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Something all cat owners can relate to are the weird and wonderfully feral sounds we can be woken up by during the night. Our furry little beasties tend to come alive in the night time after their daily 12 hour charging snoozes. As most of us try to get our forty winks, it seems our favourite friends opt for acrobatics in the darkness, but could our cats really be considered nocturnal?
Despite their night owl activity, officially cats can’t be said to be nocturnal, they are in fact crepuscular. Quite fitting for the little night creepers, the term describes animals that are most active at dawn and dusk, who get their rest during the daytime.
Why do cats sleep so much?
To us humans, our fluffballs’ sleep schedule may seem a little extreme but their power to nap is actually a perfected art formed over many years of practice to increase their chances at a successful hunt in the wild. Their wise old ancestors would hunt at dawn and dusk in the dimmer light so they could sneak up on their prey using their night vision, then rest up through the day so they were ready to go all over again.
Now obviously our domesticated fur children aren’t quite the wild hunters they used to be, but after so many years of exercising their sleeping habits, it isn’t just something they can shake off now they live the cushy life. Though it does seem the caring cats have found it in their hearts to spend a little more of the day awake than their ancestors in order to socialise with their favourite humans, and we’re eternally grateful for it.
How do I help my cat sleep at night
If your little housemate is causing a little too much chaos on their nightshift, there are some ways to try and contain it:
- Scheduled play sessions just before bed time are a good way to try to tire out your pal before the lights go out. Using up some of their excess energy will hopefully quell the midnight visits somewhat.
- A full tummy before bed may also slow them down a little through the night, they’ll be busy digesting which hopefully leaves less time for corridor sprinting and bed pouncing. Fingers crossed this should also delay those 5am wake up calls when their tums start rumbling.
- If neither of the above are quite working out, all we can suggest is shutting that door and hoping they keep themselves entertained. Keep plenty of food (we love this easy automated feeder from Aldi for dosing dry food at optimum overnight intervals), water and toys available for entertainment
Good luck with the beauty sleep and tell us how you manage your pal overnight in our community.
