Why Your Cat Sleeps in Unusual Places (and What It Says About Them)

Our cats have beds throughout the apartment. Sure, they sleep on some of them. But they also sleep on a shoe shelf, clean laundry or the office chair.

If your cat keeps choosing a strange place to sleep, the easiest way to figure out why it’s there is to look at what the spot offers: warmth, a cool surface, privacy, height, familiar smells or a good view. While our cats Thelma and Louis are the examples we use throughout this article, hopefully you can relate and it will help you understand your own cat’s favorite places. It might also help you recognize when something is off.

Why cats choose chairs and high places

In the living room, Louis usually takes the dining room chair on the right and Thelma takes the chair on the left. There is also the big, oversized office chair with a fluffy down pillow they love to sleep on the top of. This is a very, very coveted spot that seems to operate like a timeshare between both Thelma and Louis.

Louis also loves to splay on chairs with backs. When he was smaller and he could fit onto random things a bit easier, sometimes he and Thelma would sleep on the same chair pillow together. Other times Louis would splay out on the pillow, which made for maybe one of my favorite photo opps ever (below). He still does the sprawling part. He just requires more surface area now!

The reason cats love chairs and other high spots is because they offer a view and some distance from whatever is below. In a multi-cat home, you should try to offer more than one elevated or hidden place. Just make sure no matter what they are, the surfaces are stable with a safe way up and down. Windows need secure screens, and blind cords should not form a loop a cat can reach.

Why cats sleep in cupboards, closets and boxes

Thelma loves to curl up in a cupboard or box. We rarely have one free, but when we do, she is the first to jump in there. We just found her in Cory’s closet on his shoe shelf the other day.

A box also offers cats walls, warmth and some privacy. Just make sure if you are going to give them a freshly delivered box that you remove any loose tape, staples and plastic packing material. I just had to stop Thelma from trying to eat some tape on a box that was delivered the other day! Then I was worried for about 24 hours that she ate some of it. Thankfully she was fine.

If your cat keeps choosing unintended, enclosed places, you could try a covered bed or an ordinary cardboard box with a blanket tucked inside in a safe part of the room. If they gravitate to shelves or cupboards, just make sure there are no medications, cleaning products and anything else unsafe nearby, even old shoelaces! Keep anything hazardous completely out of their reach.

Why cats sleep on clean laundry and worn T-shirts

When I have clean laundry on the bed that I need to fold, either Thelma or Louis will inevitably hop up and get on top of it. Of course it’s a great excuse NOT to fold the clothes for a while, but also I like to give them time with the warm piles.

If you want to give your cat a more permanent option with the same feel (or it’s finally just time to fold the laundry!), try a washable blanket or an old shirt that becomes theirs.

One side note now that we’re talking about laundry…I don’t know about you but even though we have a separate laundry room with a door that is closed most of the time, I always check the washer and dryer before starting or closing them. I have such an irrational fear about them getting in! I also make sure our laundry products are up high and out of reach.

Why cats follow sunlight or sleep on cool surfaces

Cats love a sunny spot! Our cats (and I’m sure your cats) will follow a sunny patch throughout the day. And it’s not just a cute thing they do. It’s part of who they are!

Veterinary behavior groups put a cat’s thermal comfort zone at roughly 86 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and researchers who study cat housing point out that our homes are usually kept around 72. Comfortable for us, chilly for a cat, so a sun patch helps close the gap. They also just prefer warm places instinctually! House cats descend from the Near Eastern wildcat that still lives across Asia and North Africa, where the weather is a lot warmer than the average living room.

It’s not just about heat, I think it has to do with being connected to nature. Thelma loves to look at the moonlight…she just loves her window and likes watching what is happening outside.

They also love a cool spot! The inside of a dark closet or bathroom, as well as ceramic sinks, tubs, and tiles. A sink also curves around a cat’s body in a way that is probably more comfortable than it looks. Part of the reason cool surfaces matter is that cats don’t have many ways to dump heat. They only sweat through a few small spots, mostly the paw pads, so on a hot day they cool off by grooming (the evaporating saliva works like sweat), finding shade, or lying flat against something cold. The tile floor is the reverse sun patch!

Just remember that cats can get overheated, too, and a sunny room or catio or hot enclosure can become too hot. Panting, drooling, weakness, vomiting, confusion or collapse can all be signs of a heat emergency.

Why a cat ignores one bed but uses another

We have three identical, fluffy donut beds. One is by the living room window, another by the bedroom window, and another tucked in a bedroom corner next to a chest of drawers. The window ones get used all the time. The corner one? It is completely ignored!

I think that’s just because it’s not near a window. The bed itself is exactly the same. We may have just chosen bad real estate.

If you have a similar issue, instead of getting rid of a rejected bed simply try moving it first. Start with the place where your cat already chooses to nap but might benefit from being a bit comfier there! We are still thinking about where to place ours…

Cats may rotate through several sleeping places

Thelma will either sleep down at my feet on the bed, or she’ll go a little higher up on my husband’s legs. So that varies. Sometimes, though, by early morning she’s out roaming the apartment, deciding to fall asleep again on a chair, or going by the window to watch the sun come up. One of my favorite parts of the morning is coming out to see where she is. Our eyes lock and I can’t wait to pet the little girl.

Same with Louis. He might start in a different spot, but usually right before his food goes off at five in the morning, or right after, he comes up and rotates sitting on my chest or my husband’s. (This is really great at 5:30 a.m. lol). After he makes the rounds, he gets cozy on his blanket that’s in between us (we bring it up at night before we go to bed so it’s there for him in the morning). He loves to suckle and make biscuits on it until he falls asleep again.

During the day, they’re usually napping. It’s two in the afternoon right now when I’m writing this, and Louis is in the cat tree next to me, and Thelma is on top of the cozy down chair in the office napping.

Cats love routine, and that’s theirs. So even though it varies each day there’s still a cadence to it. Knowing this general pattern also helps any subtle or major change stand out.

When a new sleeping place is part of a bigger change

In terms of sleeping positions where Thelma and Louis feel safe versus not, I don’t really think there’s anything that we’ve seen, thankfully, where they don’t feel safe. Sometimes after they’ve gotten vaccines they’ll be really tired, and you can kind of tell they feel a little icky and are sleeping in a weird way. But thankfully that’s about it.

We are always looking at Thelma and Louis to see if there’s anything off about them. We’re making sure that they’re eating, that they’re playing okay, that they’re sleeping normally.

If we see Thelma or Louis taking an occasional closet nap we don’t bat an eye. But if they’re in there for hours we’ll start to think differently. This is when I would call the vet about a new sleeping pattern, especially if it comes along with eating, drinking, litter-box, movement or breathing changes.

For instance if a cat used to love sleeping on a high perch (like a cat tree) but stops, I would also pay attention to how they are moving. Are they doing any jumps? Especially in older cats, pain or arthritis can make the climb harder, and a noticeable change in jumping is worth mentioning to the vet.

Sometimes I also project and think they look sad while they’re sleeping! Cats also sigh in a way that can make you feel personally responsible for their entire emotional life. Most of the time, a weird place is just the place that felt right at the moment.