Vet Chat On:

Sleeping Cats

Sleeping Cats

Kate's Commentary:

"I recently read a letter to a Vet from a woman who had rescued a cat from a shelter and was concerned about how much the cat slept. The writer had been depressed and was wondering if her feelings might not be adversely affecting her new pet. I include the vet's answer here because I think the information might be helpful to those of us who "rescue"... or become depressed ...! LOL"

Mike Richards DVM:

"I do think that pets are sensitive to our moods, but I don't think that it would be possible to induce depression in a pet without being actively neglectful or cruel, so I don't think that you should worry about that at this point.

But cats vary in their sleeping patterns and the upper end of "normal" sleeping times is really high. One study I saw recently said that cats sleep up to eighteen hours a day and another study said fourteen hours a day. Since both of these figures are higher than most human's sleeping times, we do sometimes get the impression that cats are sleeping too much when they are not. Remember, it is also a great deal of stress for a cat to be in a shelter. They are not social in the way dogs are and the lack of privacy is hard on a cat. It can take them some time to get over this sort of experience.

In addition, cats are highly territorial and I think that they are worried about territorial invasion (either by them or expecting it from someone else) when they first come to a new home, so that adds to the stress. One way that all creatures deal with excessive stress is to sleep a lot, so I would not be surprised if Kitty is still adjusting some and is sleeping more than she will when that process is over. It does not surprise me when it takes one or two months for cats to adjust to a new home, especially cats who have been through more than one home in the past".

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