If you see your cat intensely satisfied as a fluffy roll roar while you go to work early in the rain, it may be difficult to imagine, but animals can also suffer from sleep deprivation.
Dogs, cats and horses cannot get enough rest for various reasons.
Is your animal type giraffe or koala?
Every animal species has its own sleep rhythm. Almost all pets sleep more than people! Puppies take the lead with around 18 hours of sleep a day.
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Horse
Horses need remarkably little real, deep REM sleep, they are flight animals and their sleeping pattern is fully adapted to this. For the most part horses are standing while standing. They ‘lock’ their legs and almost all of their weight rests on bones, bands and tendons so that the muscles can relax.
A horse must lie for sleep and they only do that if they feel safe. Then there is a difference between sleeping (lying head down, about 2 hours in total) and deep sleep (lying completely flat, less than an hour, spread over 5-10 minutes).
Did you know that horses recognize their multiple nuts in the giraffe? They only sleep 1.9 hours per 24 hours.
Dog
Dogs sleep about half the time: around 12 hours a day. However, they sleep much less and are often ready to watch. An unexpected movement, someone walking too close to the window and they are awake again.
Most of the 12 hours dogs sleep at night so they can be active during the day. Nevertheless, people also like to sleep during the day.
Cat
Cats rest on average 16 hours a day. Cats sleep more distributed throughout the day in shorter periods. There is also a lot of napping in between. They really sleep on their side, curled up or stretched out. Doing more happens in a sphinx position or as a cat-loaf.
It isn’t absolutely true that cats are most active at night. They prefer to hunt when the sun sets and rises: in the twilight. There are real night owls, but many cats who have a good relationship with their humans also adapt to their human’s schedule.
Animals that have really made sleep are the sloth and the koala: these animals sleep no less than 20 hours a day!
Fascinating sleep
Entire groups of animals always sleep with one half of their brain. Dolphins, whale species and also many bird species. Marine mammals need to be partially awake to breathe and birds use it on long hikes.
How deep an animal sleeps depends on the individual and the animal species. There is an Asian half-monkey that sleeps so deeply that researchers have given up investigating it. The animal simply cannot wake up.
Hysterical Border Collies are not normal
Certainly with some dog breeds, people sometimes seem to admit that they are unrivaled busy. They are described as ADHD people. Think for example of Border Collies, Malinois and German Shepherds, Boxers .. etc.
This is not a normal day.
To have a quiet dog in the house a balance is needed between exercise and relaxation. The breeds that are known as hyper are often originally working dogs. There are of course individual differences, but many dogs also need a certain task in life. In addition, they often have to be consciously taught that they do not always have to be ‘on’. Trying to keep the family together while people want to go to work, school and sports is also tiring.
