Sleeping with a Pet: Advantages, Risks, and Tips

Do you like sleeping with your pets? Or do your pets accompany you in your bed? Sleeping with pets has pros and cons, which sometimes help you better your life or worsen it. 

So let’s check out what sleeping with our beloved pets brings and tips to improve our’s and pets’ lives.

Benefits

Many types of research and experiments have proven that our little furry friends bring not just happiness but many other beneficial and life-improving things in our life. 

Such as,

1. Improves sleep quality

People tend to let their guards down during sleep which makes them vulnerable. Many of us face that nagging feeling of insecurity and remain alert even when we sleep, which falters sleep quality. Pets create a sense of security and comfort, which is very important for sound sleep, and when they accompany us on the mattress, we feel that warmth and security there, too, improving our sleep with improved quality. 

2. Provides comfort and security

Humans are social animals, and to feel a sense of security and comfort, we seek the company of others. Like humans, or sometimes more than humans, we are accompanied by pets. Due to the animal’s self-defence mechanism, they become protective of their humans or owners. Humans crave this sense of protection and comfort from others, whether awake or sleeping alone on the comfortable mattress in their bedroom. Thus, having pets in their house, let alone in the bed, makes them feel secure and have a sense of social support.

3. Great stressbusters

Many people struggle with stress and anxiety due to various reasons like work complications, financial or family crises, and health issues and try to find remedies to reduce it. Apart from medical remedies, we find comfort in the presence of our loved ones. Just like the presence of human beings, the presence of pets also works wonders to reduce our stress and help us lead happy lives. Though they don’t speak like humans, Pets empathize with us through their actions, loyalty, and innocent actions.

Researchers have proven that just patting pets decreases cortisol, a stress-related hormone level in our body. Interaction with pets reduces loneliness, increases the sense of social support, and uplifts mood. Also, having pets in your bed while sleeping increases the level of oxytocin or a sleep-promoting hormone, thus, improving sleep quality.

4. Boosts mental health

Our mental health is related to the things we face throughout the day. It generally gets badly affected due to the stress, anxiety, and depression we go through. Researchers and scientists claim that having pets reduces. The presence of pets reduces stress and other signs that lead to mental health problems. The mere presence of pets distracts you from any thoughts you have and makes you feel relaxed by their antics and cute actions. Owning a pet is a full-time job that gives you a feeling of companionship and meaning in life, thus further eliminating any mental-health problem-inducing symptoms. 

Risks

Despite plenty of benefits, you may get by having pets on your mattress while you sleep, just like anything else, these can also induce some unforeseen risk factors.

Such as, 

1. Dirty and messy

Unlike humans, pets don’t use cleaning formulas except to lick themselves. Thus, they fail to get rid of dirt from their fur completely. Also, when they sleep, they make the bed or mattress messy as they try to make it comfortable, according to them, ruining the perfect alignment of the bed. 

Solution: Bathe your pets at least once a week or month. Also, you protect your mattresses by using mattress protectors or bed covers. 

You can buy The Sleep Company’s Bamboo Mattress Protectors, specifically designed to keep your mattresses from stains and seeping liquid with dual protection layers. 

2. Destroys bed and mattress

Pets are prone to using their teeth and nails while playing on the bed and tearing up the mattress, pillow, and bed covers. Also, they scratch bed posts or beds to create their markings which further destroys things. 

Pets sometimes urinate or bring their kills on the mattress, which can make your mattresses stink or stain.

Solution: Train your pets not to damage things. However, since they are unpredictable, make sure that you protect your bed or mattress with mattress protectors or other means. When you buy mattress online, make sure to buy mattress protectors as well. 

3. Allergies and diseases

Having pets in the bed may induce allergies and diseases. As pets, fur is the abode of many germs, bacteria, and allergens that impact our immune system and weaken it, further escalating health issues. 

Also, many people have pet-related allergies, which may increase due to close contact with their pets.

Solutions: to get rid of those unwanted bacteria, use special shampoos for pets containing anti-bacterial and anti-germ ingredients. Also, take medical advice to control the allergy reactions you may have due to pets. 

Also, wash your mattress protectors, bed sheets, and pillow covers regularly to keep them free from developing those harmful bacteria. You can buy mattress online if your mattress has worn off or become old.

Disrupted sleep due to their movement

Pets tend to move during their sleep constantly, which can cause disruption in your sleep. Also, pets’ weight or attention-seeking nature may not let you sleep comfortably while sleeping if your bed is not big enough to accommodate you and your pets. 

Solution: For uninterrupted sleep, ensure that your bed or mattress is comfortable and soft enough not to let you feel the movements of others. Also, buy a king-size or queen size mattress that provides enough space for more than one person. 

Bottom line

Thus, having pets in life is as much a good thing as a bad thing. But if taken some measures, it can become an excellent thing that will make your life happy and cheerful with improved mental and physical health, sleep, and social status.