So every night, your fluffy friend snuggles up on your pillow and proceeds to settle down next to your head. Initially, you find the sight of your pet curling up beside you quite adorable but after some time, things might get a wee bit inconvenient. With a furball around, it's pretty hard for you to get to the ideal sleeping posture without burying your face right into the furs. Many cat parents experience the same issue and they all ask themselves: "why does my cat sleep on my pillow?".
Want to know what causes your cat to doze off on your pillow instead of its own bed and how to address that sleeping habit? If that is so then you come to the right place as this article could show you everything that people must remember about felines sleeping on their owner's pillow.
A List Of Likely Motivations
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Warmth
It's common knowledge among pet owners that cats prefer to hang around warm spots: behind the TVs, on top of laptops and so on. As the head happens to have the highest temperature compared to other body parts and the pillow often retains heat rather well, it's only natural that your kitty comes to your pillow for warmth. In the eyes of your cat, your head is by all accounts an excellent heater. By sleeping on your pillow next to your head, your cat could stay warm without having to lift a toe.
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Safety
As most people tend to raise cats as indoor pets these kinds of days, the felines face practically zero threat. That being said, even if it's domesticated, your furball still retains a couple of traits of its wild ancestors. In the old days, the ancestors of cats must think carefully before choosing a place to sleep as they would be completely defenseless while snoozing. Modern-day cats also have the same mindset and to many of them, including your fluffy friend, the safest place in the house is indisputably the bed of their owner.
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Affection
Being affectionate creatures, cats like to spend time around humans and pets that they love. Because your body is often covered by a blanket, your exposed head is the only part your cat could show affection to in most cases. Additionally, if you happen to have restless legs, your cat should opt to stay near your head to avoid being booted off the bed in the middle of the night. All in all, if you notice your kitty kneading, purring and cuddling while sleeping beside you then you know that it loves you a lot.
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Dominance
In case you don't know, the felines have a clear order of hierarchy which is reflected through height: cats on high spots dominate ones that stay at lower levels. Despite the fact the height of your bed is moderate at best, it possesses one important source of affection, food, water and so on: you. So if you have multiple cats and one of them wants to show its dominance over the rest then it would spend the night on your pillow next to you. With that act, your kitty establishes its dominant position among the pets in the house.
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Comfort
It's worth noting that cats have an odd definition of comfortable which is why people find cats sleeping in strange locations like the bathtubs. Still, if your cat visits your bed and feels that your pillow is a comfortable place to get shut-eye, it's going to sleep there from that point forward. So sometimes, the answer to the question of "why does my cat sleep on my pillow?" is quite simple: Because it wants to sleep there. Cats do whatever they want without a care in the world, hence, pet owners just have to cope with them.
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Getting Your Cat To Leave You Alone: Tips And Tricks
Numerous cat parents love to sleep next to their cats but others need to have some personal space while sleeping. So after discussing possible answers to the question of "why does my cat sleep on my pillow?", it's time we get to the solutions.
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Lock Accesses To The Bedroom
Want to stop your fluffy friend from invading your bed? Then all you have to do is to make sure that the pet is unable to get into your bedroom. Proceed to lock all accesses and stay on your guard while entering/exiting the bedroom. Keep in mind: cats have a resourceful mind so they only need a small opening to get what they want. As a result, you must be thorough here in case you want to have a full night's sleep. In addition, unless you know for certain that your kitty is in trouble, ignore its cries outside of the door.
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Set Up Purpose-Design Repellents
On the markets nowadays, pet owners could get specialized cat repellents that would turn away the felines without requiring significant time as well as effort. Employ the repellents right outside the door of your bedroom and your kitty should let you spend the night in peace without causing further trouble. Moreover, being rather jumpy pets, the average cats rarely enter rooms that offer no cover. You could use that to your advantage by removing every cover in your bedroom to make your furball feel uncomfortable.
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Assess The Pet's Bed
A few cats opt to sleep on the bed of their owners because they don't like their current beds. So if you wonder "why does my cat sleep on my pillow?" when you already set up a bed for it, go over its bedding. Most of the time, it's strongly recommended that you rotate the bedding of your kitty once per week. In addition to that, you should clean the blanket and the bed from time to time, ideally every fortnight, to get rid of odors, bacteria, hairs, parasites and so on. If your cat runs into an elimination incident in its bed then wash everything immediately.
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