Do you wake up every morning with dog breath and suddenly realise it is actually the dog’s breath blowing on your face? Or have you awakened with a crushing headache only to find you are crushed by your cat sleeping on your head? If so, you are not alone. According to the American Pet Products Association, 75% of our feline friends sleep either in their owner’s or the children’s beds. Approximately half of the pups sleep with their owners, even 32% of large dogs. Is this healthy for us?
The up-side is the warm bond between you and your pet grows when you share a bed. Snuggles and love fill the room. The down-side is the 4am wakeup call when kitty is hungry or Spot needs to pee. Pets always seem to take their half out of the middle, sleeping length-wise in the middle of the bed. It is difficult for humans to get into a solid sleep pattern with all the disruption. This is even worse if the owner has allergies. Fur and dander can trigger an allergic reaction that disrupts sleep terribly.
So what is optimal: to sleep, or not to sleep together? A new study conducted by the Mayo Sleep Clinic suggests that sleeping together is overall more beneficial. The small study (150 people) was conducted after 10% of their pet owner clients cited their pets as the chief reason for their sleeping problems. They claimed that snoring and moving animals woke them throughout the night. The Mayo Sleep Clinic decided to dig deeper. The report of their results says, “More respondents perceived their pets to not affect or even benefit rather than hinder their sleep. A smaller percentage of patients acknowledged that their pets had undesirable effects on their sleep”. 41% of pet owners said decidedly that having pets in bed actually helped them sleep because it provides a sense of security, companionship and relaxation. They feel the pet is part of the family and should be incorporated into as much of the humans’ lives as possible. The researchers even noticed that their clients were happy to talk about their pets sleeping in their beds but became very quiet when they were asked to talk about any sleeping problems their pets might cause. Owners did not want to tattle tale on their fluffy loved ones.
While a larger study would need to be conducted to draw any truly scientific conclusions, this one supports what pet owners already know: it is not us who own the pets, but them who own our hearts. We will put up with a great deal of discomfort to have them nearby.
With thanks to Heather Long Vandevoorde, Ph.D.