Pets In A Bed: A Recent Study Confirms That It Is Safe

[LoShiNi]

According to the latest estimates, there are about 83 million pet dogs and 96 million pet cats in the United States. About half of dogs sleep in their owners’ beds, and about 62% of cats sleep with their adult owners. But is it beneficial for us to sleep with our pets? Is it safe? New research has the answer.

A recent study conducted by Mayo Clinic researchers investigated whether sleeping with dogs has a significant effect on the quality of people’s sleep. The key factor that they measured was the sleep efficiency – the ratio of the amount of time you actually sleep was divided by the amount of time you’re in bed. A sleep efficiency of 80% and higher is what is considered normal. The study yielded the following results: 83% of sleep efficiency in people who let their dogs sleep in their bedrooms but not on the bed; numbers slightly above 80% for people who let dogs sleep in bed with them

There’s no similar study on the effect of cats sleeping together with their owners, but here’s what doctors recommend: if your pet doesn’t cause any sleep disturbances, and if you’re not allergic and don’t have asthma, it’s perfectly fine to let your dog or cat sleep in the same bed with you. As long as you wake up feeling well-rested and have enough energy to get you through the day, pets in bed are not a problem. Even if you have allergy, there are some ways to enjoy having a pet:

Many people say that having their pet sleep next to them brings them the sense of safety, makes them feel calmer, and helps them fall asleep faster. Some pet owner report that their dogs and cats can help them get warm – that’s because these animals’ body temperature is slightly higher than that of humans. Anyway, it seems that sleeping with your pet can bring you more good than harm

But if you’ve been sleeping with your pet, and for some reason you need to get them off your bed or out of your bedroom, it’s important to do so in a way that won’t hurt your pet’s feelings. It’s easier to teach a dog to sleep in a different place than a cat, but it still requires some patience. You need to teach your dog to get off the bed on command. Victoria Stilwell, an internationally known dog trainer and a star of the TV show “It’s Me or the Dog”, says: “Make it a game to get off the bed, using lots of praise and petting. They get no attention on the bed. Only on the floor.”

Ingrid Johnson, a veterinary technician and consultant on feline behavior at a clinic in Marietta, Ga., says that you shouldn’t allow your cats into your bedroom at all if you don’t want to sleep with them. Cats are very territorial, and they will not be happy if you suddenly deny them access to a place they were previously allowed to enter. Johnson says: “If you suddenly shut a cat out of the bedroom, they can get very frustrated and start displaying destructive behavior. Cats don’t react well if you take away territory.” But if you have to get the cat out of your bed, Johnson advises to distract your pet in some ways, like giving is foraging toys or placing a cat condo near a window with a light outside. Johnson says: “All the moths and bugs flying around the light right outside that window is like reality TV for cats.”