Boyfriend's cat sleeps on my legs at night. Is this a sign of affection?

Hi all!

My boyfriend and I have been living together for about a year and a half now. When his cat is in the bedroom at night, he always ends up sleeping on my legs. It's cute, but it makes it hard to move around at night. During the day the cat is much more affectionate to my boyfriend than me.

Does the cat sleep on my legs as a sign of affection, or is it a sign of dominance? I don't really care either way, but it's something I've always wondered.

Thanks for any input!

With cats, it's really hard to tell! It's probably a very simple reason, maybe your boyfriend just moves a lot in his sleep so she can't sleep on his legs. Whatever reason it might be, the cat is probably pretty relaxed around you if she trusts you enough to sleep on you, and that is quite an achievement on it's own! If you're really curious about the affection or dominance thing, just try to notice how she acts around you in other situations.

LOL...I was going to lean toward affection, but Renee does make a valid point...cats have their own minds. Even individual cats each act differently from each other, just as humans do! (I think this is why we love them!)

I, too, was "adopted" in love by my husband's cat when we got married last year and they moved in with me. There are days it's too much to be loved like that in my sleep, though....especially when she wants to sleep on my pillow, wrapped around my head. I can tolerate it for a little while then have to get her to snuggle up to her dad.

It sounds like a sign of affection to me. One of the cats we adopted took over a year and a half to warm up to us and start doing stuff like that. Prior to that, she would swat at us if we pet her too much or tried to pick her up to do anything with her.

My friends two cats adore me for some reason and will never leave me alone when I visit. She says they don't do that for anyone else that comes over. Her one cat will actually climb up on my chest and start massaging my chest repeatedly while staring me straight in the eyes, lol.

It's definitely a sign of affection. Your boyfriend's cat is really comfortable around you and does not regard you as a threat in any way. Don't worry, it's not trying to show dominance or displeasure. I'm sure it happily plays around with you while you are sleeping.

The only problem I can foresee is that the cat might end up disturbing your sleep and making it uncomfortable if you wanted a good night's sleep!