Why Your Bengal Cat Likes To Sleep In Weird Places

Photo of @hennypenny12 on Instagram

What’s cute, fluffy and love napping inside kitchen cabinets? You’ve guessed it—cats! Adorable, quirky and sometimes, just downright puzzling, we felines are known for our out-of-the-ordinary methods and routines. We have our own way of doing things and mostly this is because we’re more in tune with our primal instincts than other house pets. So, everything we do—no matter how absurd—has a purpose, like sleeping in seemingly unusual places.

We cats sleep a lot more compared to our human counterparts. This is because we’re designed to be mostly active from dusk to dawn, meaning we’re crepuscular animals. In the wild, these times would be prime hunting times and all our extra time can be used for resting and exploring. So, even as house cats, we choose our resting places as though we’re in a wild environment. Once you humans see everything through our eyes, you’ll understand why we choose the weirdest locations to get some shuteye.


  • Elevation

Areas off the ground are the most ideal resting places for two main reasons: one, we’ll be able to see the entirety of our surroundings while we’re at our most vulnerable and two, we’ll be able to escape easily.

Most predators, especially bigger ones, hunt and stalk prey at ground level—they usually don’t look up. Being in a higher area gives us the upper hand because it allows us to spot possible predators from afar and gives us time to escape before they even realize we’re there. We get this instinct from our ancestors, the Asian Leopard Cat, who also prefers to sleep in the trees.*

  • Visibility

Visibility—or in this case, invisibility—is also a very important factor. Again, when we sleep we’re not exactly ready for ambush attacks, so it’s essential to stay hidden. If your cat likes to sleep under your bed or inside boxes, this is the reason why. Even as domesticated house cats, our instinct to protect ourselves greatly influence our everyday life and how we make decisions. I guess, it’s engraved in our DNA to ensure our survival at all costs, which is not necessarily a bad thing. That may even be the reason for our nine lives.

  • Environment

Another thing we cats do to ensure our safety is rotate our resting places. The main reason for this is to make it harder for predators to find us, but we also tend to gravitate towards certain areas simply because of seasonal changes. During the colder months, your cat may opt for your nice, warm bed, and during the warmer months, they may just plop down on your marbled floors.

  • Availability

We like to sleep in places that have high walls, but we don’t like clutter. If you have a room that is particularly messy, we may not hang out in there because there is no easy escape route if a predator comes. We like our rooms to be lightly furnished, with couches, chairs, beds, and cat trees but with not too much else in the way.

Bottom line is, we cats like to be secure in our turf. When we choose to rest on a certain spot, it simply means it’s a place where we feel safe enough to be vulnerable and unguarded. So, the next time your cat chooses to sleep on your lap, you should consider it as a huge compliment! It means they feel comfortable and completely secure around you.

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