{"id":3051,"date":"2022-09-30T08:18:38","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T08:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/?p=3051"},"modified":"2022-09-30T08:18:38","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T08:18:38","slug":"are-cats-nocturnal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-cats-nocturnal\/","title":{"rendered":"Are cats nocturnal?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Read time: 2 mins<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something all cat owners can relate to are the weird and wonderfully feral sounds we can be woken up by during the night. Our furry little beasties tend to come alive in the night time after their daily 12 hour charging snoozes. As most of us try to get our forty winks, it seems our favourite friends opt for acrobatics in the darkness, but could our cats really be considered nocturnal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite their night owl activity, officially cats can\u2019t be said to be nocturnal, they are in fact crepuscular<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. Quite fitting for the little night creepers, the term describes animals that are most active at dawn and dusk, who get their rest during the daytime.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why do cats sleep so much?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To us humans, our fluffballs\u2019 sleep schedule may seem a little extreme but their power to nap is actually a perfected art formed over many years of practice to increase their chances at a successful hunt in the wild. Their wise old ancestors would hunt at dawn and dusk in the dimmer light so they could sneak up on their prey using their night vision, then rest up through the day so they  were ready to go all over again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now obviously our domesticated fur children aren\u2019t quite the wild hunters they used to be, but after so many years of exercising their sleeping habits, it isn\u2019t just something they can shake off now they live the cushy life. Though it does seem the caring cats have found it in their hearts to spend a little more of the day awake than their ancestors in order to socialise with their favourite humans, and we’re eternally grateful for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I help my cat sleep at night<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your little housemate is causing a little too much chaos on their nightshift, there are some ways to try and contain it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n