleep with dreams et cetera much longer than people. They may even enjoy deep sleep for shorter periods than humans. Certainly they are more flexible as to when they sleep and for how long than humans.

Photo: Michael

I believe that people get mixed up between sleeping and snoozing. There must be a difference. If you want to work out how long a domestic cat actually sleeps I think you will find it is about 5 to 8 hours during a 24 hour period. It might be longer and it might be shorter but it is probably shorter than for humans. And I stress I'm referring to deep, real sleep.

But a domestic cat will snooze either side of sleep for quite long periods so the combination of the two might amount to about 15 hours per day. It might even be longer if a domestic cat lives in a small apartment and has nothing to do. Domestic cats are good survivors. If they have to kill time they will kill it by snoozing and sleeping most of the day. They have nothing to do, they have no prey to catch. They have no stresses or problems in terms of surviving because they are cosseted and confined. The may have stress regarding being confined or being separated from their human caretaker but not regarding hunting.

But don't mix up sleeping and snoozing. They are quite different. The latter is a form of rest and when a domestic cat snoozes they are very alert. They can leap into action within a fraction of a second. There ears swivel to a distant sound even before we can hear it. They open their eyes quickly. They respond to all kinds of stimuli quickly when snoozing and therefore they cannot be sleeping. Let's make sure we differentiate the two because there is a misconception on the internet and it's been promulgated for years that domestic cats sleep nearly the entire 24-hour day when it simply isn't true.

The wild cats are a bit different obviously. It could be said that the lion does sleep a lot because they are pretty efficient hunters (they hunt a lot at night) and if they are efficient at hunting and eating then they have time to rest and sleep. However, I would doubt too whether lions sleep more than domestic cats who are allowed outside. Once again, they will rest for long periods if prey is abundant and they are managing survival but this is not genuine sleep.