There is nothing more annoying than folding a fresh load of laundry and then watching as your cat comes and curls up in it. Many times, the laundry will still be warm from the dryer when your cat moseys on over and lies right on top of it. This can leave a bunch of annoying cat fur on your clean clothes and can even aggravate allergies. So, why do cats engage in this kind of behavior? Here are seven possible reasons that cats will lie on their owners’ clothing.
The 7 Possible Reasons Your Cat Lays on Your Clothing
1. Your Cat Is Feeling Affectionate
When cats are feeling affiliative, they will often seek you out. Many cats will appear out of nowhere and start rubbing against your leg while purring loudly. Cats can become very attached to their owners, and sometimes, they will seek proximity or contact with familiar people. If you are not around or cannot interact with them, many cats will try to find the next best thing – your clothing.
Your clothes are often warm and soft. Your clothes also smell like you. If your cat is feeling socially motivated and cannot interact with you directly, they may choose to rest on items that smell like you. If you know that your cat has loving tendencies or is clingy and affectionate, there is a good chance that those are the reasons they are burying themselves in your clothes.
2. Your Cat Is Feeling Insecure
While some cats ooze confidence and aloofness, other cats are needy and insecure. Cats that are experiencing stress or uncertainty may be more likely to seek out familiar scents or locations, including clothing that carries their pet parent’s scent. Your clothes contain your scent and may provide a source of familiarity that can help some cats feel more secure in their environment. Not all cats will exhibit this behavior, but if you know that your cat is a scaredy cat, there is a good chance they are using your clothes as a comforting crutch. This is doubly true if you often find your cat curled up in your clothes when stressful things are happening around them.
3. Your Cat Is Looking for Comfort
At the end of the day, clean, warm laundry is comfortable. Your cat may just be looking for a soft place to lie down. If you don’t have blankets or throw pillows on your couch, your cat might decide that your laundry basket is the most comfortable place in the house to take a nap. Once a cat finds out that the laundry is comfortable, they might go back again and again when they are looking for a cozy place to bed down.
You can buy blankets or beds for your cat to provide additional comfortable resting options and encourage them to rest elsewhere. But it can be hard to break the habit once your cat learns that your clean laundry makes a great nest.
4. Your Cat Wants Stability
Cats do not generally like it when things change. When new people come around or if you rearrange your house, it can cause your cat to become anxious. When they are feeling anxious, they may seek out familiar scents, locations, or resting spots that help them feel more secure. Your clothes smell like you, which can provide a familiar scent cue associated with safety and routine. This familiar scent can sometimes help a cat remain calmer during environmental changes. In these situations, your cat will likely seek out clothes that you wear often or clothes that are familiar to your cat.
This kind of behavior can also happen if you introduce a new cat to the house. You can try to reduce your cat’s anxiety during turbulent situations to reduce the likelihood that they will need to lie in your clothes.
5. Your Cat Is Attached to Certain Items
Some cats will become particularly interested in specific items. These items may contain strong familiar scents or have textures that the cat finds comfortable. Your cat might not lie on every piece of clothing, but they might curl up in a specific set of pajamas or in a jacket. If your cat only lies in certain pieces of clothing, it could suggest that the scent, texture, or location of that item is especially appealing to your cat. If you are attached to a specific piece of clothing, there is also a good chance that your cat might frequently interact with it because it carries your scent.
You can remove a specific piece of clothing or put it away where your cat cannot get to it if you do not want them lying in it. If you remove the piece of clothing in question and your cat stops lying in clothing in general, it may suggest that the item itself was the main attraction.
6. Your Cat Is Sick
One of the less common but possible reasons that your cat might be lying on your clothes is that they might be sick. When cats do not feel well, they may seek quiet, warm, or familiar places to rest. If your cat is attached to you, they might seek out your clothes because they carry a familiar scent while the cat rests.
There are a number of ways that you can tell if your cat is sick when they seek out clothes to lie on. First, if this is not normal behavior for your cat, it could potentially signal a behavioral or health-related change that should be monitored. If your cat never lies on your clothes and suddenly starts, it could indicate a change in your cat. Another way to tell that your cat could be sick is if they are lethargic or acting strangely while they are lying down. If your cat starts breathing heavily, is lying on their side, or is acting unusually quiet, withdrawn, or less responsive, it could be a sign that your cat is suffering from an illness or other medical condition. If you are worried that your cat might be sick, you should consult your veterinarian for advice and a potential treatment plan.
7. Your Cat Is Marking Their Territory
Another thing that cats do as a part of their natural behavior is territorial marking. Cats possess scent glands on areas such as the cheeks, chin, forehead, and base of the tail, and they deposit pheromones when rubbing or rolling on objects. Animals like cats produce pheromones that other cats can detect, which can communicate information about the cat’s presence. Humans can’t often smell these pheromones, but your cat can. By rolling around in your clothes, your cat may be depositing scent from these glands onto the fabric. This adds the cat’s scent to an item that already smells familiar. This behavior may help the cat create a mixed scent profile that is familiar within their environment. Territorial marking can also come with peeing or scent marking your clothes, which can be a stinky hassle.
If Your Cat Lays in Clothing a Lot, Make Them a Safe Space
Many people don’t like it when their cat lies on their clothes. As discussed, it can be annoying, and it can spread allergenic cat fur through your closet. One way to help make your cat more comfortable and reduce the amount of time they spend lying in clean laundry is to make them a safe space. You can make a cat corner, which is a spot where your cat can curl up in a blanket, bed, or even in old clothes that you provide for them. This will hopefully become the place where your cat goes to lie down when they are feeling insecure, needy, or affectionate instead of your laundry basket.
Depending on your specific cat, the safe space can be in the center of the home where everything is going on or somewhere quieter, like a spare bedroom or a basement. Some cats like to be in the middle of the action, while others like to be away from the hustle and bustle of the main house. Try building your cat a cat corner, bed, or safe space and see if it reduces their tendency to rest in your laundry for comfort.
Conclusion
A cat that lies in your clothes or seeks out laundry to bed down can be annoying. It can disrupt your chore flow and can make clean laundry dirty. In most cases, your cat is looking for a way to get close to you or to rest in a place that smells familiar and comfortable. But that doesn’t make the behavior any less frustrating or concerning. The good news is that most of the time when your cat is bedding down in your clothes, it is for normal behavioral reasons. However, it could also mean that your cat is anxious or not feeling well. If you are concerned about your cat or if this is a new behavior, consider consulting your veterinarian for professional advice on what to do next.
Featured Image Credit: Gill Thompson, Shutterstock
The 7 Possible Reasons Your Cat Lays on Your Clothing
