Where Do Happy Cats Sleep?

Where cats sleep says a lot.

A stressed out cat will hide and stay out of high traffic areas. Avoiding noise and disturbances from the two-legged or even four-legged members of the family.

In the above photo Lily fell asleep in the warm sun. Not sure why she picked the messy coffee table, but I guess the warmth was inviting.

Cats need a tremendous amount of down time. They sleep a lot and when not sleeping they are resting. Yet it seems, with “one ear to the ground” so they don’t miss meal call or anything else that might just need their immediate attention. And you can’t blame them for being alert to everything in their environment, especially if their whole life is spent indoors. This is their world.

How many places does your cat sleep each day?

This is an interesting subject to ponder. Having raised kittens a number of decades ago, I took note of their progress.

When born they are entirely depended on their mother. Being blind for the first 10 days they have no choice. They will continue to sleep wherever their mother decides is the perfect den. I had one mother cat that packed everyone up and moved them, not always to the best place. The final den for exploring kittens was in the box at the bottom of the cat tree.

Funny, as the only time that box at the bottom was ever used, was for raising kittens. Rarely do any cats get in or play in it other than the kittens and their mom’s, when they were being raised. Kittens never slept anywhere else until they were big enough to climb to the top of the cat tree. About 6 weeks old and they might fall asleep at the top once in a while. Otherwise it was in the bottom of the cat tree. About 8 weeks old they did sleep other places.

Preferred sleeping habits

In all the years of having cats it makes me laugh. Thinking you know where your cat is can be tricky. When Lily and Lucy were younger they spent most of the time curled up together. Now they are usually in the living room in the morning as the sun is pouring in the window. If it isn’t, they are desperately waiting for it! But when the sun has faded from the living room they will seek other places it might be.

Sometimes one or both will seek the back of my computer chair. Is it they want to be close to me or maybe they also want to suck heat from me? They can be crashed on either bed or even on the carpet in the bedroom if the sun managed to hit while they were there. Or they climb on the carpeted bookshelf we made for them and take a nap.

Later they climb on the windowsill in the office. Pushed against the warm window.

In the evening they are with us as we watch TV. There is a good reason for that. They get a little snack at night and of course they try to get our snack if it appeals to them. Which now is 100% off limits.

Never have any of our cats ever slept only in one place. It is certain places for different times of the day. When I had many cats, there were some that piled into a cat bed that was a good size for two cats. The fourth cat climbed in causing one cat to hang out of it, but still remaining in it. Eventually it would get too heated in there and the bottom cat would vacate.

Cats do like mats and beds designed for them. Might be that it surrounds them or a place that is the right size for them. I don’t know if it is about total comfort or the space that confines them. Lily seeks out the mat on the floor and Lucy will get in the cat bed close by. Lily will lay more in the open, even just dropping right in front of where we were going to walk on the living room floor. Where as Lucy will lay on the floor but immediately jump up if we get too close. Or she will pick a spot to sprawl out that puts Lily in dominant position to be stepped on first. Well that is what it looks like to me.

Check out the Cat Beds and Mats on our Review section. Beds are super important for your cat, whether you buy them or make them for your cat. Remember they do need more than one place to sleep to make them feel it is also their home. A happy cat is one that is relaxed in their home.