but how much do cats sleep? Even sixteen hours a day, as anyone who shares his life with a pussy can confirm. Two-thirds of life spent sleeping is no small feat, and even the laziest of humans would hardly be able to match such a record.
In reality, a large part of the sleep feline is a sort of half-sleep, slumber only partial, of the suspension of the movement, but not of the psychic activity and sensory, you can note, for instance, looking at the ears of the cat, which remain erect, or the tail, which can continue to fly slowly; sometimes the eyes remain half open. When it is in this intermediate condition between wakefulness and sleep, the cat is basically in possession of all its qualities: it is able to escape, or to attack a prey, or to resume the game with a companion in the span of a few seconds and even less.
The phase of semi-sleep can last for a good half hour, before the cat to fall deeper into sleep real: the cycle here is shorter and rarely lasts more than five minutes, and at this stage the body is completely relaxed, the ears are stretched, and the tail is property. It can happen, however, when the cat dreams, that the paws move suddenly in quick jerks and that the muzzle curls in a kind of smile, or quick breath, showing part of the dentition. No one knows exactly what cats dream about: the rapid movements of the paws make you imagine a hunting scene, but as far as we know our pussy could dream of anything else. We only know that it is in this short phase that the cat actually rests and so to say recharges.
the fact remains that the time spent on sleep seems decidedly excessive. Even the wild cat, ancestor and first cousin of our domestic cat, spends very long periods of the day in a state of sleep or deep sleep: and the structural reason, let’s say so, is that predation requires an enormous amount of energy, physical and psychic, which the cat then has absolute need to recover. Lurking, running, jumping, climbing and, above all, focusing in spasm on the enterprise – with that witty expression that we have all seen when spotting a prey, no matter if it is a mouse or a turacciolo – produces strong adrenaline discharges and a great dissipation of energy.
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And if the cat does not prey, and not to play, or does so very seldom, as for the rest, it is often the cats of the apartment, especially if they live alone? The answer is simple and known to all: the cat that continues to accumulate in prolonged rest energies that then can not consume in predation or play, simply fattens – more or less like us, after all. There is a fundamental difference here compared to dogs, which are also excellent sleepers: the dog needs to discharge the accumulated energy, it can not do without it. The city dog walk-the ideal would be a couple of outings a day of an hour each-does not serve to do the needs, as some hasty human still thinks, but to consume energy. If he is not allowed, the surplus of energy turns into discomfort, aggression, nervousness.
cats do not have this need: if they are not stimulated, by the external environment or by another cat or by a human who urges them, they continue to accumulate energy that over time turns into adipe. Nothing tragic, mind you: an overweight cat can encounter even serious disorders with age, but within certain limits – just like an overweight human – leads a normal life. But it is good to know: and, without too much effort on our part, it is possible to remedy. Just a ball or a self-propelled mouse, much more effective (and much more fun for the pussy) than a diet.
