Besides dogs, cats are adorable animals that many people decide to keep at home to befriend. Your cats can be irritated occasionally, yet a warm look from them is the best compensation for any pet lovers.
However, there are cases in which they don’t look as lovable as they are. For example, seeing your cat watching you sleep might not be a comfortable experience at night. If you caught your cat doing this many times, don’t be afraid as you are not alone.
My cat stares at me at night as well, which raises numerous questions. Why does my cat stare at me while I sleep? Am I doing something wrong so my cat watches me sleep? Is my cat staring at me because she is furious?
If you are in the same situation, I’ve done you a favor by researching this phenomenon. Generally, there are five main reasons why you find your cat looking up at your bed in the middle of the night:
- Your Cat Loves You: As they feel a tight bond with their owners, this action expresses their special care for who they truly love.
- Their Stomach is Growling: Your pet might feel hungry so they look at you as a way to ask for food.
- Your Cat is Bored: Since everyone has gone to bed, your cat is left alone and gets bored. Hence, they express their desire by staring at you until you notice.
- Something Gets On Their Nerves: There is probably something happening that makes your cat anxious, so they have to ask for help through their stare.
- Your Behaviors Are Irritating: Your sleeping behavior might be bothering your cat and makes it difficult for them to go to sleep.
Additionally, are you curious to know how to help your pet cat out of the situation and get some good sleep? Giving your cat some toys to keep him/her busy and not bored can be a great way. Continue to read until the end of this article to find out!
Now, let’s jump into the first reason that makes your cat look at you at night.
Table of Contents
Why Does My Cat Stare at Me While I Sleep
1. Your Cat Loves You
There are a variety of explanations on why your cats like staring at you while you are sleeping. However, it is most commonly accepted that cats feel a strong bond between them and the owner, so they enjoy watching you sleeping peacefully.
Consequently, they regard you as a member of the family, and due to their socializing culture, watching a family member while sleeping is a way to express their love. It relieves their mind knowing that you are always nearby.
Therefore, looking at you constantly is the best way to make sure you are not going anywhere without them. Moreover, you may notice that they often sit in front of you when your face is turning towards them.
The best explanation is that this habit helps strengthen their feelings for you and enhance this close bonding between you two. We enjoy looking at the person we love, and so does a cat!
Furthermore, they express their protection by watching you sleep. While sleeping, we become more vulnerable because we aren’t aware of what happens around us.
For this reason, your cat acts as your loyal guard by staying awake at night and protecting you from anything that they consider dangerous or harmful.
Moreover, once having lived with you for a long time, they might even view your bedroom and house as their territory. Your cat’s instinct will motivate it to keep an eye on this place all the time, especially when everybody has fallen asleep.
It is heartwarming to know how much you mean to your cats, right? Nonetheless, there are a few more reasons that you need to be aware of. Proceed to the following section to find out.
2. Their Stomach is Growling
Even though the strong emotional bonding between you and your cat is the primary cause for its behavior, it isn’t necessarily always the case. Perhaps, your cats are feeling so hungry that they want something to eat at night.
Nevertheless, waking you up isn’t something they want to do as you are having such a good night’s sleep. Therefore, the only solution is to go to your room, keep staring at you and wait until you wake up to ask for some food.
Many people feed their cats right after they get up in the morning. This is why you may see your cat sitting in your room, staring at you and waiting for breakfast. Some even climb on your bed and wake you up.
How can you recognize if they are hungry or not? Just pay attention to their behavior. Do you hear any meowing as if they are begging you for something? If so, there is a high chance your cat is craving for some delicious food.
In this case, you can wake up and get something for them. I’m sure that they will fall into a food coma in no time once you’ve fed them with late night snacks. What if they have already eaten in the evening and you are sure that your cat is not hungry? Well, check out more reasons below to see if any makes sense.
3. Your Cat is Bored
It does not have to be a special reason for why your cats watch you sleep at night. Sometimes, they are fed up with the activity during the day and don’t have anything to play with when the night comes.
As you may know, cats love observing everything that seems interesting. For example, looking through the window is their favorite activity of the day.
However, the streets are quiet and boring at night since there aren’t any people outside. Therefore, there is no surprise if you become your cat’s object for staring. What is it with your sleeping that they find so fascinating?
Well, I don’t know either. There is no way to find out what is in your cat’s head, but maybe there is something about your sleeping habit, such as your position or posture, that looks interesting to them.
4. Something Gets on Their Nerves
Another reason why they look at you sleeping is because your cat is anxious. You can tell by their facial expression if there is anything that worries them during the night. If the occasion repeats many times, you may find your cat glued by your side all night.
Moreover, cats often feel more insecure when being in a new environment. For instance, having a baby, a new family member, or noises can alarm them.
When you move to a new place, notice if your cat wanders around you a lot more than they normally do. My advice is to discuss with your cat’s vet prior to moving for more instructions on what you need to do to take care of your pet mentally.
5. Your Behaviors are Irritating
You didn’t expect your sleeping behaviors to annoy your cat too much, right? In fact, cats are easily irritated. Therefore, your constant turning and tossing may become a big source of exasperation for your cat.
Moreover, they are extremely sensitive to movement and noise so that even a slight position changing during the night can catch their attention. Hence, a hypnic jerk or continuous leg movements can bother your cat a lot.
How to Stop Your Cats Staring at You While You Sleep
If you feel uncomfortable with your cats staring at you during bedtime, here are some solutions that you can try:
- Playtime Before Bed: Spending a good amount of time playing with your cat before going to bed will wear your cat out tremendously. If you are exhausted after a long day working, purchase some toys for your cat to play on their own.
- Make Them Busy With Your Surrounding: Another method to drain your cat’s energy before bedtime is to surround them with various sources of attractions, such as videos, outside birds, puzzles, etc. Widening your feline’s world is a great way to keep them busy.
Additionally, remember to clean your cat’s tray, where they poop, and provide some clean fresh water so that everything is readily available during nighttime. Take your cat outside occasionally since being indoors for too long can be stressful.
Conclusion
Why does my cat stare at me while I sleep? In short, there are various reasons to see my cat watch me sleep. It is vital that you identify why your cat does so so that you won’t ever open your eyes and see your cat wide awake at night.
I hope you have found your own answers after reading this article. Tell me what you think in the comments. Share this article with your friends and family as well.
I am Amy Sawy, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) graduate from the University of Kansas. y husband, Dr. Plummer, and I own a veterinary clinic in Phillipsburg, Kansas. In addition to my professional background, I am a devoted pet owner myself, with a household that includes dogs, rodents, and most notably, cats – a total of five felines in my home.
In 2020, I joined an organization as a professional writer, leveraging my experience and collaborating with my team to deliver the most valuable information for your cat’s care.
