When we think of a life of leisure our mind might jump to tropical islands, carefree mornings, or even an endless supply of good books \u2014 and the time to read them! But the ultimate life of leisure might be right under our nose in the form of the cute feline doing what it does best- snoozing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Never one to be accused of an overly active lifestyle, most cats sleep an average of 15+ hours per day. But this sleep is somewhat different than our own. In fact, about three-quarters of their sleep might better be described as snoozing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This semi-alert slumber has its roots far from the safety of your window sill and all the way back to the pre-domestication days. Cats, like most animals in the wild, needed to be continuously vigilant about predators. To help stay both rested and alert throughout the day, our four-legged friends developed an ability to stay in this light-sleep state for hours at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can tell when a cat is snoozing because their ears will twitch and rotate toward noises and their eyes may be slightly open. Moreover, a cat can attain this kind of sleep when they\u2019re sitting up, and their sense of smell and hearing can remain active during most of their sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: 5 tips for choosing the best pet bed<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if the majority of their time is spent snoozing, cats still sleep<\/em> a lot. Again, we look back to history<\/a> for a better understanding. Cats are sprinters. While this mostly comes out in the swift jives around the living room, back in the day it was in pursuit of prey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cats evolved to hunt with bursts of energy, and that would hopefully pay-off in a high-protein meal. Whether you like to admit it or not, your cute little kitten is closely related to the fast cheetahs or fierce lions you see on the Discovery channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hunting required a high expenditure of energy and one the best way to restore energy is… sleep! In the wild, a cat\u2019s ability to rest and recover effectively would often make the difference between feast or famine. Nowadays your cat might get their \u201cprey\u201d served on a harmless food dish, but the DNA of a hunter still flows through their body.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHistory of sleepy felines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n