Do you often find yourself smothered by your cat while you sleep? Do they love to rest their tush and paws on your face, chest, and sometimes on your head? Though you may like this behavior (80% of the cat parents don’t mind), you often wonder why they do that, or is it a normal cats behavior? Let’s dig deep as to why your feline friend loves sleeping on top of you or with you.
Why Does My Cat Sleep On Me?
#1 Cats are Warmth Hoarders
Being a cat companion, you must have observed that why do cats sleep so much? And lazying around in the warmest spaces in your house, like the sunny spot on the ground near the window, on top of your laptop, in a pile of laundry, near the stove, or radiator area. And, when you sleep, that warm and cozy place is you, as the human body becomes naturally warm when they sleep, especially the head part, as it oozes out a lot of heat. Your furry friend may find that repulsive, but it’s one of the coziest places for your cat to doze off peacefully.
#2 Cats are Territorial
Cats are extremely territorial animals and like to leave their scent on their favorite things to mark their territory. It’s like, by leaving their scent, they are contending I am the master of this thing or human. So, they may like to sleep with you on your bed and scratch the pillow and comforter, and there is no better way of marking their human by sleeping on them. Thus, it is one of the main reasons for why cats sleep on owners.
#3 Gives Them a Sense of Security
Cats using humans as a pillow can be traced back to their early kitten behavior. Kittens in a little love, sleeping cozy and cuddly on top of their brothers and sisters, huddled around their mother. It gives them a sense of emotional and physical security. Of course, by doing so, they also establish a bond with their mom. So, by sleeping with you, they recreate that sense of intimacy and security they had as a kitten by replacing their mom figure with you.
#4 A Way to Spend Time with you
Most of you often wonder one question, ‘why does my cat sleep on me?’. If you are out of home in the daytime for work or other reasons, the nighttime is the only time your cat can spend with you. So, they want to get as close to you as possible by sleeping on your head, face, chest, or legs. Cats, like humans, show their love through physical intimacy.
#5 Coziest Place
As a cat parent, you already know how much do cats sleep. An average cat sleeping time ranges from 15 hrs or more a day. They usually take short catnaps throughout the day instead of sleeping for a long period in one go. So it’s obvious that they look for the coziest places to sleep. And, your bed is one of the perfect places for them with its clean sheets, pillows, comforter, and most important you. How can they resist all this coziness and make the best out of it by sleeping near or on you?
What are the Benefits of Cats Sleeping On Owners?
So now you know that hard science and psychology rule your cat’s sleeping behavior. What about you? What is there for you in this arrangement? As we all know, any relationship is a two-way road. And yes, sleeping with your cat has benefits for its human friend too.
#1 Sleeping Aid
Sleeping with your furry friend will make you two harmonize your breathing, which works as a great sleeping aid that will help you doze off in no time. So say goodbye to those sleeping woes while you embrace your furry ball of a friend at night hours.
#2 Warmth
It’s not only cats who chase after warm things or, in your case, warm bodies. You can also use their furry body to get all cozied up, especially during those lonely, cold winter nights.
#3 Psychological Wellbeing
It’s not always warmth, security, or territory marking for your feline sleeping on you. Then why do cats sleep on you? It can be as simple as cats loving you and showing it by sleeping on you and using you as their human pillow. And we all require loving, healthy relationships to feel valued, which also aids our psychological well-being.
Disadvantages of Cats Sleeping On Owners
Are you wondering why do cats like to sleep with their owners? Yes, because when your cat sleeps with you until people have concerns about allowing their pets in their bedrooms. And that can act as a deterring factor and make you rethink the co-sleeping situation with your paw buddy, like:
#1 Having an Overweight Cat
If your cat is overweight, it can become very uncomfortable for you if it sleeps on you. You also run the risk of being suffocated by your cat overweight. In that case, you may allow a cat to sleep with you, but not on you.
#2 Sleep Disturbance Issues
Though most cats adjust easily to their human sleeping schedules, they are naturally nocturnal beings. They are most active during dusk and dawn hours and can disturb your wee sleeping hours badly. You may feel like you are not getting enough sleep if they become active at night or early morning and demand playtime with you.
#3 Risk of Getting Infection and Fleas
If your cat roams outdoors, they risk carrying fleas, pathogens, and other harmful bacteria inside your home, bed, and on you. Though cats fleas don’t stick to human bodies, you can easily get flea bites. Even cats living indoors may trace litter from the litter bin to your bed and can even give you an eye infection. Regardless, to mitigate the presence of fleas on your kitty’s body, the best flea and tick shampoo for cats can come to your use.
#4 Children at Risk
You may find babies and furry felines together as the cutest thing in the world, but keeping them away from sleeping babies is a precaution you must not avoid at any cost. Cats must never be allowed to sleep with babies as they can unknowingly suffocate them while sleeping on their face or chest. Also, cats get startled easily in their sleep and might injure or scratch the baby while trying to jump in the startling phase.
#5 The Territorial Issue with Other Pets
If you have another pet sleeping with you, it might cause chaos, as each of them would try to mark the bed and you as their territory and might not want the other pet to share the same space.
#6 Privacy Issue
Your cat wants to sleep with you might become an issue when you or your partner want some privacy, and the cat won’t leave you alone.
FAQs
If your cat or you have some health issues or are feeling sick, you should consult your vet regarding the sleeping situation with your cat and follow their recommendations.
All cats have distinct personalities and may act on their past behaviour as a kitten. Some cats might never sleep with their human buddy, but that’s perfectly okay and normal.
To expereince a cat sleeps on me scenario you can train the pet. But it’s up to your cat. Each cat, like humans, has preferences of its own and is extremely moody, too.
You might have the best relationship with your cat, yet she prefers not to sleep in your bed or with you. It has nothing to do with the love it have for you. It might just be one of their preferences.
You should consult your vet if the illness of yours is contagious and ensure that it’s not transferable to animals, particularly your cat.
If you want your cat to sleep on his cat heated bed, not on you, you can try investing in the best heated cat bed or leaving your t-shirt on his bed. The scent of your shirt will provide him security and may assure him to sleep on his own.
Conclusion
Surely, there might be situations when you might not allow your cats to enter your bedrooms, as stated above, but apart from that, do not naysayer talk you out of letting you sleep with your cat if both of you love that. It’s one of the most vulnerable and emotionally satisfying experiences, and your cat will love you more for it.