Can cats sleep too much?

[ScaredButUnavoidable]

It feel like all my cat does is sleep!!

Obviously it’s getting colder outside so she’s indoors a lot more now…… but it genuinely does feel like all she does is sleep and eat!

She goes outside for short periods where she’ll wander around the garden chasing flies, and potter about the front of the house….. but then she’ll come back in and soon she back to sleep again.

We do have longer periods where she’s awake and interacting with us…… bursts of activity and evening Zoomies etc, but generally, she’s usually asleep.

She may go out all night for all I know (via the cat flap) but 95% of the time when I wake up in the morning, she’s in the same spot that I left her in when I went to bed 🤣

She’s currently been in the same spot on my bed for 5 hours…. She’ll have a big stretch every now and then, open her eyes to check I’m still there and make some cute cat noises at me….. but then it’s back to sleep.

Is this normal?!

I think my boy is the same! When he was younger he’d be out so much & I’d hardly see him!

Now he’s 5 & in much the same pattern as your cat. And he’s getting overweight too, despite me cutting back on his food!

I hope its normal because our cat is the same (10 years old). She does venture out much more in summer, to do paw patrol and sleep in a sunny spot guarding our garden but from October to springtime she's asleep 90% of the time inside.

This is all mine does

It never ceases to amaze me how much sleep cats seem to need; dogs too!
My dog spends probably 18-20 hours a day asleep. He is a ‘senior’ dog at this point to be fair, he spent a bit more time awake when he was younger.

But I do think their sleep is not necessarily the same as ours. Some of the time they’re in a genuinely deep sleep, but I think a lot of the time they’re just relaxing with their eyes closed 😂

They’re either just incredibly lazy, or their short bursts of activity take a lot more out of them than we realise. I mean they’re a lot smaller than us, so limited in how many calories they can take on board and therefore how much energy they can expend. Maybe. (But I’m not very good at science so could be completely wrong 😂)

@Granniefanny - that photo is adorable!!!

I popped downstairs to get a cup of tea and my cat duly followed and I ushered her out into the back garden so she could get some exercise 😂She's been out there now for about ten minutes and is still awake..... she is walking around sniffing the grass and leaves and showing some interest in a little cat toy that is out there. I give it about anther 5 minutes before I hear the cat-flap go and she resumes her place on the bed and goes back to sleep!

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a cat like this.

@ChilledProsecco - I'm also worried about weight now that she's becoming more sedentary over the last month. She's definitely looking a little rounder.

I understand that cats sleep about 15+ hours a day, so don't worry about it.
They always wake up when they're hungry !

Mine is certainly trying to find out……

They’re conserving their energy … and one of these days we’ll find out what they’re conserving it for 😼

We were once away for the weekend and checked in on the cats in the cameras. There was one day when our girl cat didn't move from my bed (apart from stretching and lying back down again) for 18 hours.

She seems fine otherwise though - nags us if we're not following routine, sits giving me meaningful looks at bedtime, and yells at me in the morning if I haven't sat down with a cup of tea for her mini-nap on my lap while I brush her etc.

Normal.

Its normal. Cats can sleep for 20+ hours a day. Also consider cats are naturally nocturnal so she may be up and about patrolling the house, out if you let her out at night while you are sleeping. Alaska is most active in the evening once she has had dinner she will get the zoomies and run around for bit she will chase or fight with a toy, then she will nap on the sofa and is often still there when we go to bed. She will come for a late night cuddle then she is doing whatever she does til she wakes my husband up for breakfast.

Our cats sleep quite a lot. One is 12 and I don’t think she sleeps as much at night anymore. The other one is 2 and more lively during the day but definitely likes a big nap. Or four

We have a tracker on our cat which shows he is active for about 50% of the time although we do keep him in overnight. He’s only 18 months old though and we haven’t had him very long. I think he is still establishing his territory and we are very rural. He does about 6km a day

Is this normal?!

Yes. Bunch of dossers, they are.

The danger is if they sleep too much they won't have enough time to fit in some quality napping.

Your comment reminded me of this meme 😂

The average cats sleep 18 hours a day, they have evolved to have short bursts of high energy to catch prey and then sleep.

Do you have a link to this type of tracker?

I would love a tracker for my cat but I can only find ones that tell you where the cat is at any given point, not one that shows a history of their activity and where they’ve been.

We have Tractive trackers for our cats which tell you that kind of thing

How old is your cat? My elderly boy who died recently would sleep for at least 22 hours a day if not more

I have no idea. We got her from a Rescue Centre and she had just been dumped there in a cardboard box 😞

She doesnt look “old” but she doesn’t look like she’s in the “young” category either 🤣

It’s a Pawfit lite tracker. Costs about £40 to buy then a monthly subscription

https://www.pawfit.com/en-gb/product/pawfit-lite-gps-tracker-for-cats.html#attr-onyxblack

Mine hasn't slept too much yet, but she's working on it.

Attacking your ankles. Baffing you through the bannister rails. Knocking things off. Annoying dogs. Hours of surveillance.

Mine says "not long enough"..