Cats sleep 12-16 hours daily and require safe, comfortable rest environments. Providing appropriate sleeping spaces is a fundamental welfare consideration often overlooked.
Cat sleep welfare is both a direct welfare concern and a welfare indicator. Cats that cannot rest comfortably — because sleeping spots are insufficient, uncomfortable, inadequately warm, or not safe from disturbance — experience cumulative stress effects that compromise immune function and psychological health. The elevated sleeping preference of cats reflects their prey-predator dual nature: sleeping high reduces vulnerability to surprise from below. Providing adequate sleeping spots in various locations and heights throughout the home, including some that are genuinely inaccessible to other household animals, meets this need. Persistent changes in sleeping location, amount, or quality — sleeping in unusual places, sleeping more or less than normal — are welfare indicators that should prompt investigation of potential stressors or health problems.