Napping is one of my favorite activities. You’ve heard of catnaps I’m sure! If you want to learn how to nap, then study a cat. We specialize in creative sleep. First of all, our primal predatory instincts tell us domesticated cats we are supposed to be hunting at night. Day time is the best nap time of all. In fact, cats sleep 15 to 20 hours a day.
Actually, cats are crepuscular, which really has nothing to do with napping, but it is a cool sounding big word. Crepuscular. It just means that we’re most active during the hours around dawn and dusk. Personally, I think my humans should be up to play with me and feed me before dawn, say around 4:30, even in the winter, and I let them know this is how I feel.
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| Minnesota cousins, Elliot and Tasha, like to snuggle when they nap. |
Humans today are sleep deprived. (Not that I have anything to do with it in this house.) Some societies have built afternoon naps into their culture, but not Americans. I’m wondering if it’s a coffee company conspiracy. If you don’t get to take a nap occasionally, you’ll need your latte.
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| Hey, I like to try out different sleeping positions. What's wrong with that? |
What else can you learn about napping from watching a cat? We sometimes doze with one eye halfway open, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. Did you know that a short nap of 15 to 20 minutes, a power nap, can recharge your alertness and give you an energy boost? A longer nap, with deep sleep can even improve your memory. We cats are good at long naps too. You know, when we curl up on your lap in that just right position when you’re thinking about getting out of your chair to fix dinner or use the human litter box room? Mom especially thinks I’m cute when I snuggle her hand or turn my head so that it’s almost upside down, like I’m almost asking for a tummy rub.
On a frigid winter day there’s nothing better we could ask for than a warm lap to snuggle in or to find a blanket to rest upon right near a heat register. Ahh! Just thinking about it makes we want to go . . . to . . . sleep . . . .zzzzzz.
