Ever Wondered Why Are Cats So Lazy- Here Is All That You Need To Know Why!

You must have definitely wondered why are cats so lazy when you would have come back home expecting that your cat would come rushing to greet you at the door but ended up seeing it nestled up in its bed. Some of you might have even regretted the decision of ever having a cat upon seeing the neighbor’s dog being all fun and jumping. Now, we suggest you calm down before jumping to conclusions and first know why is it that your cat mostly is seen lazing around.

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We are here to help you understand the reasons behind the lazy behavior of your cat by letting you know everything that must be known before you move ahead to expect things from your cat or make it do them. Without further ado, let’s begin.

Understanding the real issue

The first and most important thing to understand is what kind of laziness is being shown by your cat. Confused? What we mean is that you need to observe your cat first and see if the cat is being idle or just sleeping a lot.

A lot of people tend to confuse a resting pet with an inactive pet while both of the cases are very different. Similarly, you must understand that if your cat is taking rest then it doesn’t mean that it is not willing to play or do other activities. It might just have another time or way to be active and carry out their day’s routine.

Another thing to bring into consideration is your expectation from your cat and if they are realistic enough to collide with the natural behavior of cats in general. Sometimes, pet owners get too ambitious and end up wanting their pet to behave in ways that are just not their things to do.

Now when it comes to the felines, there are two things to focus on for understanding why are cats so lazy- their sleep and inactiveness in general. A lot of cat owners tend to confuse their cat sleeping with being idle and we are going to explain in the coming sections how this shouldn’t be so.

Reasons behind your cat sleeping a lot

There is nothing to worry about really if you have been seeing your cat sleeping more than other pet animals do as that has a lot to do with their natural being. Here are some important things you must know to understand why are cats so lazy and need the sleep that they take:

Cats do sleep a lot!

This might surprise you but the average sleeping time of felines is nearly double that of humans which means that cats can sleep for around 12-15 hours on average. In fact, some cats can even sleep up to 18 hours a day. The sleeping time of cats also depends upon different factors like age, health, activity level, etc.

Cats prefer saving their energy!

As opposed to the common perceptions, cats are very lively and super-active pets that get this burst of energy for playing, hunting, or anything else. For that, cats remain motionless for a big part of the day and save their energy.

The reason behind this is their evolutionary history that has the felines in the roles of hunters who preserved their energy by sleeping and napping during the daytime and getting into action in the dark as per their morphological abilities. The domestic cats have gotten those genes in them from their wild ancestors and that is what makes you think why are cats so lazy?

Cats sleep in different ways!

As has been studies, there are two different ways in which cats sleep and this primarily occurs because of their natural sleeping time. There are light and deep sleeping states in which you may find your cat delving during different times of the day. While the former has cats taking sudden naps from which they can come out very easily, the latter has them being in a deep slumber from which they will take longer to come out.

Cats sleep when they have nothing to do!

One interesting thing to note here is that some cats need to sleep more if they had been engaging in a high amount of activity to have the energy for that. At the same time, your cat may simply choose to sleep more if it does not get enough amount of stimulation. Thus, it means that one big reason behind your cat sleeping a lot might be the absence of any suitable stimuli in its environment.

Reasons behind your cat being idle

This is different from sleeping all the time and you might feel that your cat is not doing all that you want it to. However, there can be many reasons behind your cat not taking interest in the activities that you think it can do or what you are making it to do.

Your cat just doesn’t want to do it!

A lot of cat owners complain about their cats not being interested in the training or play sessions. Well, most of this attitude is related to the genetics of cats. You should know that cats are inherently independent creatures and know how to use the resources around them for their purposes. They also don’t need a lot of human attention as well as intervention in everything that they do.

This may make you think of cats as creatures with an attitude but it’s just the way they are. So, if you throw a stick at them and they just don’t fetch it, it’s simply because they don’t want to do it. You can have a cat jumping on its paws all the time or just choosing to remain in its bed all the time and all of this depends on its whims.

Your cat is being lazy due to any health issue!

Another reason that may be behind you wondering why are cats so lazy is that your cat might be suffering from lethargy and it’s not natural laziness. This can be ascertained by observing the behavior of your cat and seeing if it is has started being lazy suddenly for some time. There can be many reasons behind your cat being lethargic like stress, anxiety, any health disorder, instinctual lack, lack of stimulation, age-related issues, etc.

Tips on making a lazy cat more active

Now that you will be able to understand the way your cat is being lazy, you also must have some good tips for making them active which are totally possible. Here is all that you can do:

You must spend more time with your friend and that will be the first step towards making your cat active. This will enable a better understanding of your cat and you will thereby make the right decision in helping the cat remain engaged.
Carefully observe what all excite your cat and that can be anything like any particular sound, activity, objects, etc. Once you have known all these things, utilize them to make your cat active.
Play more with your cat and if they are unwilling to, keep initiating. Make sure that there is a lot of toys around the cat and in the places where it prefers to spend more time.
Choosing the right toy is very important as cats have different preferences. Install scratching posts, cat trees, sound and motion operated toys, catnip infused toys, etc. to excite your cat into playing with them.
You can also try to change the diet of your cat and introduce a variety of things with better quality. The energy needs of cats are higher and for that, you must have them provided with the desired nutrition. Keeping them properly hydrated is also very important.
Make food time interesting for the cats by giving them more treats and food puzzles. This will have them engaged all the time.
If you want to rectify the sleeping time of your cat, then adjust the play timings accordingly to have them exhausted by the time you want them to sleep.

Conclusion

We hope that you will no longer just wonder why are cats so lazy and just make things right by making the proper analysis of the behavior of your cat. If you think that there is something extremely odd with your cat’s activity levels, then it's better that you take professional help in the first go. Get your cat to any pet behaviorist or a vet and they will give you the right help.

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Luna Tran

My name is Luna and I am a great cat lover and a cat owner of three lovely cats. I have owned many cats till now and have dedicated many years to nurturing and caring cats. Through this blog, I am here to share my knowledge and experience about cats.