Cats are famous for how much they sleep and where they sleep, but recently my cat has been trying to sleep on my head at night. I set out to figure out why he was doing this, so I can kindly get him to stop.
Cats sleep on human heads for comfort, primarily warmth and scent. The oils in a human’s hair carry a strong personal odor, and with 80-100 million scent receptors, cats will sleep on a person’s head to get that comforting scent all night, while staying warm.
My cat has slept on my head at night before, but it started to become a habit last month. Now I know that it’s a vote of confidence for our relationship – essentially that he loves me so much he wants to smell me all night. Or maybe I need to take a better shower before bed.
While I’m honored by his new sleeping behavior, I’ve learned a few ways to politely get him to find a new place to sleep, and it starts with understanding his quest for my scent.
Your Head Comforts Your Cat to Sleep
There’s no denying that a warm spot is a perfect place to snooze. But when it comes to taking a cat nap, your head is one of the first places they’ll look.
Unless you sleep in a hat, which is weird and you should stop doing that, this is the one spot that your cat can access you without pesky blankets or clothing at night.
This means unfiltered contact all night long, a direct pipeline to your skin and smells, and a source of heat laying on top of a pillow – it’s no wonder your cat is sleeping on your head.
Why Does My Cat Smell My Hair?
Humans release pheromones through our skin and have a high concentration of them in our hair follicles. Cats use pheromones to communicate and combined with their strong sense of smell when they smell your hair, they’re picking up on all sorts of information about you.
Have you ever noticed that your hair smells different after a day of not washing it? That’s because human hair naturally produces oils that carry our scents.
These oils are full of pheromones and other scents that communicate all sorts of information to cats. And since cats have such a strong sense of smell, they can pick up on a lot of information from just a quick sniff.
To a cat, smelling your hair is like getting a tiny update on your day, every day.
You know that cats have approximately 80 to 100 million scent receptors while humans have only around 5 million. But what does that actually mean?
This means that cats can smell things that we can’t even imagine. And they use this sense of smell to communicate.
When a cat rubs their face on you, they are actually “marking” you with their scent. This is how they claim you as their own and let other cats know that you belong to them.
So, when your cat sleeps on your head at night, they are claiming you as their own and getting comfort from your scent.
Your Head is Warm
There’s no denying that a warm spot is a perfect place to snooze. But when it comes to taking a cat nap, your head is one of the first places they’ll look.
You might be thinking that we have a higher body temperature than cats, but that’s not the case. In fact, cats have a higher average body temperature than humans.
A cat’s normal body temperature is between 101 and 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit while a human’s average body temperature is around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
It has more to do with exposed surface area.
The Human Head is a Tiny Furnace
The human head dissipates a lot of heat. We have a lot of surface area on our heads compared to the rest of our bodies and we have blood vessels close to the surface of our skin.
This means that our heads are good at getting rid of heat. So, when your cat sleeps on your head, they are taking advantage of a warm spot to snooze
Cats Need Heat
Cats are relatively small animals and they don’t have a lot of body fat. This means that they can get cold easily, especially when they are sleeping.
And since they will expend nearly a third of their body energy on grooming, they have to find shortcuts to warmth.
Sleeping on your head is one way that cats can get warmth without having to put in a lot of effort.
While heat and scent are the primary causes for your cat to sleep on your head, there are a few other less common reasons, which you can find in the article 5 Reasons Your Cat Sleeps On Your Head.
Training Your Cat to Sleep Somewhere Else
Contrary to popular belief, you can train a cat. And I’m sure you know already, but cats are incredibly intelligent.
So, if you want your cat to sleep somewhere else, it is possible to train them. However, it will take some time and patience.
To make this work most effectively, you need to harness the logic of what made them seek out your head in the first place – the scent of your hair.
Using Scent to Train Your Cat to Sleep Elsewhere
You can do this by placing a piece of clothing that you’ve recently worn in their bed or sleep area.
What I have started to do is when I’m about to put my bedding in the laundry, I take the used pillowcase off of my pillow and put it in his bed. Then place a new pillow case on my pillow, and I wash the pillow case that was previously on his bed.
It takes three pillow cases in total, but it seems to be working much better, although sometimes he can’t be stopped.
This ensures that my cat always has my scent in his bed, and doesn’t always have to be on top of my head every night.
It’s also a great idea to keep a few cat beds around, so he can find comfort anywhere.
Where Does Your Cat Sleep On You?
Klaus, my cat, sleeping on my head for comfort is certainly the sweetest thing I could have discovered. But while I was reading about the topic, I discovered cats will sleep on different parts of a person’s body for different reasons, such as the chest, back, and of course the lap.
Does Your Cat Sleep on Your Lap?
During the day, you can find my cat either on the window sill by my desk or sitting on my lap while I type. If your cat is like mine, lap sitting is more than a hobby, it’s a lifestyle.
During my research, I learned that one of the most vulnerable positions a cat can put itself in is sitting or sleeping on a person’s lap. Surprisingly, depending on what direction a cat is facing in your lap is a form of communication.
A cat sleeping or sitting on your lap is one of the biggest signs of trust that your cat can bestow upon you. That discovery was too interesting to keep to myself; so, naturally, I had to write about why cats sit on you and what they may be trying to communicate.