Newsweek has a new interview with a veterinarian who warns that allowing your cats on your bed could be bad for sleep, but admits her own miniature pride rules the bed and often crowds her halfway off the mattress.
The main takeaway is that allowing your feline overlords on your bed can have positives and negatives, but good luck trying to do anything about it.
Of course no one quoted in the story says that outright, but the solutions they offer are limited to getting an air filter, washing your sheets more often, trying to train your cat to stay in one spot on the bed (lol), and keeping kittens off the bed from the very beginning, which is a diplomatic way of admitting if your cat is an adult, you’ve got no say in the matter.
I’ve often said that when I brought Buddy home I was prepared for a skittish cat who might dive under the bed and not emerge for days or weeks except to eat. That’s what many of the guides for first-time kitten adopters said, anyway.
But Bud defied expectations and came striding out of his carrier like a furry little Genghis Khan who just started conquering shit.
“Ooh, nice chair. Mine! I like this desk, this’ll make a nice napping spot. Mine! What’s this? You sleep here? Not anymore. Mine! Well, okay, you can sleep here too I guess…”
I realized immediately I was not going to be able to keep him off the bed, and I was already feeling awful that I’d just taken him from his mom and brought him to a strange new place, so there was no chance I was going to lock him out of my bedroom even if he did wage a nightly war on my feet and ricochet around the bedroom, gleefully cackling in the dark after successfully startling me out of sleep.
It’s fair to say I wondered what the hell I’d gotten myself into in those first few weeks, especially when he began coming up with more diabolic ways of torturing me. Those torture methods culminated with The High Jump, in which Bud climbed to the highest possible perch in my bedroom, then leaped in a kamikaze attack, landing square on my stomach so I was violently torn from my dreams and folded up like a suitcase all at once.
I remember my heart pounding as my little lunatic kitten vanished back into the shadows, trilling with delight and waiting for my breathing to slow again before launching another attack.
It went like that for weeks, maybe more, and I lost a lot of sleep but eventually his schedule synced with mine, I learned to tire him out with late night play time, and our nights became peaceful. Buddy began draping himself over me or burrowing into my side, which he still does all these years later.
If the sole measurement is quality of sleep, who can say what the final balance is? How do you measure the penalty of perhaps waking up more frequently, but falling asleep faster? Can you quantify the benefit of falling asleep to the soothing buzz of a cat purring next to you?
YMMV, but for me Bud is a calming presence. Or has been, since he stopped finding it amusing to attack me all night. There’s also a final benefit that has nothing to do with sleep quality: Letting your feline friend snooze with you helps strengthen your bond, and solidifies their status as a true member of the family.
Now if you’ll excuse me, Bud wants to nap and needs his human mattress…
Pain In The Bud 
I find I sleep WORSE if Ramses is not snuggled behind my knees at night – often waking up numerous times to see he is still not there… This has happened a lot since “the kid” (aka Brandon the cute) arrived as the kitten will want to play during the night and Ramses will hvae none of it. I am trained the new kid to adhere to everyone’s sleeping schedule. He’s actually not bad, but he’s a kitten and we are patient…
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Same here. Could not sleep at all when i had to sleep on chair downstairs while i took care of my sick elderly brother who slept in same room on couch that opens up to bed. He was a fall risk. My cat likes my brother but he positioned himself on the armchair where i slept for 3 months. My cat could of slept on bed with my brother. Tons of room. But my cat chose to be uncomfortable like i was. My cat also could of gone upstairs where he has a huge bed but chose to stay with me.
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As there are two furry overlords in our house there are occasional “squabbles” where biffing each other and chasing occur normally in the early morning hours… when I go downstairs to check on the issue I am normally met with a look from both of them clearly indicating “our silence can be bought human” “get the treats out”. Bella is fond of jumping on us and pawing me at usually 6 am (ish) for breakfast. Bertie waits in the wings allowing her to do the heavy lifting in waking me up. I wouldn’t have it any other way, it’s heaven!
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Both our babies sleep with me. If they’re not there, I can’t sleep. 🤍🌻🌺 When it’s bedtime, they sit on the stairs waiting for us to come up, and our boy even yells at us sometimes when he thinks he’s waited long enough. lol
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No one can ever say cats can’t keep time. They’re like furry little atomic clocks with alarms that go off for Food O’Clock and Sleep O’Clock.
I also feel the same way about sleeping without Bud. It’s always weird traveling and going to sleep without the buzzing of a purring cat. Funny how we grow so accustomed to it.
That’s why I think on balance it’s definitely a positive to allow them into the bedroom at night.
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I totally agree with you. And you’re right about the comfort drawn from purring. Cats are the most amazing beings.
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🤣🤣True. Could not care less.But i catch catnap during the day at other places to function during the day. My cat sleeps with me and most of the time does not disturb me. Sometimes he walks in circles around me on the bed. That means he wants his turkey churro.
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I can’t imagine not allowing Tux to sleep next to me. It’s the best!
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My kitties have always slept with me – and my dogs. Luckily I’m single/divorced – it’s much better sleeping with Sophie (cat) and George (dog) than it ever was with my ex.
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Good on you! 🙂
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My cats can sleep on my bed, just not when I’m sleeping in it. It’s too small for all of us and I’m allergic to them, so I really shouldn’t have them on my bed at all.
When I decide to go to bed, they get the heave-ho and I block the door so they can’t get back in. I know it sounds mean, but they can go right across the hall and sleep in Grandma’s bed (which they do most of the time), so it’s not like they’re being sent out into the night without humans around. They also get treats when I go to bed, so all in all, they’ve got a good thing going.
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To Carmen. No. Not mean at all. Most people with allergies should not have a pet in thier beds. My client loves his cat to death but not allowed in bedroom. Even if people do not have allergies it is not mean to keep pets out of bedroom.
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Love this article, lol’d at the furry Ghengis Khan bit! Sharing a bed with a cat or several is a privilege, I think. Currently my bedroom’s off limit to all but one cat – Pix is a pariah cat detested by the rest of the clowder.
She’s fonder of my spouse than me, maybe because he’s a quiet sleeper and I move a lot.
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Our older kitties are good sleep cats, a head scritch and they’re in Dreamland; they slip off quietly if they leave. The youngsters though, may decide to rough house at any time, and must be kept away from sleeping humans. Hoping maturity will change that. For now, the hubs at times calls them “The Barbarians”.
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