There is no way you haven’t even noticed THAT! We, cats adore the sun. In fact, very often I hear you wondering “it’s way too hot here, why is my kitten sitting in the boiling sun?”.
Well, our love towards the sun is a choice we make to maintain our body temperature, without having to work very hard and deplete our body’s energy reserves, so in essence it is an energy saving choice.
Without a doubt, I, Chicho, am the embodiment of this adoration for the sunlight, since I worship the sun, as you can clearly see in the photos below:
Chicho and the sun
And now you must be wondering why we have so much love for the Sun God (all jokes aside, does the worship of Egyptians of the Solar God, Amun Ra, have anything to do with their worship of cats? We will find that out in a future article!) Continue reading and you will find out:
Why do cats love the sun?
- The normal temperature of a cat is 38.9 degrees Celsius compared to that of a human being which is below 37 degrees Celsius, meaning that in any external condition it needs to spend more energy than the human body in order to maintain its temperature constant. Now if the sun offers the cat this extra energy, it can actually maintain its temperature without really bothering!
- Cats often prefer to sleep while bathing in the sun, because during sleep there is a drop in the temperature of the body, which is counterbalanced by the heat of the sun rays that flood them. In fact, cats are often seen following the course of the sun in their sleep.
- The cats are descendants of the wildcat Felis Silvestris, which lived 10,000 years ago in areas of the Middle East, Egypt, Israel and Syria; areas with extensive desert areas and apparently high temperatures. So, it is natural for cats now to crave the sun, since they are animals that evolved to live in deserts and hot climates.
- The cat’s natural diet, rich in protein (and not so much in carbohydrates), is another explanation for its love of the sun. Protein does not function like carbohydrates in maintaining the body’s energy, so protein-rich organisms may not have much energy to spend in maintaining their normal temperature. So, a sunbath for them is always welcome.
It should be noted that long-haired cats do not have as much love for the sun as short-haired ones because the former can better maintain their body temperature due to their rich fur. Of course, in general, all cats love sunbathing and I, a very proud long-haired cat, come to confirm it.
