Can cats get insomnia?

**sweetrebel** · December 20th, 2006, 09:26 AM

My cat Lucy is the only inside animal we have, so needless to say, she is alone most of the day. I know that she sleeps a great deal-what else is there to do, right? She has always slept with me, and slept what I thought was through the night...for the past 4 or 5 days, she is up rambling all hours of the night...is it possible that she has insomnia? I have had her for a little over a year. She was a stray when we got her, and was grown...I haven't noticed this kind of behavior before, and it not only worries me, it is keeping me up!

**cynic** · December 20th, 2006, 10:09 AM

Cats are nocturnal....they only wake during the day to torment their owners....

**sweetrebel** · December 20th, 2006, 04:36 PM

She usually sleeps right beside me, though. If she doesn't sleep all night, she gets back in the same spot she vacated...I have just noticed that she doesn't come to bed with us as much the past few weeks...

**pacific breeze** · December 20th, 2006, 04:38 PM

As cynic said, cats are nocturnal animals by nature and it's normal for them to sleep a lot during the day and be much more active at night.

Maybe there is another cat in the neighbourhood that's getting her attention. Cats have more sensitive hearing and scent than humans so she may be picking up on something that you aren't.

**Grimmlok** · December 20th, 2006, 05:09 PM

Maybe she's in heat.

**sweetrebel** · December 21st, 2006, 09:39 AM

Funny you should say that. I did notice a few months ago that she started acting weird close to the time I had my cycle...we had a female cat when I was young who acted CRAZY when she was in heat. Making this awful yowling meow and hiking her butt up in the air. Lucy doesn't do that...she just acts aggitated...kinda like PMS...
Again, I know that most cats sleep all day and roam all night, but up until the past few days, she has slept with me at night...gone to bed with us and gotten up with us in the morning...

**cynic** · December 21st, 2006, 09:50 AM

Either of you have a cold? Maybe snoring or increased tossing and turning is sending the little furball off to find a quieter place?

.....doesn't everyone "hike up their butts and make terrible noises" when they're in heat?.........I know I do........

**LynnieD** · December 21st, 2006, 09:59 AM

How old is she sweet???

I have a 16 yr old cat who paces throughout the house, for like half the night. This started about a year ago. I'm chalking it up to old age/senility....she just does laps around the house all night. Its totally bizarre.

**xoxo** · December 26th, 2006, 06:22 PM

^^
is she trying to maybe hunt? in a not-so-bright way..
one of my mom's dogs does that too lol

**LynnieD** · December 26th, 2006, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by xoxo

^^
is she trying to maybe hunt? in a not-so-bright way..
one of my mom's dogs does that too lol

I don't think so, but maybe. She's always been an indoor cat, and is completely skittish of everything....she couldn't catch anything if she tried---shes too damn afraid. I think its just an old age thing. Or maybe she's trying to get some exercise?? She sleeps ALL day....maybe she just needs to stretch the legs for awhile at night. Either way, its completely annoying because you hear her little nails clicking for hours on the floor.....

Though I do love that little freak show.

**pacific breeze** · December 26th, 2006, 08:50 PM

Old cats often behave that way. My old guy would meow loudly and sound so sad, but nothing was wrong. A friend's elderly cat did exactly the same thing, and always in the middle of the night.

**ediebrooks** · December 26th, 2006, 09:03 PM

My 16-year-old cat does that meowing thing in the middle of the night. And you say it actually means nothing, PB? That makes me feel better.

**pacific breeze** · December 26th, 2006, 09:07 PM

My cat didn't want food or water, his litter was clean, he wasn't cold, he wasn't in pain, he didn't want out -- it's just something that older cats seem to do. Maybe they are trying to alert other cats outside that they are around or something, but the vets I talked to thought it was harmless and advised me to just ignore it. The first few times it happened he sounded so sad and lonely that I got up a few times, but he wouldn't even come into bed with me. So I learned to let it be, and to start wearing earplugs.

**Lobelia** · December 27th, 2006, 12:20 AM

Interesting - somebody (twitchy maybe?) posted an article recently that adult cats only use the meowing to communicate with people because we don't understand their more subtle forms of communication. I wonder if the older kitties are lapsing into a 2nd childhood or something, and calling out when they don't really understand why.

**ediebrooks** · December 27th, 2006, 05:38 AM

I wish I knew why my elderly cat does this meowing in the night thing. He will get off our warm bed to go in the living room to do this mournful meowing. It's pretty hard on the ears. Sometimes if I call out, "It's OK, Toby, "that'll stop the soliloquy.