If you live with a cat or a dog, chances are that your furry companion is at the moment taking a nap. All animals need sleep: sleep hours help us retain what we have learned and are essential for our immune system to function well. But there are species that require sleep longer than others: while humans we spend a third of the day sleeping, adult giraffes rarely sleep more than five minutes nap.
On the other hand, scientists say that the little black bat can sleep 20 hours a day. In addition, sleep does not mean the same for everyone: while migratory birds such as albatrosses can fall asleep in mid-flight, dolphins have the ability to disconnect only half a brain during sleep. And then there are bears and frogs, able to hibernate throughout the winter.
Does your dog spend the day sleeping? It’s not the only one who need sleep
Croquette upstairs, sofa downstairs, we watch our dog friends fascinated to sit for hours and hours. And we cannot blame them: who has not ever wanted to be able to prolong the hours of sleep to pleasure, as they do? Veterinarians recommend that an adult dog rest at least ten hours a day, although our furry friends usually stretch the rest up to between 12 and 14 hours.
In addition, the hours of dog sleep vary greatly depending on age, its incredible personality variations, its activity and even its race. While the bulldog has earned a reputation for sleeping, and likes to laze around and take things easy, an animal as active as the Border Collie usually need sleep less because he is busy finding something to do or what to shepherd.
And age also plays an important role. Thus, a puppy can sleep between 16 and 18 hours a day, and up to 20 hours during its first weeks of life. No wonder: growing involves consuming a lot of energy. Similarly, older or older dogs fall into the arms of Morpheus practically the same amount of hours as the puppy, but for different reasons: their activity decreases with age and their metabolism slows down, or they find it more annoying to move if they suffer pain joint or osteoarthritis, so common in older dogs.
Cats: sleepers by genes
And if dogs are proud lazy, our friends cats are true masters of the dream, a task to which they dedicate themselves in body and legs regardless of the circumstances, the moment or the site: who has not been surprised to discover a cat sleeping in a cardboard box that barely fits? It is not surprising that scientists take them as an example to study the enigmas of human sleep: our pussies spend at least half of the day sleeping. Exactly 12.1 hours, according to a study by the University of Washington. But they can extend it between 14 and 16 hours a day.
This virtue for restful rest, cats come in the genes, since all cats are big sleepers: tigers can swirl 16 hours a day while the cheetah does it for 12 hours. In contrast, cows only sleep 4 hours and horses still enjoy less: just 3 hours a day. Although in this case of cat sleep there are no strict rules, and both puppies and older cats sleep more.
Our dogs and cats may sleep a lot, but seeing them curled up and snoring on their feet is a delight. And when they are awake, they make sure to squeeze life until the last second.