Have you ever felt the presence of your pet cat under your blanket and between your legs when you are deep asleep at night? If you see your cat doing this more often, there is no need to grow worried! Cats do this for multiple reasons, and in fact, many cat owners yearn to have such a bond with their cats. So before you decide to train your cat to keep away from your bed altogether, let’s look into the science behind why your cat sleeps between your legs at night.
Reasons why your cat sleeps between your legs
There are a variety of explanations for this behavior in cats, let’s take a look.
Reduces anxiousness and stress
The first reason is to reduce anxiety and stress. Just as your feline friend reduces your stress hormones and is a source of peace for you, they feel the same way about you.
That is great to hear, isn’t it? By laying close to you, they get that source of comfort and timeliness, which helps them sleep peacefully at night.
Sleeping close to someone you love also reduces cortisol levels, which is the hormone that causes stress.
So if you have an anxious or stressful cat, do not be surprised you find it trying to sleep as close to you as possible at night! This also depicts the feelings of trust it has in you.
Makes it feel secure
Young kittens want to feel safe and secure. When living in homes, their safe space may be near to their owner especially at night when it’s dark and they can get scared.
From an early age, they know that if we go near our owner, we will be safe no matter the circumstances.
But why the legs when they can sleep beside you?
Well, it is because most people do not move their legs around as much while asleep (as compared to the head and hands).
They also have a much larger surface area, so cats can easily reach that part of the body. Not to mention they are warm during the winter night time because of a blanket.
So if they lay near the legs, they will get a good spot and sleep safely without distractions at night.
They are comforting you
If you find yourself constantly worried and stressed throughout the day, your cat can sense it.
Cats pay a lot of attention to their owners, and they want the best for them. One of the ways they want to make sure their owner is safe is by comforting them.
This can be in the form of laying between your legs while you’re asleep at night, and sometimes even when you are sitting down.
This action can also urge you to pet your feline friend and feel comforted. Hence proved, cats are much smarter than we think and care about our moods and feelings!
Keeps it warm and comfy
This point is pretty much self-explanatory. Especially in the winters, even though their fur keeps them quite warm, more warmth makes them feel safe.
If you lay under a thick blanket in the winters, you may find your cat between your legs more often than normal simply because it wants to stay warm.
And let’s be fair, you probably like some warm cuddling time with your kitty during the cold too, don’t you?
It all comes down to how well your relationship with your fluffy friend is, which brings us to our next point:
Improves your bond
If you are a new cat owner, you may find your cat sleeping between your legs a really weird habit.
But you should know that it takes a long time for a cat to get comfortable with the people it shares a home with.
When your cat is finally ready to let its guard down and work on its bond with its owners, it will try to get close to you and spend more time with you.
One of these ways can be following you around for a while, sitting close to you, and sleeping around or near your legs.
The warmth, security, and your scent make it feel protected, and this action improves both your and your cat’s bond.
It is a connecting moment!
Territorial issues
We all know how territorial cats can get. They are not ready to share anything with their fellow siblings and other cats around the house.
So naturally, if they have a strong bond with their owner, they will feel the same way towards them.
This means, you can expect your cat to get close to you, spend more time around you and even sleep between your legs if it is feeling too comfortable.
Scenarios like these usually arise when you live with 2 or more cats in your house, only then will they start to act overly territorial.
It likes to be aware of its surroundings
One unusual reason for cats sitting between your legs is so that they can have a birds eye view of their surroundings.
Now cats are not likely to be nosey creatures, but from a safety standpoint, they want to sleep or lay in a way that they are aware of what is around them, and they can defend themselves in case of any danger.
They may lay on your legs (because it is a higher surface), or laying between them is also enough.
It can be cute to have your cat so close to you for a while, but we understand that it can get annoying on a daily basis.
So what can you do if your cat is sleeping between your legs?
What to do if you do not want your cat sleeping between your legs?
Sleeping with a cat between your legs can be uncomfortable at night especially if you are not used to it and you move a lot at night. Also if you are afraid that you’ll put your leg on it and hurt the cat.
There are a few ways you can gently cause your cat to stop sleeping with you, if you do not like it.
The first way is to slowly condition it to move from your bed and find an alternate spot that makes it feel comfortable.
During winters you can keep a heating pad in their new spot so they are more prone to go into that warm spot for a good night’s sleep.
Another thing you can do is give it treats to move to a certain spot, so it will move away from your legs.
This method works great in the beginning, but then your cat may start expecting treats each time it moves, so that can be a problem.
Should you be worried about your cat sleeping between your legs?
Now for the important question: is it worrisome that your cat sleeps between your legs at night?
The answer is: Most of the time it is not. Actually, 9/10 times, you are good.
But here is this thing with cats, they are ninja-good at hiding any problems they have. So if they happen to have any pain or disease, it will not be easy to find out.
It may be looking for extra warmth to calm itself because it does not know what is happening with its body.
Luckily, there are a few other ways you can see if your cat is unwell.
Try to track what it eats on a daily basis, how much water it drinks, if it has any problem urinating, or if it is behaving differently.
You should also contact a vet if you are not able to figure out if there is anything wrong with your cat.
Conclusion
In conclusion, why exactly does your cat sleep between your legs? If your cat sleeps between your legs at night, there are multiple reasons it could act this way.
It could be feeling stressful and sleeping near your legs could calm it down, or laying there would make it feel safe and secure.
Cats enjoy your company and are super protective of people they like. Especially if you have more than one cat, it will show territorial issues and try to sleep you.
During winters, your cat wants a warm atmosphere to sleep peacefully at night, and in turn this also improves your relationship with your feline friend. Trust is increased and you will feel much closer to your cat.
Lastly, it also feels good to stay on a high point and have a view of the room so it knows what is going on around it.
Finally, if you do not want your cat sleeping between your legs, there are some things you can do to avoid this behavior.
There is also nothing to worry about, if you are too worried however, you can schedule a check up with the vet to confirm that our cat is okay.
Cats show strange behaviour such as sleeping between legs, moving its kittens, scratching mirrors, tail hitting, bedroom door waiting, eye sniffing, chin biting, black boogers, foot standing, back jumping, sighing, peeing in the bathtub and toe licking may actually have solid reasons behind. Its important we educate ourselves about possible reasons and then act timely for any fix.