It’s often said that cats are creatures of habit, and this certainly rings true for my two. As I work from home, I spend a lot of time around my cats and have recognised their patterns – from their sleeping spots throughout the day, when they want to play and when they want to be fed.
A friend of mine once left a camera on to monitor her cat while she was at work.
She wanted to know the answer to “what does my cat do all day?” She watched the recording back to find the majority of the time her cat was still sitting there, fixated on the camera!
When it comes to what cats do when you’re not home, it’s likely going to be similar to what I’ve observed with mine:
1. Sleep, sleep, sleep
It was no surprise to find my cats spend a lot of time sleeping. It’s estimated that cats spend 12 – 16 hours a day sleeping, and as indoor cats, my two love lounging around.
They have several different preferred snoozing spots depending on the time of day.
As the sun streams into the lounge room, they can be found having a kip by the window on their cat tower. In the evening they jump onto the couch and sleep on their favourite blanket, and later at night they retire to their pod beds.
2. Toilet Time
My cats use their litter trays throughout the day, but most commonly they’ll go right after they wake-up and before their breakfast, and then after their dinner.
3. Drinking & Eating
We feed our cats at two points during the day rather than allowing for free feeding – this is to keep our male cat’s weight down. They’re generally fed a can of wet food in the morning and then dry food at night to give them variety.
Water is accessible at all times in a bowl and also from a plug-in water fountain.
4. Play Time
My cats are most responsive to play time right after they’ve eaten dinner. During the day they want to be left alone to sleep, and later in the night my male cat is on ‘patrolling duty’ throughout the house and doesn’t want to be distracted.
While they’ve lost that kitten energy, they still like to play with toys, especially interactive ones.
It’s a nice way to connect after a busy day for me, and a relaxing one for them.
