When your dog wakes you up several times a night to play “toss the stuffed toy,” you may wonder why he can’t sleep at night like everyone else in the family. Maybe he has a sleep disorder. But can non-human animals even have sleep disorders On the other hand, elephants sleep for only about two hours a day. Giraffes take power naps, lasting about five minutes, off and on throughout the day. Though giraffes may get as much as 4.5 hours of sleep a day, according to some estimates, only 30 minutes of that is deep sleep. Can Animals Have Sleep Disorders Though there are differences in sleep patterns among different species, the physiology of sleep in animals is similar in many ways to that in humans. For example, terrestrial vertebrates, and possibly even spiders, experience REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. So, it’s not surprising that researchers have found some sleep disorders in animals, including insomnia, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea.
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Friday, June 27, 2025