Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Cat Sleep with You

Imagine you are snuggled up with your fur baby and dreaming the whole night. This may sound quite relaxing and comforting but the things are not like they seem to be. Cats are the crepuscular creatures and that fact is enough to make you rethink about your decision of letting them enter you bed at night.

There are also benefits of letting them sleep with you and experts suggest to focus on what you should consider before making any decision rather than suggesting what’s more appropriate. In a nutshell, that decision is on you.

Well, I’d suggest not to sleep with them and I have churned out 7 reasons for you to ponder upon. If you think you can adjust with that, you’re good to go to share your bed with them.

Sleep Disruption

Your hectic work schedule is not letting you have enough sleep already and there’s no way you would do something that may disrupt your sleep. A cat sleeps for 12-16 hours a day so you’d like to believe your furry friend will be in her dream world sleeping calmly just beside you and won’t disturb you in the middle of the night? No.

Well, why this happens. First, they are crepuscular (who are equally active at nighttime and daytime) animals. And second, their sleep cycle is different than ours. A dozing cat throughout the day will wake up at 2 AM for participating in Cat Olympics, and leaping and racing around. Moreover, they want their human to cheer them up so they will knead and try to wake you up.

One sleep disorder study by Mayo Clinic found that more than 20% of patients who sleep with their pets blame their animal friends to disrupt their sleep. Here you can see Cole and Marmalade kitties nightlife in their parents’ bedroom.

Exposure to Litter Box Contents

It’s true that cat likes to stay clean. But she might be okay if she make your bed a little bit dirty with litter particles. She may track some litter particles with her and shed them on your bed. However, you can reduce the amount of litter box debris to make it to your bed by putting rubber mat in front of the litter box but you can’t ever eliminate it completely without making your bed a cat prohibited zone.

Asthma and Allergies

If you’re suffering from any allergies, heads up for you. According to Asthma and Allergy Foundation America, every three in 10 people with allergy have allergic reactions to dogs and cats. That said, if you are one of those having any allergies, allowing your pet in the bed may increase the chance of develop allergic reactions.

Moreover, doctors generally recommend removing cats from the home if any family member is allergic. There are not quite efficient measures to ease up Asthma and other allergic symptoms. However, you can keep your bedroom door closed and can use a good HEPA filter. This will help eliminating allergy and asthma triggers while you are sleeping.

Cats Pose the Health Risk for Children

Children have lower immunity power. When children are exposed to your cats, they might contract parasites and germs which make them fall ill. Cribs are enticing spots for cats to doze off. So when you are asleep, your cat might jump into the crib and sleep there. Cats can slip through the protecting bars of cribs and if not, they will find their way inside. So, it’s definitely ‘no entry’ to bed room for the family having children.

Cats Are Hard to Be Expelled Out

Your cat always sleeps with you in your bed and now you want to keep her out of the door at night – Nope. That isn’t a piece of cake. Cat feels safe in their territory (yes, your cat thinks that is her bed now) while being with you. So when she lose her territory, she might get depressed and start spraying and marking territories outside including destructive scratching.

In a nutshell, there will be adverse effects of evicting your cat which are tough to ease up.

Fungal Infections and Parasites

Sharing a bed with a cat sleeping means you’re sharing your bed with parasites too. A cat harbors parasites and when you be with them for long time in bed, they might make your life miserable.

Well, fleas cannot live on humans, but they bite and leave itchy welts. And the same way, cheyletiella mites can jump from cats to people, causing itchy rash. Moreover, feline intestinal parasites including roundworms and hookworms can cause serious problems in humans which generally are transmitted through her defecation matters. If your cat is dirty and tracks litter particles in your bed, then you need to reconsider your decision as parasites and other fungal infections can make your health deteriorate.

Protozoans and Protozoal Infections

It’s not like that you’re at a greater risk of protozoal infections if you stay in a longer contact with your kitty. Children and old age people with compromised immunity are at the most risk. Some of the protozoan diseases are giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and toxoplasmosis. To avoid this, you should keep your kitty healthy and clean, and keep them indoors as much as possible. This is about the general care of a cat and making this kind of common mistakes can cost you a deteriorated health.

Final Thoughts

The phrase ‘Cat owner’ is an oxymoron. You can never own a cat, your cat owns you. In a similar way, you won’t share your bed with your cat, your kitty will share it with you. When you let your cat in your bedroom at night, that means it is their territory and it’s tough to evict them afterward. Also, this is a big decision to make as there are health risks associated with it for both, you and your kitty. I have stated all the reasons why I’d never let them sleep with me. If you can take care of these risks and are willing to compromise with your sleep, you can let your kitty in your bed for sleeping.

Cat beds exist for a reason. Your cat won’t hate you if you won’t let her sleep with you. There are numerous cat beds of different types available on the market. If you are looking for one, Petlovesbest has suggested some of the best cat beds based on their comprehensive review you would like to check out.  Do you want to share your experience or thoughts? Leave them in the comment section below.