Do you allow your pets you sleep with you in the same room when night time rolls around?
There are some people that feel that pets in the same bedroom can hinder the ability to sleep, whether it’s because they make noises, cause itching, hog the bed, or increase the heat of the general area creating an uncomfortable sleeping environment.
But a study carried out by the Sleep Center of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona through August 2014-January 2015 suggests that pets may actually have more of a positive impact on your ability to sleep at night than you might think, even if you’ve tried it before and had a bad night of sleep due to a bad experience once or twice.
The findings are very interesting – out of 150 patients that were polled, about 74 of those patients had pets, which equates to about 49%. Out of those 74 people that did have pets, 56% of them allowed their pets to sleep in the same room as them. 15 of these pet owners said that doing so was disruptive to their sleep, while 31 of these pet owners said their pets were either unobtrusive or even beneficial to their sleep.
What’s more is that the 150 patients were 58% male and 42% female, and only about 18% of those didn’t have any kind of bed partner.
Those that said the pets were disruptive had problems with the pets vocalizing, wandering, needing attention, and even snoring, while on the other hand, those that said the pets were beneficial to sleep say that pets offer security, companionship, and even relaxation when compared to not having a pet in the bedroom.
"Patients volunteered that they deliberately acquired a dog or cat to help them relax. People sleeping alone, not always single but sometimes with a partner who travels or works some nights, more often spoke of the beneficial companionship stemming from a pet in the bedroom or on the bed,” said Lois Krahn, the author of the study.
One message that can be found from the results is that there seem to be more people that sleep better with pets than there are people who are disturbed by their pets at night, so if you’re having sleeping issues, you may consider trying a pet to help you sleep better at night.
On the other hand, 150 people isn’t that large of a testing audience, and as a result, more studies will have to be conducted to draw a better conclusion.
Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings