gatto pisolino

By Heera Alaya

March 8th, 2023

The real reason we catnap goes missing between human gushing: “What a handsome tabby; I could cuddle with him,” and human ignorance: “Boy, do cats sleep a lot. He must have stuffed his face.”

Unlike resting traditions—to get through the day—followed by humans in some parts of the world, catnapping is a way of life for us felines whose lives are round-the-clock. By catnapping, we conserve our energy, which boosts our performance in observing, being alert, and jumping into action. These layers—a calm soul, a balanced mood and a rested body—are essential for a healthy life. The Japanese can take a leaf out of our catnapping book—despite their Japanese Inemuri, they suffer from fatigue.

In contrast to whiskered felines, you have your furry canines—their unnecessary tail wagging and tongue hanging combined with constant sniffing, drooling, snacking and jumping—dissipates their energy. Nothing is peaceful, energetic, or elegant about being exhausted, greedy, and smelly.

Catnapping is more than just a way to conserve energy—it’s a time to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, just like our Nordic friends do; it’s a time for daydreaming about how to sharpen our nails on freshly upholstered seating and how many ways to shred new rugs apart, and it’s a time for plotting—climbing trees to catch birds, hiding behind bushes to chase squirrels, and seducing the right human passers-by to get them to stroke us! The next time you see a cat napping, remember we are recharging and planning our next adventure.

Humans can term their cultural practices riposo, inemuri or siesta [Hora sexta in Latin is sixth hour, from dawn], but the fact remains that humans have sneakily stolen “their tradition” of catnapping from us felines. Since humans don’t give credit where credit is due (and where we cats are glad to be forever inspiration), we pawfully claim credit for our authentic catnapping—innate sensibilities that keep us felines refreshed, alert and active.