Can your cat or dog sleep in your bed, or is that a really bad idea?

Sometimes dog and cat owners are more private than their pets. They speak in children’s voices to their four-legged friend and fluffy kitten, feed them better food than their own, and sometimes let the animal crawl with them to bed. spoon That’s cute, but is petting your cat or letting your cat sleep in your bed ever a good idea?

Most cats don’t have a brain of their own. They come and go as they please and jump on your bed when they feel like it. You certainly don’t always have control of the latter. The average cat owner often wakes up with a cat sleeping on the base of the bed. Whether sleeping with your cat in bed is beneficial for a night’s rest, science isn’t quite sure yet.

A cat or a dog in bed: no problem for young people

that modern scientific research People aged 13 to 17 with a dog or cat showed that 78 percent of all respondents slept with their pet. The study sought to find an answer to the question of whether sleeping with a pet improves sleep quality among young adults. The scientists chose to study young adults because there is a lot of documentation of (poor) sleep patterns in this group.

The results of the study showed that the sleep of this group is not affected by sleeping with a dog or cat in bed. Sleeping with pets not only disrupts the sleep pattern of young adults, but it also doesn’t make an often poor sleep pattern better.

Do you sleep with your partner or pet? Did not matter

Well, these are teens and young adults. But what about adults? Is our sleep positively or negatively affected when our cat curls up at the foot of our bed?

that research Published in 2018 says a cat can actually disrupt our sleep. There’s a big “but” here: sleeping with a dog or cat disrupts sleep just as much as sharing a bed with a human.

Cat affects sleep

However, not every scientific study agrees with the above research findings. For example, the results of another recent scientific study from 2021 show that sleeping with a cat in bed can actually have effects on a good night’s sleep.

Research shows that cat owners are more likely to lose sleep. They have more difficulty sleeping at least seven hours a night. The study did not conclusively conclude that owning a cat and/or sleeping with a cat is a risk factor for sleep quality.

So science isn’t convinced of the effect a dog or cat in bed can have on your sleep. Do you think it is best to sleep with a cat or bed at the foot of your bed or next to you under the blanket? Do something and sleep well. It may not significantly affect your sleep, but your pet may have the best night’s sleep ever in your bed.