Die Katze lässt sich heute nicht anfassen, weil sie schlafen will.

Katze is a feminine noun in German, so its basic singular form takes the article die.

Here, die Katze is also the subject of the sentence, so it stays in the nominative case:

• die Katze = the cat

If it were in another case, the article could change:

• Ich sehe die Katze. — accusative
• Ich gebe der Katze Futter. — dative

So in your sentence, die Katze is feminine and nominative.

This is a very common German structure:

• sich lassen + infinitive

It often means something like:

• can be ...
• allows itself to be ...
• is possible to ...

So:

• Die Katze lässt sich anfassen. means roughly The cat can be touched / allows itself to be touched.

In your sentence:

• Die Katze lässt sich heute nicht anfassen = The cat cannot / does not want to be touched today

It is not exactly the same as ordinary lassen meaning to let in a direct sense. Here it creates a kind of passive-like meaning.

No. Here sich does not mean the cat is touching itself.

In the pattern sich lassen + infinitive, sich is part of the construction. It helps create that passive-like / middle-voice meaning:

• Die Tür lässt sich öffnen. — The door can be opened.
• Das Problem lässt sich lösen. — The problem can be solved.
• Die Katze lässt sich nicht anfassen. — The cat cannot be touched.

So sich here is not truly reflexive in the everyday sense of itself. It is just required by this grammatical pattern.

Anfassen is a separable verb:

• an
  • fassen

In a normal main clause with a finite verb, it splits:

• Ich fasse die Katze an.

But in your sentence, anfassen is in the infinitive, and infinitives do not split:

• Die Katze lässt sich nicht anfassen.

That is why you see the full form anfassen at the end of the first clause.

So compare:

• Ich fasse die Katze an. — split
• Ich will die Katze anfassen. — not split
• Die Katze lässt sich nicht anfassen. — not split

German main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule:

• the finite verb goes in position 2

In the clause:

• Die Katze lässt sich heute nicht anfassen

the first element is Die Katze, so the finite verb lässt must come next.

Structure:

• Die Katze = position 1
• lässt = position 2
• sich heute nicht anfassen = rest of the clause

This is one of the most important word-order rules in German main clauses.

Because nicht usually comes before the part of the sentence it negates.

Here, the idea being negated is anfassen:

• Die Katze lässt sich heute nicht anfassen.

That means:

• it is not possible / not allowed / not welcome to touch the cat today

If nicht were somewhere else, the emphasis could change.

A helpful rule:

• nicht often comes before infinitives at the end of the clause
• it can also come before adjectives, adverbs, or specific sentence parts that are being negated

So here the placement is very natural and standard.

Yes, heute can move, but the emphasis changes slightly.

Your sentence says:

• Die Katze lässt sich heute nicht anfassen.

This is a very normal placement. Heute sits in the middle part of the clause, before nicht anfassen.

Other possible versions include:

• Heute lässt sich die Katze nicht anfassen.
  • stronger emphasis on today
• Die Katze lässt sich nicht heute anfassen
  
  • this sounds odd in most contexts and suggests not today, but maybe another day

So the original version is the most natural if you just want to say that today is the relevant time.

Because weil introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses are separated by a comma.

So:

• ..., weil sie schlafen will.

This comma is required in standard German spelling.

You will see the same with other subordinating conjunctions such as:

• dass
• obwohl
• wenn
• als

Example:

• Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich müde bin.

Because weil creates a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses the verb moves to the end.

Compare:

Main clause:

• Sie will schlafen.

Subordinate clause:

• ..., weil sie schlafen will.

With a modal verb like will, the full verb (schlafen) stays in the infinitive, and the modal verb (will) goes to the end of the subordinate clause.

So the order is:

• weil
  • subject + infinitive + modal verb

This is completely normal German word order.

Because after weil, German uses subordinate clause word order.

In a main clause:

• Sie will schlafen.

In a subordinate clause:

• ..., weil sie schlafen will.

So the modal verb will moves to the end.

This often feels strange to English speakers, because English keeps the same order:

• because she wants to sleep

But German changes the verb order after words like weil.

Grammatically, sie refers to die Katze, which is a feminine noun.

So in German, the pronoun must match the noun’s grammatical gender:

• die Katze → sie

In English, you might translate that as either:

• she, if you think of the cat as female or as a pet with personality
• it, if you are speaking more neutrally

So in German, sie is required because Katze is feminine, even if English might choose it in some situations.

It is very close in meaning, but not exactly the same in style.

Your sentence:

• Die Katze lässt sich heute nicht anfassen.

A more formal passive version would be:

• Die Katze kann heute nicht angefasst werden.

Both mean roughly the same thing, but the lassen + sich version often sounds more natural, idiomatic, and conversational in many contexts.

Compare:

• Die Tür lässt sich nicht öffnen.
• Die Tür kann nicht geöffnet werden.

Both are correct, but the first often feels smoother in everyday German.

They are related, but not identical.

• anfassen = to touch, to handle
  • often physical contact in a general sense
• berühren = to touch
  • often more neutral, sometimes more formal, sometimes just brief contact
• streicheln = to stroke, to pet
  • gentle, affectionate touching

So in this sentence, anfassen suggests:

• the cat does not want to be physically handled or touched

If you said:

• Die Katze lässt sich heute nicht streicheln,
  that would sound more specifically like:
• the cat does not want to be petted today

That is a possible sentence too, but it has a slightly narrower meaning.

Yes. German often uses wollen with animals when describing their apparent intention or behavior.

So:

• weil sie schlafen will

simply means:

• because she wants to sleep

This sounds natural in German, just as English speakers often say:

• The cat wants to sleep
• The dog wants to go out

It does not sound strange or ungrammatical at all.

Yes, that is possible, but it is a little different in style.

• Die Katze lässt sich heute nicht anfassen.

  • idiomatic
  • natural
  • describes that touching the cat is not possible or not welcome

• Die Katze will heute nicht angefasst werden.

  • also understandable
  • more directly gives the cat a strong will
  • can sound slightly more personified

So the original sentence is a very good everyday way to express the idea.