You look at your watch and it’s fast approaching your usual bedtime.
After washing up, you went around the house looking for your cute feline friend. You grabbed your cat and carried it to the bedroom, looking forward to your usual snuggly time.
But the moment you put your cat on the bed, it dashed out of your room like its fur was on fire.
Your cat has been behaving like this for the last week and you can’t help wondering what happened.
“Why won’t my cat sleep with me anymore?” you sighed in frustration.
Is your snoring driving your kitty away?
Where Should Cats Sleep At Night?
There is no hard and fast rule as to where your cat should sleep at night. But it definitely should be indoors to keep them safe from dangerous people, animals and weather.
That being said, ask any cat owner and there’s no better feeling than cuddling up with your furry friend at night. Especially on a cold night and your cat feels like a warm blanket.
What a blissful feeling.
In fact, a survey has shown that up to 34% of domestic cats sleep on their owner’s bed. There are also a large number of cats that prefer to sleep in the bathroom.
But if your cat has been sleeping on your bed every night since it was a kitten, why is there a change in the habit now?
Let’s explore the possible reasons why your cat refuses to sleep with you.
You’re Too Troublesome To Sleep With
Don’t take it the wrong way but you could be the main reason as to why your cat has decided to switch its sleeping venue.
If you are someone that moves and turns a lot in your sleep, your cat won’t be able to get a restful sleep at night on the same bed.
If you have a tendency to kick at night, which some people do, there’s a risk of injuring your cat if it prefers sleeping near the owner’s foot.
I myself am a busy sleeper and there’s always a fear that I might crush my cat at night but luckily cats are smarter than we give them credit for.
The same problem arises for your cat if you snore or talk loudly in your sleep.
Cats have very sensitive hearing and their ears are made to amplify sounds. Therefore they can be easily disturbed from their sleep if it’s too noisy.
Don’t be surprised to find your cat sleeping under the bed than next to you when morning comes.
Cats Like To Sleep On Higher Ground
Cats in general are rather cautious animals.
Even when sleeping, they want to make sure that they are safe from predators and can have a bird’s eye view of their surroundings.
In the wild, it is not uncommon to see big cats like jaguars, lions and panthers sleeping in trees just to have a height advantage.
There’s not much difference when it comes to our domesticated cats as compared to their wild ancestors.
If your bed is low to the ground or you sleep on a futon, then your kitty might find it too low to its liking.
Cats prefer somewhere higher with a vantage point like your sofa or table where it can feel safer.
Your Cat Likes Its Own Sleeping Space
Cats are fiercely independent creatures and need their own space.
Besides lions, most cats in the wild are solitary animals until it is time to mate. You would really find them curled up with each other during bedtime unless they’re kittens or housemates.
If you have a cat that likes sleeping face down by itself most of the time, getting the correct and suitable cat bed might not be a bad idea.
Just don’t go crazy buying a very expensive one because they might not like it.
Your Room Is Too Hot Or Too Cold
Cats don’t have the same body temperature as humans at rest.
For cats, their normal body temperature ranges from 101 -102.5F. It would feel like a fever if we are running that temperature.
Therefore, it is hard to set a mutually comfortable temperature for you and your cat at night. What might seem too warm for you might be too cold for your cat and vice-versa.
It could even be your body heat that the cat finds too warm hence it needs somewhere cooler.
You might have to play around with the temperature setting to see what is comfortable for your cat. There is usually a sweet spot for them.
Pro tip: making the temperature of a room too hot or too cold can help keep a cat out of a room without a door.
You Have Too Many Pets On Your Bed
There are some pet owners who have many pets at home and all of them sleep on the bed at night.
Imagine if you are a cat and you have to share the bed with a giant human, three full-sized dogs, four cats and a couple of birds.
I doubt you would be able to get any decent sleep at all.
Besides having a sensitive hearing, a cat’s sense of smell is highly sensitive too. Having other pets in the room might be too much of a sensory overload for the cat.
Imagine having a myriad of odors and scents assaulting your nostrils when you are about to sleep. Not the most pleasant of an experience.
If all your pets sleep on the same bed as you, you might want to limit the number of pets that come onto the bed at night.
Having a couple of cat beds or floor mats will provide alternative sleeping options for your other pets.
Your Cat Found A Better Sleeping Place
Many cat owners will agree with me when I say that cats can be fussy and finicky.
They can like one brand of wet food for one year and then hate it all of a sudden. The same thing can happen with their sleeping habits.
If your cat has suddenly stopped sleeping with you, there’s a chance that it might have found a more comfy spot to settle in for the night.
It could be the bathroom sink, your dining table, your sofa, etc.
However, if you find your cat sleeping in unsafe areas like near electrical sockets or the stove, it would be in their best interest to move them somewhere else safer.
Your Cat Is No Longer A Helpless Kitten
Kittens, being helpless and needy, tend to stick closer to their owners when they are young. They don’t have a full coat of fur and are unable to regulate their body temperature well.
Therefore being close to you at night will keep them nice and toasty.
But as your cat grows older, it starts to develop a stronger sense of independence and doesn’t have to be around you all the time.
It is just a natural process for a cat and nothing to be upset about.
You don’t really see full-grown adults still wanting to sleep with their parents on the same bed at night.
When my cat was still a kitten, he loved sleeping in my arms at night and using my shoulder as his pillow.
These days, I’m over the moon if he stays for a few hours on my bed at night.
Cats Have Different Sleep Cycles
For humans, it is normal for us to be awake for most of the daylight hours and start to get sleepy later in the night. Or circadian rhythm is known as diurnal.
Cats, on the other hand, have a different sleep cycle from us. Theirs is known as crepuscular which means that they are active during the early mornings and evenings.
They don’t sleep for extended periods like we do (6-8 hours) but rather it is broken up into smaller sleep cycles throughout the day.
This would mean that your bedtime doesn’t necessarily mean your cat’s bedtime as well.
Pets are known to adjust their sleeping habits to match their owners but by and large, they still retain their own natural body clock.
Is It Mean To Not Let Your Cat Sleep With You?
On the flip side, there are cat owners who rather prefer to not have their cats sleep with them.
You won’t be able to get a proper night’s rest if your cat has the tendency to walk around your bed at night, sleep on your chest or lie on your head.
It gets a lot worse if you have a slight allergy to cats.
In this case, it would be better to have a cat bed placed outside the bedroom for your cat.
How Do I Get My Cat To Sleep With Me (Again)?
If you have been trying to get your cat to sleep on the same bed as you, my advice is that there’s no need to.
Cats choose where they want to sleep and we should not interfere with their decisions.
There is no point forcing your cat to be on the same bed as you if it affects their rest. It is better for them to get a proper rest elsewhere.
Instead of moaning about “Why won’t my cat sleep with me anymore?”, it should be “How do I make my cat’s new sleeping place more comfortable?”.
If your cat has started sleeping with you on the same bed then that’s awesome.
Make sure to treasure having a purring, snoring and warm furry blanket next to you as it may have a change of mind tomorrow.