Overview

• Sleep experts warn that dogs and cats naturally wake multiple times per night and may scratch or sprint at dawn and dusk, preventing humans from reaching deeper restorative sleep.
• Pet dander and microbes transported into beds can trigger allergic reactions and breathing issues that reduce overall sleep quality.
• Research from Trinity College in Connecticut links bed-sharing with pets to insomnia symptoms and finds that having more animals correlates with greater rest disruption.
• Many pet owners report that the emotional comfort and sense of bonding from sharing a bed with their animals outweighs minor sleep disturbances.
• To improve rest, specialists suggest placing a pet bed in the bedroom, restricting animals from the bedroom at night, washing sheets more frequently or adjusting human sleep schedules to match pets’ rhythms.