The Advantages Of Kitty Zzs
Allowing your cat to sleep with you on the bed can also have benefits for you and your meow mate. It.
- Reduces stress Petting a sleeping cat has been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety, depression, and stress.
- Strengthens the bond Cats who sleep with their humans are closer to them. This comfortable snuggle helps them feel more trust and safety with their owners.
- Its warm For those who get cold easily, a cat in the bed is the perfect feet warmer.
- Good company Whenever you are lonely, having a cat as a companion is the perfect feel-good friendship.
Is It Bad To Let Your Cat Sleep In Bed With You
Does co-sleeping with your cat worsen or improve your quality of sleep? The answer depends on the scientific study in question.
Ultimately, veterinarians canât issue a blanket statement on whether it is objectively âgoodâ or âbadâ to sleep alongside your pet. Only the pet owner can really answer that question.
âSome people feel more comforted with their cat in the bed, other people will have difficulty getting comfortable, or might be disturbed if their cat walks on them or hogs the bed,â Mikel Delgado, a cat expert at Feline Minds and a postdoctoral fellow School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, tells Inverse.
Pankratz, who works at the Animal Behavior Clinic in Portland, Oregon, says there is âno clear consensusâ and that âfurther research is needed.â
âSome studies support benefits on sleep while others show an association with poorer sleep quality,â Pankratz adds.
But if you want to dig into the scientific literature, here are the highlights:
Battling The Stubborn Kitten
Working toward that kitten sleep schedule does take time. Meanwhile, youre losing sleep while your furry darling chews on your toes every night. You may have to face the reality of closing a door while your feline adapts to the new plan. This is where you test your willpower. The temptation to open the door at the first sad meow is often overwhelming.
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Sleeping Arrangements For A Kittens First Night Home Teaser: A Kittens First Night In A New Home Is Likely One Of The Biggest Challenges They Have Ever Faced Here Are A Few Things To Know And What You Can Do To Help Your New Kitten Sleep Peacefully Through The Night
Welcoming a new kitten home can be nerve-wracking for both the owners and the felines involved. While were fretting over which cupboard is best for keeping the cat food and which local veterinary practice to choose, the kitten has a whole set of different concerns to deal with. There are new people to meet and new sights and smells everywhere. Their new home looks nothing like the one they lived in until not so long ago and theres no sight of their mum and littermates. In short, everything is different and a bit scary.
Then just as theyre getting settled, night time arrives and they are left to sleep all alone in this new, strange house. A kittens first night home can be challenging but there are plenty of things a cat owner can do to help your little ball of fur settle in quickly.
What Can I Give My Cat To Sleep
Valerian herb has been used by humans as a treatment for insomnia, it has a similar effect on felines helping them relax and sleep better.
Melatonin is a hormone supplement used to treat a range of conditions. It is commonly used for sleep and behavioural disorders in humans, cats, and dogs. In dogs it is also used for treatment of hair disorders like alopecia and for separation anxiety. In cats it can be utilized for sleep deprivation, cognitive dysfunction, mood stabilisation and to supress the heat cycle.
The ASPCA compiled a list of sleep aids that may be beneficial for your cat.
Consult your natural vet or animal health practitioner prior to administration of ANY supplements, herbs, or medication for correct dosage as well as in case of contraindications.
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Know When To Ignore Your Cat
This is the hardest part, but also the most important in order for the methods above to really work. If your cat wakes you up during the night, ignore them! Dont feed them, pet them or scold them. Dont even grumble the best thing to do is to completely ignore them! After about 10 days, your cat should get tired of this game and stop bothering you.
Similarly, if your cat starts waking you up looking for food too early, you should adopt the same feline psychology approach. Take your time getting up: have your breakfast and get dressed before you give your cat their first meal. That way, theyll eventually understand that theres no point rushing you to get fed. We know it wont be easy not to give in, but be strong )
Unconventional Cat Sleeping Places
Some cats like to sleep on anything new . Big sheets of tissue paper , a piece of luggage flattened out, a seat cushion, a coat that’s been in the closet for six months, even two cardboard scratching pad replacement boards fastened together. There’s almost no limit to what cats will sleep on. Your kitty may decide to appropriate a given object as a bed for one night, or for the next several years, so be prepared to give up items for the cause if you ever leave them out as a guest bed for kitty.
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Dont Be Your Only Cats Source Of Food
Hide food in various places around the house or nearby new objects so your cat can hunt for their food. Use Doc & Phoebes Indoor Hunting Cat Feeder to increase the difficulty of seeking food and enhance investigative abilities.
Create homemade food puzzles from egg cartons, toilet paper rolls or cardboard boxes. Cat treat dispensing balls with a hole that distributes dry food is an alternative challenge comes nightfall.
Along with puzzle feeders, toss food all around the house to promote foraging opportunities whilst building problem-solving skills.
Make use of technology such as timed automated feeders to spread your cats feed over the day and dispense food early morning while youre asleep.
Establishing A Kitten Sleep Schedule
As youre dragging through your day on a caffeine infusion, getting your cat to sleep through the night may sound impossible. A little work on your part, though, and youll see both of you waking up refreshed and ready to face the day.
Cats and kittens sleep an average of 18-20 hours. If you set up a proper structure, youll find eight of those hours coinciding with your sleep time. How do you manage your cats sleep cycle? How do you get a kitten sleeping through the night? You do so by developing a kitten sleep schedule.
You have a routine every day. It keeps you on track, allowing your body to move from activity to relaxation. You can do the same for your cat, naturally encouraging your cat to sleep through the night.
Important tips to keep in mind when setting up that kitten sleep schedule include:
- Stick to the schedule: Whether it means setting out food, scooping the litter box, or breaking out the toys, aim for the same times every day. Your cat will learn when to expect each task on the schedule including bedtime.
- Add playtime before bedtime: Have you ever done a workout before retiring for the day? Vigorous activity settles the body down. The same theory works in cats and kittens. The more vigorous the play, the more likely your cat is to sleep through the night.
- Keep dinner late: Full tummies equate to sleepy kittens. If you push the evening meal closer to bedtime, your cats more likely to stretch out and call it a night.
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Respect The Importance Of The Cats Sense Of Smell And Pheromones
Cats use a variety of olfactory and chemical signals to both communicate with other cats and evaluate their environment.
Use a feline synthetic pheromone product such as Feliway in rooms where your cat spends most of their time and when moving to a new environment. This can help to increase their sense of security.
Avoid cleaning areas that have been facially marked by your cat, provide lots of horizontal or vertical scratching objects and scatter dried catnip as an attractant.
Do A Play Session Before The Bedtime Feeding
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Feed Your Cat Right Before Bedtime
Other Common Cat Fight Injuries
In addition to bite abscesses, bite wounds are also the primary way of transmitting Feline Immunodeficiency Virus , as well as Feline Leukemia .
Untreated fight wounds can easily become infected. A cats mouth carries as many bacteria as a dogs, but their teeth are better suited to transmit those bacteria, even through minute puncture wounds, according to researchers with the Mayo Clinic.
Cat claws also carry a ton of their own bacteria, which will fester and thrive in the warm moist environment of a fresh wound. In fact, cat scratch fever is caused by the Bartonella bacteria transferred through a cats claws, which is actually transmitted to a cat through fleas.
Unneutered males are far more likely to fight than neutered cats. This is even true of multi-cat households, where unneutered males are more likely to fight with each other, as well as spray to mark their territory. Neutering indoor-only cats wont eliminate fighting, but it should reduce the number of fights.
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To Understand Why Our Cats Do What They Do We Have To Look Back At Their Ancestry
The ancestors of our house cats preferred to live solitary lives, were nocturnal or crepuscular hunters. These behavioural traits are retained by many pet cats today, affecting their sleeping and activity habits.
Todays housecat is crepuscular, meaning that they are most active in the hours right before the sun rises and just after its dipped under the horizon each evening.
That means that its perfectly normal for your cat to wake you up early in the morning or skitter around the house in the evening to learn more about cat zoomiesbut you can work with your cat to establish a sleep cycle that works for both of you.
Its A Bonding Exercise
Cats have earned an unfair reputation as being aloof and unfriendly. But as cat owners, we know this couldnt be farther from the truth. Our cats are as affectionate as they are social. They want to bond with us.
Cat behavior consultant Mikel Delgado, PhD, told Catster that its not unusual for cats to engage in pillowing at bedtime. This is when they use another cat as a pillow If theyre the only cat in the house, they love to use you as an alternative.
This tactile component to the feline/human bond is your cats way of saying, I love you. I want to be near you and spend time with you.
Its hard to argue with that.
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Toys To Tire Your Kitten
Make sure you have lots of interactive toys for your kitty to play with so that they can use up all of the energy they have just built up during their snooze.
Puzzle games where they have to open a container to get to a treat, are great for entertaining kittens. Chasing a ping pong ball around the floor, or trying to catch a toy mouse on the end of a piece of string, is a popular game for kiddies to play with kittens.
Also give them plenty of perches to jump up on and a scratching post where they can stretch and scratch. These are great for exercising kittens and also stops them from scratching your furniture!
If your kitty loves noisy toys, thats great, but remember to move them out of kittys way before you go to bed – just in case they feel like having another frolic in the middle of the night – you dont want to be woken up by the sound of kitties musical jingles!
Set Your Cat A Curfew
Wondering how to keep your cat in? There are cat flaps available from Sure Petcare that allow you to set a timed curfew for your cat. They’ll have the opportunity to roam free during the day but you can set a timed curfew of your choice. When its time, your cat will no longer be able to exit your home through the cat flap. If your cat is already outside, they’ll be able to enter but won’t be able to leave the house again. An ideal solution for keeping pets in at night, or when traffic gets busy!
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Do They Interrupt Your Sleep
Do they wake you up with incessant meowing or movements? While cats are known for being independent, some are high maintenance and bossy. Again, if youre able to stay asleep through their nocturnal activities, then your bedtime is likely unaffected. However, if youre waking up frequently during the night because of your furry friend, you may need to establish some new ground rules.
Exposure To Litter Box Debris
Even the cleanest of cats will get litter box debris on their paws. Theres no way to avoid it. Just remember that theyre tracking that into the bedroom with you, and it could include traces of fecal matter. If your pet spends any time outdoors, theyre also tracking in all the gunk from outside, too.
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Your Cat Prefers To Sleep On Your Chest
A second popular spot for your cat to sleep is your chest. One explanation for this is that a cat may be drawn to the sounds of your body. They may lay on your chest because theyre comforted by the sounds of your rhythmic heartbeat and your steady breath.
Dr. Satchu confirms this theory. Cats likely find some benefit to our very slow and calm respiratory patterns while we sleep, she says. This is when we are at our most calm and most cats tend to echo those same sentiments, even though they get to sleep for a good 18 hours each day!
Why Is My Cat Up At Night
The reason it seems as though your cat is nocturnal is because he is crepuscular, an animal naturally more active at dawn and dusk. That transitional time between nightfall and daylight is your cats time of greatest activity and when he most wants to hunt, play, eat, and cuddle. It is the time your cat is most likely to seek out your attention.
Because we humans tend to have our deepest sleep at the pre-dawn hours, it can be particularly disruptive to have a cat in your bed who thinks it is time to play. This can be especially intense during spring time, when the daylight length extends and those pre-dawn and dusk times come earlier and later. If you have a younger, active cat, it can seem as though they will never let you sleep!
When your cat keeps you awake in those pre-dawn hours, it is easy to resent seeing him blissfully sleeping later during the day. Cats are fortunate because they can easily cycle from sleep to wakefulness and back again without any of the familiar grogginess that humans experience. Cats are so adept at falling asleep that human sleep researchers used cats as the original models for how REM sleep works. And of course, we all know why the term catnap so perfectly describes what those champion feline sleepers do best!
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Why Do Cats Like To Sleep With Their Owners
Many cats like to sleep with their owners because theyre vulnerable at night. In the wild, they were prey to larger animals and sought coverage and protection. They probably feel safe and secure in your presence, so its not surprising that they want to sleep with you!
Is there a way to train your feline to sleep with you?
Because cats tend to sleep in short bursts and remain active at night, they might not want to sleep with you during the night. To help train them to calm down at night and snuggle up, you can try these tips:
- Engage in an intense play session before bed to get them to release pent-up energy and prepare for bed.
- Use an automatic feeder so your cat can get up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack without disturbing you.
- Buy or make a perch for your feline so they can observe their surroundings and the outside from an elevated height.
- Keep toys around the house so if your kitten does get the urge to play in the middle of the night, he can entertain himself without waking you.
- Consider getting a second cat for company. The two of them can wake up to play and then return to bed when its time to nap. You get to snuggle with two animals instead of one!
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