Cats make wonderful pets. They are adorable, sweet, and playful. They are great companions and they also provide numerous benefits to their owners.
You provide them with the house and food. You are their source of comfort and security, too.
They look forward to being around you whenever you are away, playing with you, teasing you, and mainly loving you.
Cat owners know how one session of petting or playing with their cat can turn a bad day into a good one. Studies done by NLM explain that “petting our cats or dogs releases the feel-good hormone, oxytocin”.
Cats also decrease our anxiety and stress levels. Which Sounds like a perfect recipe for sleep! But do they know when you are sleeping?
Do Cats Understand the Concept of Sleep?
Sleep is an essential biological process for humans as well as animals. Cats may not understand the whole science behind the circadian rhythm but they sure keep track of your patterns and Body language.
“Cats have a different sleep routine than us humans. They sleep multiple times each day rather than in one, long period, like humans generally sleep. These cat naps average 78 minutes in length. However, cats commonly sleep for periods of time ranging from 50 to 113 minutes” confirms Nicole LaForest, petMD.
To cats, our long naps must be appearing as something unique.
Do Cats Understand Your Sleep Routine?
As you pay attention to your cat’s routine, they likely do the same thing every day. They are also paying close attention to your routine.
Every bit of your cat’s well-developed senses are likely focused on you, all the time you’re around. It does not matter whether you are a male or female as long as you provide them with food, affection, water, and entertainment you are a mother figure to them.
Due to their keen hearing Cats can pick up on the slightest changes in our breathing patterns [1]. If you’re asleep, your breathing will be much slower and deeper than when you’re awake.
This is how they know that you are in dreamland. In many cases whenever they lay upon us they feel our breathing movements, which tends to be normal in deep sleep.
So, We can safely say that all cats can figure out the idea of sleep but whether or not they care will greatly depend on the individual cat and the responses they get from interrupting your sleep.
Do Cats Care That You Are Sleeping?
Your cat’s entire universe is contained within your house. The most important thing in your cat’s life is most likely you.
Some cats will naturally learn to ignore us while we are asleep since they know it will take much more effort to get our attention. So despite how much they hate to wake us up or how eager they are to eat, they just wait patiently until we become alert again.
The reason why some cats are more considerate towards their owner’s sleep may have to do with several factors like Age, temperament, and environment.
Other cats will have less tolerance for our sleep and simply jump on our heads until we wake up because some cats are naturally more active in nature.
Even more persistent cats may even decide to give us a lick, a sweet bite, or both to get us to wake up and get our attention. They might require training and with patience and love, they learn to understand the boundaries.
FAQs
Do Cats Like It When You Sleep?
Sleeping with you provides them with security and an extra defense if a predator should launch a nighttime attack. They sleep with you because they trust you, they know you’re not a danger and you can also provide an extra layer of defense if needed
Do Cats Watch You When You Are Asleep?
Staring at humans while they sleep is a common cat behavior, a puzzling one. As it turns out, cats stare at people a lot, not just while they’re sleeping. Cats often stare at you while you’re awake for the same reasons they stare at you while you’re peacefully sleeping.
Why Do Cats Sit On Your Chest When You Are Asleep?
Your Cat Loves You. You’re not just a comfy cat bed; your cat loves you too, and laying on your chest is one way they show their love.
Can My Cat Hear My Baby’s Heartbeat?
Cats and dogs likely perceive hormonal changes that occur with pregnancy due to their amazing sense of smell. Their keen sense of hearing also means they probably hear the baby’s heartbeat in the later stages of pregnancy.
Why Do Cats Wake You?
your cat is likely waking you up early in the morning because they woke you up once before and you either fed them or gave them attention. So they continue to wake you up to keep getting that food or attention.
Final Thoughts
Do cats truly know when you are sleeping? That remains unclear but, one thing is certain: our cats have an extraordinary ability to sense and act according to their environment, including our sleep patterns.
As cat companions, it’s exciting to explore the complexity of cats’ behavior and the unique bond we share with our cats. We love them, provide for them, and take care of them in order to increase our connection with them.
Cats pay close attention to our body language. So, While they do not fully understand the concept of sleep like us, they know we don’t respond to them during this time. which makes it clear to them that something is different.
Our cats might not have a great sense of our sleep routines but their loving nature and ability to adapt to our routine is what makes them special companions in our day-to-day life.
Reference:
- Tamuvetmed. (2023). A Cat’s Five Senses | Pet Talk | VMBS News.
Patricia is a guardian to an exotic shorthair cat named Suz. She’s a professional cat trainer and behaviorist. She has expertise in writing on feline behavior, house training, and tips & tricks including product reviews of related products.
