Sharing a bed with a pet: is it harmful?

Your loyal four-legged friend who never leaves your side in bed: Some find having a pet in bed very comfortable, others are strongly against it. But is it really bad?

Does sharing a bed with dogs or cats do more harm than good?

Sharing a bed with a pet

The short answer is: probably not, he writes Watchman. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” says Esme Wheeler, a dog welfare expert at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSCPA).

“There may be some risk in terms of disease transmission or flea transmission, but if you already live with a pet, having a dog in your bed will not increase the risk of that.”

Effect on sleep

This can affect your sleep, Wheeler says. “If you’re a light sleeper, it can disrupt your sleep because dogs have different sleep patterns than humans – they can be very alert, which can be a problem.”

One study that examined sleep quality in people who slept with their dogs found that although having a dog in the room had little effect on sleep, having an animal on the bed resulted in decreased sleep efficiency for the owners.

In other studies, some pet owners reported that their pets were annoying, while others said they were okay with it.

Sleeping with a dog

“The thing you want to pay attention to is consistency,” Wheeler says. “If you start out letting your dog sleep on the bed, you can’t expect her to understand if that’s suddenly no longer allowed. If you’re going to do that, you either have to keep it up or teach her that she’s only allowed to lie on the bed at certain times. You can, For example, encouraging it with a special blanket for the animal, limbs and a wheeler.

As your dog gets older, he may become less able to get in or out of bed. To reduce stress later in life, it is still good for them to have their own place to sleep.

Cat advice

What about cats? Not many studies have been done on this because cats sleeping together are less common. “Dogs have evolved with humans, and some might say they have domesticated us as we have domesticated them. Of course, this does not mean that cats cannot form a close relationship with people. However, most of the advice seems to apply to cats as well.”

Bringing your dog into the office? “It’s added value.”

comments