Cats can sleep for up to 16 hours a day, older cats can be snoozing around 20 hours a day. This is a lot! This behaviour has been inherited from their ancestors that would rest in between hunting for food in order to conserve their energy.
Your cat’s ancestors are also the reason why your cat chooses to sleep in a shoe, or a sink, or in your closet, or on top of your fridge or banister.
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Cats sometimes sleep in unconventional spots because they assess and take into consideration numerous risk factors in their environment when making a decision of where to sleep.
Even though your domesticated cat lives a life of luxury and a lot of TLC, their instincts are always working in the background. They choose their place of rest on their ability to defend themselves or escape quickly.
In other words your cat will want to feel safe when sleeping, meaning they can relax more and get into deeper phases of sleep. That’s why they will probably choose to sleep next to you or on your clothes that have your scent; in a box or shoe because it has only one entrance; on top on the fridge or cat tree to have a good vantage point and they feel safer; or a closet to hide away inside.
Cats love routines, so it is not surprising that you will notice with time that your cat develops sleeping habits in terms of where and when they decide to sleep.
It is common that your cat changes where they decide to sleep, this again is part of their instinctive behaviour. It comes down to survival. Your cat’s ancestors would change their sleeping ‘lairs’ because their scent would soon accumulate and be picked up by predators, therefore by switching ‘lairs’ they would stay safe. By not sticking to one place they would also minimize the risk of contracting flees or other parasites, thus keeping them healthier.
Obviously at home, your cat is not under threat of any predators, other than when I want to gobble him up with kisses. They still do what is natural to them that's why they won’t have just one conventional sleeping space like we do.
There are some things other than their instincts that will cause your cat to change its sleeping places. A change in temperature may get them searching for your warmth inside the duvet or if it is too hot they might jump into a fresh sink.
If your cat is with pain it is likely to keep changing its sleeping position because it will most likely blame the ‘bed’ it chose to sleep in for making them wake up with that pain. This is more common with cat that has arthritis and you should consult your vet for long-term solutions.
Hierarchies exists in cat communities. If you introduce a new cat into your household you are likely to see your cats looking for other sleeping locations or the new cat trying new spots to fit in to the community.
Finally your cat can pick some strange places to sleep out of fear. An event or an thing that is causing major stress will likely prompt your cat to sleep in a hidden place where it gives them the sense of protection or up high which also makes them feel safe.
Throughout the life of your kitty I am sure you will giggle at some of there choices of 'bed', keep your camera at hand to capture these moments. Only if your cat cries at night for no apparent reason or changes their routines drastically you should speak to your vet to discover if there are underlining reasons for this behaviour.
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