Why do cats like to sleep in a sink?

Black and white cat in a nice cool ceramic sink - photo by kretyen (Flickr)

You see a lot of really nice photographs on Flickr of cats sitting and sleeping in sinks or basins. They fit snugly into these bathroom basins (do you use that word in the USA?). The sinks, towards which cats migrate on a regular basis, are in bathrooms.

So what it going on? Obviously the sink is comfortable. That is why the cat is there. So why is it comfortable?

One obvious reason is that it is high up. Cats like high vantage points because they are safer.

Secondly, the sink or basin in a nice shape for the cat to fit into. But they are hard. We should not assume that cats like soft cuddly surfaces. In my experience this is simply not the case.

Cats do like warm spots but it is not as simple as that. Because cats also like cool spots in the hot weather. They like the temperature to be just right - like us.

We should remind ourselves that no only do cats live in a land of giants but also that they are wearing a nice thick woolly overcoat. The cats that originate from cooler regions such as the Norwegian Forest Cats and indeed the British moggie have double coats - a thick duvet-like downy undercoat.

It can get hot inside that. And cats like hard flat surfaces to allow the air currents to waft around them to cool them.

And a ceramic sink is hard and nearly always cool. That is why cats like to sleep in the sink...!



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