Hello I'm Simon, welcome to Simon's Cat Logic, we'll be finding out from a cat expert
why cats behave the way they do. Today we're going to have a look at favourite sleeping places.
Altogether I've had six cats in my life and it amazes me how individual
each one is, even down to things like their favourite sleeping places.
My second cat Chloe's used to love the airing cupboard and would always find a way of sneaking in
there and going up to the second shelf and laying on the soft towels and the warm.
She loved it in there.
[Where do cats like to sleep?]
Cats sleep or rest intermittently throughout the day.
Cats like to sleep somewhere safe, usually up high.
They're also really fond of somewhere dark and warm.
You can find all sorts of hiding places and nice places for them to sleep
such as igloo beds, or those radiator beds, or even something as
simple as a cardboard box with a nice blanket inside.
Now you may think to yourself..
why is my cat sleeping in this random place on the floor, especially when I bought
this really expensive cat bed, but if you follow the line of the hot-water pipes
in your house you may well find that your cat sleeping just above them and
keeping nice and toasty.
[Let Sleeping Cats Lie] Now I know cats are really cute when they're fast asleep, but please resist the
temptation to wake them up.
Cats sleep for 16 hours or more a day and this will be even more in kittens or elderly cats.
You may find that cats actually steal your seat as soon as you get up.
It's actually because it's nice and warm
because you've just been sitting there, but also because it's off the floor and it
smells of the owner as well.
[Why do cats love laundry?]
All laundry provides a comfortable place for cats to sleep.
Now some cats prefer dirty laundry
just because it smells familiar to them and it has a scent of the owner on it.
Whereas other cats prefer clean laundry and this can be more because if it's
been freshly tumble dry this could be nice and warm. A safe place to sleep.
Whether it's a box
the laundry pile or even a suitcase, cats tend to rotate round when their sleeping
place which is the normal behaviour.
We think this is a throw back to African Wildcat behaviour where they want to
regularly change their sleeping place to avoid a build up of external parasites.
[Cats that sleep together...]
Many owners think that if their cats sleep together on the bed that they must be friends
this very much depends on how the cats are sleeping together
for example if the cats are sleeping together with interlocking paws and
maybe they're grooming each other and rubbing against each other
I think it's safe to say they're probably friends or in the same social group.
However, if you go back and have a look at your cats and you see that actually
they are carefully spaced out on the bed
maybe they're in a crouched position and they're very carefully just avoiding eye
contact with the other cats
it may be that they're actually tolerating each other or just not in the same
social group but there for the valued resource of the owners bed.
[Do cats dream?]
It is thought that cats may actually have dreams because they do have what's called REM
sleep or rapid eye movement sleep
I think many owners like to think when their cats are twitching and moving their paws
that perhaps they're chasing squirrels and things outside, but unfortunately at
this point in time we don't really know what they're dreaming about.
[Simon's Real Cats - Sleeping Places]
Hugh always makes me smile because his favourite
sleeping place is this big compost bin outside my back garden and it's just in
the right place for it catches all that afternoon sunlight and he's always there
snuggled on top of it, because he's black furred he absorbs all the heat.
Teddy's favourite sleeping place is actually at the end of the garden in an old run-down polytunnel
which is all overgrown with stingers and brambles and things, but there is a little hole under the door
Jess's favourite sleeping place is quite sweet she likes sleep next to my pillow
here at night and I have to make a space for her on my bed by pulling my pillows up.
My cat Maisy is ginormous
and her favourite stopping place is at the bottom of my bed
because she's so big he basically sprawls out and dominates the entire area.
That's the great thing about cats they're all so individual. My cats have all got their own
favourite sleeping places and I'm sure yours do too.