{"id":5795,"date":"2019-03-20T12:03:40","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T17:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.diamondpet.wearewoodruff.xyz\/?p=5795"},"modified":"2023-10-26T15:56:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T20:56:53","slug":"debarking-pet-myths-cats-are-nocturnal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/culture\/myths\/debarking-pet-myths-cats-are-nocturnal\/","title":{"rendered":"Debarking Pet Myths: Cats Are Nocturnal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d our monthly series that addresses common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs and cats.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many cat owners believe their feline friends are nocturnal creatures \u2014 they\u2019re most active at night. Certainly, their cats\u2019 behaviors \u2014 sleeping all day and and playing rambunctiously overnight \u2014 seem to confirm that belief.<\/p>\n

But are cats really nocturnal?<\/p>\n

Despite your cat\u2019s total disregard for your sleep schedule, your kitty isn\u2019t actually nocturnal. Pet cats (Felis silvestris catus<\/em>) are actually crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk. However, a particular cat\u2019s behavior may also depend on your lifestyle.<\/p>\n

CREPUS-WHAT?<\/h2>\n

The word\u00a0crepuscular<\/em>\u00a0is derived from the Latin word\u00a0crepusculum<\/em>, which means twilight. (Nope, nothing gross or creaky is involved!) These animals \u2014 including pet cats, rabbits, certain deer, mice, bats and opossums \u2014 evolved to take advantage of cooler desert temperatures, receding daylight and darkness, and prey availability. In fact, according to\u00a0BBC Earth News<\/a>, a commonly quoted theory for twilight activity is that it offers an optimal balance between light and dark: there\u2019s enough light to see prey, but it\u2019s dark enough to lower the odds of being prey. It makes sense that cats would behave that way, considering they\u2019re descendants of the African wildcat (Felis lybica<\/em>) and can be both predator and prey.<\/p>\n

Still, it can be easy to mistake your supposedly crepuscular kitty for being nocturnal \u2014 especially if your cat routinely has the \u201czoomies\u201d night after night. And let\u2019s not forget to mention your kitty\u2019s demands for at least one overnight snack, often between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. \u2014 a popular feline happy hour! True nocturnal animals, such as raccoons and many owls, are most active at night and sleep during the daytime.<\/p>\n

TIME OF DAY FOR KITTY\u2019S ACTIVITY MAY NOT BE HARDWIRED<\/h3>\n

Your cat\u2019s activity level may vary with your \u2014 and their \u2014 lifestyle and may not be completely hardwired by genetics.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of Messina in Italy studied the\u00a0effects of housing and human presence<\/a>\u00a0on cat activity. Ten healthy adult pet cats were divided into two groups living with their owner in their home. Cats of group A lived in a relatively small house with access to a small garden between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Group B cats lived in a large house with a large garden to which they had free access all day. From 9 p.m. to 8 a.m., group B kitties stayed outside.<\/p>\n

Owners of all 10 cats followed the same daily routine. All cats were fed dry food at 8 a.m. At 9 p.m., group A cats were fed wet food, while group B cats received dry food. All cats had free access to water.<\/p>\n

To measure the cats\u2019 activity levels, each one wore a special recording device on their collar for 10 days. The researchers then calculated how active each cat was overall, and how active each one was at night versus during the day.<\/p>\n

The results showed that group A cats were most active during daylight hours and when their owners were at home interacting with them. Group B cats, however, were most active overnight and, unlike group A cats, had a daily rhythm to their activity levels. These findings led researchers to conclude that pet owner presence and care can influence cat activity and that cats adapt their lifestyle to their owners.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d our monthly series that addresses common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs and cats. Many cat owners believe their feline friends are nocturnal creatures \u2014 they\u2019re most active at night. Certainly, their cats\u2019 behaviors \u2014 sleeping all day and and playing rambunctiously overnight \u2014 seem to confirm that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Pet Myths: Are Cats Really Nocturnal?","_seopress_titles_desc":"We explore the truth about cats' activity patterns. Learn the difference between nocturnal and crepuscular behaviors, and how cats adapt to human lifestyles.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158,275],"tags":[100],"class_list":["post-5795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-myths","tag-cat"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}