A few buddies and I were discussing this the other day - when an animal sleeps do they really sleep like we do?

I was watching my cat sleeping in the sun. His ears were moving, listening to every sound, even though he was asleep.

I guess small animals like cats and birds have to be fairly alert in case of predators, so do they really sleep, and if they don't wouldn't they get tired?

One friend says that he has geese which sleep with one eye open always, then another friend says his brother often sleeps with his eyes completely open (even though he's asleep).

Why all these questions about sleep? I'm not getting enough lately, so watching the cat got me thinking about it.

Heheh... You need to get some sleep :D

My dog, a golden retriever, snores so I'm pretty sure he's sleeping. But he can get up in an instant. Very alert too, like if I'm sitting on the couch and he's right underneath me on the floor. If I move he like jumps up and everything. Amazes me how he can sense that I moved.

Dogs are a bit different I think because they are bigger and have fewer natural predators, mine snores too. I have never heard my cat snoring.

Yes animals sleep....just not like us

I have 3 cats. Not only do they sleep, but they seem to do it quite well, as they manage to spend about 3/4 of every day in slumber.

Question: are they inside or outside cats?

My cat sleeps like we do on occasion... it's funnier than heck, when you creep up and touch him, he goes nuts. :)

I am pretty sure that cats sleep.
When one of my cats sleeps, Vanessa, almost nothing can wake her up! We had a huge thunderstorm today, and not even the thunder woke her up.

I have also noticed that cats dream, just like us. Sometimes their tails and legs are moving even though they are sleep.
My cat, Gizmo, even cried in his sleep one time! I guess he had a nightmare... And one time he chewed in his sleep. *LOL* Did I mention he loves food? ;)

Edit: I forgot to say that my cats are strictly indoor cats.

Yes, cats (and other animales) sleep and cats also dream. My cat was talking to himslef in his sleep.

I have an indoor cat myself, and I have noticed that she sleeps and dreams. You will see her legs moving, or she will move her tail, and sometimes she will make a sucking sound as if she were nursing.

Then again she is just a kitten, and was taken away from her mother at about 4 weeks old so who knows.

Interesting topic though. :stickout

Originally posted by AceWeb
Yes, cats (and other animales) sleep and cats also dream. My cat was talking to himslef in his sleep.

What was he saying?

Originally posted by davehooper.net
Question: are they inside or outside cats?

Inside. Closest they get to outside is peering out the window of our second floor apt. :)

I think that's the difference. Maybe it's just outside animals who feel nervous and twitchy amd hence don't sleep so well.

haha, my cat sleeps. Then when you pat it, it makes a noise :stickout

Mine makes a noise when it sees birds on our grass - it's like a meeoww, but more like a choking noise - very funny to watch.

When he's asleep he doesn't make any noise, he just twitches a lot and listens to everything.

Have you ever seen them chirp like squirrels when they see a bird? It's really weird. I imagine that's an indoor cat thing as well.

I don't know what noise a squirrel makes (we don't have them in Australia) but maybe it's the same noise mine makes when it sees a bird. Funny noise.

Mate best thing to do in your case is chop your mrs for a couple of hours and youll fall asleep straight after it, beats a sleeping pill any day

:eek:

I have two cats... one "slumbers" and one "SLEEPS".

The "slumbering" cat seems to always be alert... the SLEEPING cat is a huge 25 pounder that snores... heck even when he's awake I think he's sleeping :D

I have a Rottweiler that dreams, (barks, runs, and whines in his sleep) and yes if I move he jumps... UNLESS he is asleep on my bed, then it's hard to wake him up at all!

I have a parrot that sleeps but she is the most alert of them all. The slightest movement brings her to a full alert status. Because it is so difficult for her to get true rest she has her very own 'bedtime cage' that's kept in the quietest darkest room of the house where she 'sleeps' for 10 hours a night.

Now I also have fish tanks.... they don't close their eyes and there is at least one fish in the tank moving at all times, but even they sleep. They simply 'settle' to the bottom of the tank and sit there with their eyes wide open and their gills and fins still moving as they rest...

I think I sleep like the fish settled in front of my pc at WHT but what the heck it makes my 400th post :D

I saw a person sleep with eyes opened (not fully)

A better question is do smaller animals sleep. I know for a fact that my dog sleeps, and does it well, he snores, and has dreams(he starts barking in his sleep and making wack noises, he is not nuettered, therefore I can only image what he is dreaming about :). I have a guinie pig, as well as 8 frogs, I have never seen their eyes closed, I wonder this as well, do they sleep?

Well our Iguana sleeps, and our Chinchillas do too :)

All with eyes closed, and laying down.

Originally posted by vigor
A better question is do smaller animals sleep....

..... I have a guinie pig, as well as 8 frogs, I have never seen their eyes closed, I wonder this as well, do they sleep?

This is my point exactly - and if they don't sleep, how do they keep going? Any vets out there who can set us straight on this - it's bugging me big time now.

Hmm, maybe we should ask the pet psychic? lol, I know for sure that my dog sleeps, but she's a very light sleeper. I also had a ferret, he slept too, I mean really. He would move or twitch every once and awhile and very interesting to watch actually. I've never observed my fish sleeping though.

This'll sound silly, but I'm pretty sure cats can pretend to sleep! Mine loved sleeping on my lap, and when I wanted to go, nothing could wake her up. When I lifted her up to put her on the sofa next to me, she was relaxed like a bag of beans. But as soon as I lay her down on the sofa she jumped up and back to my lap before I had a chance to get up on my feet! LOL

I like to sneak up on my animals and scare them when they are sleeping. My great dane (Tarabyte) is hilarious. She is pure human in that sense. She just up and stumbles, bumps into things, etc. My German Shepards are impossible to sneak up on. I had a cat that was easy to sneak up on. One time I scared her while she was sleeping. She jumped up and ran straight into the wall. If you ever wanna see a cat run sideways like in football training, spin it around and get it dizzy.