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Cats sleep an average of 14-16 hours a day . This average varies depending on the age of the cat and its state of health . For example, a puppy cat sleeps more hours than a young adult.
The hours of sleep serve the body to carry out its repair tasks after a long day of running, jumping and hunting. When they are puppies, these repair and growth tasks are more extensive, and this is the reason why kittens need many more hours of sleep.
How is the dream of cats?
Many researchers have studied cat sleep as a model for sleep in people. In fact, one of the greatest researchers in this field, W. Dement, determined the REM phase (Rapid Eye Movement) in these animals.
Sleep in people, and in many mammals, including the cat, is divided into different phases. The brain works with electrical waves . The electrical activity of these waves will determine whether we are awake or asleep.
These phases are divided into:
- Non-REM or deep sleep phase . In this phase, as its name suggests, there are no eye movements. This is the phase of restful and deep sleep. In general, in turn, they are divided into 4 phases through which sleep is passed and deepens .
In the first phase they are half asleep, half awake . We must remember that cats are hunters, but they can also be attacked, so they must be alert. For this reason, there are times when it seems that they are asleep, but they are really attentive to everything that is happening around them, in order to react quickly.
In the last part of this non-REM phase, sleep is so deep that waking up a cat at this time is quite difficult. This is so, precisely because they are the most restorative phases of all. Heart rate, pressure, kidney functionality decrease to achieve a restorative effect on the body.
- REM phase (Rapid eye movement). As its name suggests, very rapid eye movements are observed in this phase. The body is relaxed, while the brain is intensely active. So yes, it is in this phase that our cats dream.
You may have seen at some point, while they are peacefully asleep next to you, that they begin to move their legs or even make a little noise. It is at this time that your brain is fully active as if in a waking state, while the body is totally relaxed.
What do cats dream about while they sleep?
It is a very good question, and one that we would all love to know, just as we would love to know what exactly they think when they look at us.
Different studies have been carried out to determine the electricity of brain waves, and to see the phases it goes through during sleep, but nothing has been able to tell us what our cat dreams of.
If we adapt it from our own dreams, we can imagine that they will have dreams related to their day to day as we humans can have . Catching a fly that has just entered the room, savoring his favorite can, enjoying the cuddles and caresses of his humans.
Although they can also have, like us, nightmares. This does not mean that if we see our cat moving while he sleeps , we take it for granted that he is having a nightmare and we are going to wake him up. Probably, as it happens to us, many of these dreams are not conscious when they wake up, so we will let that moment pass for them.
In fact, if we wake them up from deep sleep, they may wake up disoriented and out of place.
What do my cat’s sleeping postures mean?
Our cat’s sleeping position also has a lot to say when it comes to dreaming and recovery while they sleep.
On the one hand, depending on the ambient temperature , we will see our cats more or less stretched. Heat and cold can make them able to rest better or worse, so they will always seek the greatest comfort and comfort for themselves.
In summer, they are stretched lengthwise to feel less heat, even looking for cooler areas of the house. While in winter they curl up, curling up into a ball to keep their body temperature as high as possible. In the rest of the seasons they will go through intermediate positions for their comfort.
As we can see, they seek the greatest comfort at bedtime. This includes standing with the belly up, this being one of the postures that indicate greater relaxation and security when sharing space with other animals or people.
Yes indeed! We should not think that at that moment he is offering us his belly to caress it. Cats do not like us to touch that area. So if we see that he is placed like this, enjoy it because it means that he is comfortable by your side.
References:
Orem, J., Netick, A., & Dement, W.C. (1977). Breathing during sleep and wakefulness in the cat. Respiration physiology, 30(3), 265-289.
