why are cats nocturnal?

Question

when i leave for work in the morning, my cats are sleeping on the bed. when i come home for lunch, they are in the same place, same position. i come home after work and they have moved no more than 2 inches. while i watch tv they lay on the chair nearby sleeping. and then at night they run around and make as much noise as possible.

why are they nocturnal?! does anyone know a real reason?

Answer 1

Cats are what's called "obligatory carnivores", meaning they get nutrition only from meat. ("Indoor Formula" cat food with "beneficial plants" is a scam to sell bad cat food)
Anyway.
All meat diet doesn't provide much energy for the kitties (no matter what size cat). So, low energy from the food plus high energy out-put to hunt (all cats have evolved to hunt), means they don't do much. They have to conserve all the energy they can.
So, they sleep.
House cats sleep, on adverage, 20 hours a day. Good gig if you can get it, huh!
Cheers.

Answer 2

First of all cats sleep about 22 hours a day, so they are not up all night.
The reason that cats are nocturnal actually stems back to the time way back when it was thought that there were really witches and that cats were there familiars, ie, they did the bidding of the witches. In order to get away from people and the possibility of being caught and possibly drowned along with their owners cats took to running around at night.
This is not just an old wives tale, it is actually something I read in a magazine put out by the Museum of Natural History of NYC. It may sound strange to you, and you may think I'm pulling your leg here with a crazy story, but it really is what I read. It was a number of years ago, so I don't know if you will be able to find the article, it told all about how cats came to the United States, they are not native to the US, they came from England and I believe Holland. The cats that are in the NY area I believe are from Dutch origin, and have a gene in them that actually produces cats with 6 toes, which is a recessive trait, but does show up quite often. Cats from the north, like Boston are from England and are a different sort of breed.
Ok, you've now learned more about cats then you asked.

Answer 3

CATS ARE NOT NOCTURNAL THEY SLEEP 16-18 HOURS A DAY MAYBE YOU NEED TO GIVE YOUR CAT SOMETHING TO DO DURING THE DAY SO MAYBE THEY WILL SLEEP WHEN YOU ARE SLEEPING I WONDER IF YOU MAY HAVE THINGS RUNNING AROUND IN YOUR HOUSE AT NIGHT THAT ARE NOT THERE IN THE DAY IT COULD BE THEY R CHASING THINGS IT MIGHT BE WORTH CHECKING INTO YOU NEVER KNOW THEY LOVE TO CHASE THINGS I'M NOT SAYING YOU HAVE BUGS OR MICE BUT U NEVER KNOW

Answer 4

For the same reason you're diurnal, the sky is blue and the grass green. Its the way nature intended. The only thing that is odd about it is our efforts to make them NOT nocturnal.