“Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many different ailments, but I have never heard of one who suffered from insomnia.”
Joseph Wood Krutch
Writer

I think of myself as a semi-pro napper, but I am no competition to the professional napper in my house: my cat.

My cat, Chocolate in his favorite napping spot.

Unlike people, cats really know the importance of sleep and they make sleep a priority in their lives. While I’m at work, commuting in Honolulu traffic, checking my emails, or newsfeed, my cat is sleeping. He sleeps up to 20 hours a day.

According to petmd.com, most cats sleep 17 to 20 hours a day. Although, this would be considered excessive by human standards, how many hours of sleep are you getting now? If it is less than 8, sleep is obviously not a priority in your life.

As natural predators, cats need to sleep so that can run, pounce. and target their prey. This takes an enormous amount of energy and cats need to sleep for their hunting activity.

We need to function during the day which means work productively, drive carefully, and make sound decisions. Sleepiness at work means lower productivity. Sleepiness while driving is not only dangerous, but deadly. Sleepiness at home means tempers will flare and patience will be lost.

So let’s take a lesson from a cat and make sleep a priority tonight for a productive and safe tomorrow.

Do you have great pictures of your sleeping cat? Email them to tdux@cswo.com.

UPDATE: Thanks to Allister and Sarah Baldwin for sending this adorable picture of their cat, James taking a catnap. Thanks for sharing!

James taking a catnap.