Katz And Other Tales: The Science of Cat Naps

Katz Tales by Ellen Whyte Book front cover image

Logomania by Ellen Whyte Book front cover image

I have two new books out! Click on the images above for free sneak peeks.

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Science of Cat Naps

Tomorrow's Katz Tales column in the print version of the Malaysian national daily, The Star Weekend section is a bit different from usual. Encouraged by Facebook pal Mathew Titus, I'm looking into the circadian rhythms of cats.

More about the theory on Tuesday. In the meantime, here are some of my resources:

circadian.org

Biological Clocks A description of circadian rhythms in plants by de Mairan, Linnaeus, and Darwin

Genetic switch for circadian rhythms discovered, University of California, Irvine, December 12, 2007.

For info about the Earth's ever-changing day: Wikipedia 1 and Wikipedia 2.

Domestic cats show episodic variation in plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotropin, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), cortisol and thyroxine with circadian variation in plasma alpha-MSH concentrations

A Circadian Rhythm Of Norepinephrine Regionally In Cat Brain: Its Relationship To Environmental Lighting And To Regional Diurnal Variations In Brain Serotonin

posted by katztales @ 1:29 AM | 2 comments

Comments:

My cats' nap cycles have changed. Because they're indoor cats and sleep when I do...they now sleep mostly at night and tear around the place, interspersed with cat nap, during the day.

# posted by

Puss-in-Boots : 2:39 PM

Napping at night is good. I like running around when my people get home from work.

# posted by

Kitikata-san : 12:26 PM