Do you sleep better with your cat or dog in bed?
A significant majority of respondents in a recent survey said yes. British polling and survey firm OnePoll asked 2,000 Americans that question, with about 70 percent saying they get better rest with their furry friend next to them.
Most said having their cat or dog snoozing with them made them feel safer and more comfortable, while 58 percent admitted they sleep better with their pet in the bed than their significant other. While most people like having their animals sleep in their beds, some said pets could disrupt their sleep.
Of course if you’re like me, you never really had a choice. There was no adjustment period when I brought Buddy home for the first time. He didn’t hide under the bed and refuse to come out, or dash for the nearest small space.
That’s pedestrian behavior for a cat of his stature. Instead, the little guy came striding out of his carrier like a feline Genghis Khan and immediately started conquering territory.
“So this is my new bedroom, huh?” Buddy the Kitten seemed to say as he mewed excitedly. “Oh, look at this bed. Mine! Hey, that’s a sweet chair. Mine! I’m just gonna climb up onto your desk and survey my new territory if you don’t mind. The desk, by the way? Mine!”
He decided from the very beginning that my bed was his bed, and while I was to be his butler, waiter, masseur and personal groomer, I would also make a fine human mattress.
Thus our nightly routine: Buddy watches me impatiently as I get settled in bed, then makes himself comfortable either by draping himself over me, or wedging himself between my legs.
Readjusting and changing sleeping positions are severely frowned upon. I swear I can hear the annoyance in Bud’s voice, and his impatience as he waits for me to turn over so he can attend to what’s really important — his comfort.
Do I sleep better with him there? Mentally, yes. Physically, no.
Recently I wrote about his new habit of getting “sleep scritches,” which came about after he realized he could get me to raise my hand while I sleep. It took me a while to realize it was happening: At most I was dimly aware until I had a dream I was petting him, woke up and realized I was holding my hand up while Buddy was rubbing his face against my palm and purring happily.
He doesn’t wake me up for food, since I set aside a bowl of dry kibble and a bowl of fresh water for him before bed every night. If he gets hungry, he slides lazily off the bed, pads over to his little dining nook and quietly munches a snack before going back to sleep.
The little stinker’s proximity, and his tendency to meow in his sleep, also means he gate crashes my subconscious while I’m sleeping and appears in my dreams.
I can’t get away from him, but that’s okay with me.
The OnePoll survey was commissioned by Sealy, the mattress company.
Do your cats sleep in your bed? Does their presence make your quality of sleep better or worse?
Pain In The Bud 
Oh yes, Bella sleeps on our bed BUT only when she wants to. This mostly means she is actually “fake napping” at about 6 am onwards on the bed, occasionally walking over us both before setting down in order that is ready to make a dash for the kitchen the very nanosecond when I get up. After she has had breakfast she will come back into our bedroom ( no door in our house is ever completely shut so she can push them open and get into any room at any point of course!) and settle down for a post-breakfast “genuine nap” ensuring that she is occupying sufficient bed territory to ensure I cannot get back into bed without moving her ( which of course I can’t/won’t…) Bertie (the new boy in the house) simply sits on the mid landing and howls loudly…
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After-nap naps. How very catlike of Bella. Of course it’s necessary for cats to follow naps with meals and more naps, for beauty sleep purposes.
When did you get Bertie, John?
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Buddy meows in his sleep? Video, please!!
I’m a restless sleeper, tossing and turning all night, so the cats prefer to sleep with my calmer partner … who gets shoved around mercilessly by them.
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Yeah they’re like softer versions of his usual vocalizations, like “Brrrrr!” and “Mrrrrrrppp!” I guess it would be more accurate to say they’re trills, as the majority of the Buddy Language consists of trills, chirps and weird kittenish grunts, with full meows used for emphasis and to yell at me when he wants snacks.
It’s funny to see his paws twitch when he’s dreaming. Sometimes it looks like he’s having a bad dream, and I wonder what he could possibly be stressed about.
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Tux is a polite sleeper. He log rolls against my back and is an effective space heater or sleeps at my feet 0ther than an occasional nose kiss or play bite, he is accommodating. I shall not tell him of Buddy’s antics so he doesn’t get ideas!
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Tux is a well-behaved little guy, a true gentlecat befitting his coat and considerate of his humans.
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this on the blog before, but the first time my brother stayed over after I had adopted Bud, he crashed on the couch and I was like “Okay, I gotta keep the bedroom door open because if I don’t, Bud’s
gonna cry all night at the door and neither of us are gonna get any sleep. But I have to warn you, you’re probably gonna wake up at some point to find him head bunting your face, or maybe attacking your feet, and don’t be freaked out if you wake up and he’s sitting next to you on the bed just staring at you.”
lol. Cats are such psychos.
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I’m just home from a hospital stay, and deeply missed sleeping with my two mini-panthers (though they would have disapproved of the monitors, IVs, etc.). You are spot-on in distinguishing psychological from physical comfort.
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The hospital situation kinda stinks, because pets can do so much for patients who are recovering, but allowing them isn’t fair to people who have allergies or have compromised immune systems.
Still, when I see stories like the one about the dog who waited for his human every day outside the hospital, politely refraining from going inside but refusing to leave, I feel like there could be a future for patient wings where pets are allowed.
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Mee an BellaSita Mum have an arrangemint. Shee has left side of bed….mee has THE rite side. Mee sleepss inn pillow at top of rite side or inn pet bed inn middell of rite side or on mee blankit at bottom or rite side of bed….
Mee allso has mee Cat tree bye window to snooze in when a sirtain purrson snoress too loud…. 😉
THE pillow iss a Sirvical pillow an has a curve inn it so mee iss like a hot dog inn a bun all cozy an snug inn pillow!!! ROFM Buddy!
Wee gotted our Hu’manss trained well.
BellaSita Mum sayss shee sleepss bettur knowin mee iss close bye……
***purrss*** BellaDharma an ❤ BellaSita Mum
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See? That’s what a good cat does. Respects boundaries, doesn’t take over the whole bed, lets her human sleep in peace.
With Bud on the other hand, it’s like “Hmmm, how can I maximize my own comfort at the expense of Big Buddy? I know! I’ll sleep on his face!”
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The first cat we ever had was named Fleabag. We were kids and my brother brought him home. Instant adoption! He decided I was his person though and slept with me. Just like your little Buddy, he’d sleep right between my knees. And since it was in a twin bed, it was not a great fit. Also, I’m allergic to cats, so I’d have to have a humidifier running if he was in my room. He loved to sit in front of it and let the mist spray on his face (he’d meow at the door if it was closed and it was on!). He also liked to ride in the car. He was a great cat while we had him.
The cats we have now just visit my bed, but don’t sleep with me. They’re too big, I’m too old and it just doesn’t work for either of us.
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Fleabag for the win. Sounds like he was an awesome little dude. I’m always amazed by stories about people who just find cats or have cats show up on their porches. I have not seen a stray cat in my neighborhood for years. I think it was two or three summer ago that I saw a gray tabby who looked like Bud, but was very skittish and didn’t want anything to do with me. I left some food for him and never saw him again.
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Goobi sleeps where Goobi wants. I do sleep better with him snugged up against my leg but I don’t be he likes the a/c that I run at night.
He does come in to wake me when he feels I’ve slept enough.
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Goobi sleeps where Goobi wants. I do sleep better with him snugged up against my leg but I don’t believe he likes the a/c that I run at night.
He does come in to wake me when he feels I’ve slept enough.
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I do sleep well except when he swishes his tail. It means he wants his wet food.
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