Why Do Cats Switch Up Where They Sleep?

Me, I sleep in one place: my bed. Left side, on my right shoulder, with a pillow under my head, one supporting my torso, and another between my knees. And while I have been known to take the occasional nap on my couch, 99 percent of the time, if I’m asleep, it’s in my queen size bed. 

My foster cat Akela, on the other hand, has no fewer than eight sleeping spots in our small, one-bedroom apartment. That I know of! There’s the left side of the couch by the window on the cushion that always falls over, the right side of the couch where I lay my coat, and, every so often, on the rug under the coffee table. If I’m in bed, Akela is either tucked up against my back or on the pillow beside my head with her precious little face mere inches from my own. If I’m not in bed, she tends to wedge herself under the pillow stack on the left or between the storage containers underneath. And, until recently, her favorite spot by far was inside a blue IKEA bag under the Danish secretary in the living room. She slept there every afternoon for weeks, which seemed weird to me because it is definitely the least cozy of all her spots; it’s a scratchy blue plastic bag on top of a wood floor. I added a blanket to make it nicer for her but that somehow turned her off the spot entirely. And even after the blanket was removed, she never returned. So I guess she’s down to seven spots now. 

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Where Akela sleeps and why has, at times, seemed random to me, but that’s not actually the  case, according to cat behavior experts Joey Lusvardi of Class Act Cats and Laura Cassiday of Pawsitive Vibes Cat Behavior & Training. Although it may appear to us that our cats are just plopping down in any old spot, there’s a method to their sleep madness that takes into consideration a surprisingly large list of factors. 

Temperature

“Temperature tends to be the biggest factor,” says Lusvardi. “Depending on the changing weather and season, cats might prefer a spot that is particularly warm or cool based on their needs.” That could mean snuggling up on a pile of fresh laundry, following a patch of sun across the carpet, or spreading out on a cold tile floor. 

Safety

In the wild, carts are prey to larger carnivores, which makes them particularly sensitive to the need to preserve their own safety, especially at times of heightened vulnerability, like when they are asleep. For this reason, “cats often like to sleep in a covered location where it is not as easy for a predator to get to them, so they won’t feel so vulnerable,” says Lusvardi. 

“Other cats prefer a spot with height,” says Cassiday. “That way they have a good view of what is around them.”

It is important to provide your cats with both options, so they can go wherever they feel safest in the moment. 

You’ve heard the term “let sleeping dogs lie?” Well, the same is true of cats. Waking a cat up or even just engaging with them when they are in one of their preferred sleep spots can make that space feel less secure, so keep your distance and let your cat wake up on their own and come to you when they choose. 

Timesharing

Prime sleep spots are a resource just like food or water and cats (especially those in multi-pet or multi-cat homes) will often rotate through the best/most popular spots throughout the day. It’s like they are “taking turns,” says Cassiday, “allowing them to time-share favorite areas with other cats and helping to reduce conflict.”

If you pay close attention, you may even notice a silent schedule at work amongst your cats, says Lusvardi: “so one cat may use the cat tree from 9:30 to 11:00, then lay in a patch of sun from 11:00 to 11:40, while another cat uses the tree in their place.”

Proximity

Many cats feel safest sleeping in proximity to their person or other animals. After all, it is harder for a predator to sneak up on a group than an individual. For this reason, they will often change their location simply to be closer to you, says Cassiday. Or, alternately, they may choose to go off on their own to “have some alone time.”

My cat Akela, for instance, usually wants to be near me when she sleeps, but when I work out — sweating and grunting and moving my weights, bench, and yoga mat around in my bedroom — she almost always naps in the living room, as far away from me as possible.

On the other hand, when I am away for long periods of time, I often return to find her sleeping on items that smell like me: my clothes or my favorite pillow, which I imagine she does in order to feel close to me even when I am not there. 

“Cats may also sleep alone in order to avoid another animal’s territory,” says Lusvardi. This is why it is so important to offer plenty of sleeping options throughout the house, especially in multi-animal homes: to help keep the peace. 

Variety

Sometimes the reason cats move around is simple: they like novelty. 

“Many cats just like to mix things up,” says Lusvardi. “They like something for a while and then get bored and switch. It’s just a quirky thing they do because they like variety.”

Makes sense. A cat’s life is pretty monotonous, so they have to find variety where they can, even if it just means cycling through nap locations throughout the day. 

Noise

Cats, like most creatures, find comfort in silence, and will often seek out quiet spots to rest. They also have much better hearing than humans, so they may avoid spots that seem quiet to us because they can hear something we can’t. 

Pressure

Many cats will seek out tight spaces for their naps, whether that means snuggling into a corner or loafing in a too-small box. Akela, for instance, often wedges herself right between my back, an unused pillow, and the edge of the duvet. “It’s possible they are comforted by this pressure because it reminds them of cuddling up next to their mother,” says Lusvardi, who notes that mama cats will often gather their babies into them while they sleep, almost rollig on top of them to keep them warm and safe. 

Health and Age

“Depending on their age and health, certain sleeping positions or locations may be more or less comfortable for them,” says Lusvardi. “For example, an older cat with bad joints might want a heated bed.”

Physical discomfort can also mean that a cat moves around more because any given spot is only comfortable for so long.

Comfort, of course, is subjective. Sleeping on a pile of shoes, for instance, might look uncomfortable to you or me while providing the exact support your cat needs to get a proper rest. 

Can you train your cat to sleep somewhere else?

“You could, but it probably isn’t worth it,” says Lusvardi, who suggests letting your cat figure out on their own what works for them. Unless, of course, they are choosing to sleep in places that are unsafe. These include areas that get especially hot or cold, areas that would be hard for you to access in case of an emergency (like under the bed), or where they are in danger of being crushed, trapped, stepped on, or having something fall on them. Keeping your cat out of these areas mostly requires that you block them off in some way - closing doors, filling your underbed area with boxes so they can’t get in, etc. It can also help to provide them with plenty of other, safer options: cushions, cat beds, cat trees, etc.

Of course, just because you buy them a beautiful, expensive new cat bed or cat tree doesn't guarantee they will actually be interested in it. But there are things you can do to entice them. First, you can try relocating these items to areas that might tick more of your cat's boxes: a place that is sunnier, warmer, cooler, darker, quieter, closer to your bed or work station, or farther from an existing sleep space favored by another pet. Cassiday also suggests leaving treats or catnip in places you want your cat to visit or sleep in more frequently.

And if, after all this, they still prefer to sleep somewhere weird like a bookshelf or an old IKEA bag, as long as they are safe, let them. 

And don’t feel like you have to make that spot more comfortable for them, either. “If a cat is sleeping somewhere, it is because they think it is comfortable the way it is,” says Lusvardi. “If they didn’t they would find somewhere else to be.” 

Instead of trying to control them, appreciate how wonderfully adaptable they are. Give them plenty of options, respect their sleep, make them feel safe, and then let them do what they are going to do. They’ll be happier and better rested because of it.