Pet Bed-Buddies

Is Sleeping Together Healthy?

Erik J. Martin

There was a time when Eliska, a three-pound Prague ratter, would curl up and sleep next to owner Krista DeAngelis, and most of the time, she and the dog enjoyed a peaceful night’s slumber.

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Then DeAngelis married, and her husband banned the dog from the bed for fear of unintentionally squashing Eliska in his sleep. After enduring a few sleepless nights of canine whining and barking, the Salt Lake City couple successfully curbed their pet’s protests by simply spraying Eliska with a misting bottle every time she acted up.

After two nights of this routine, the pocket-sized pooch was fully trained to sleep by herself in another room.
“I originally thought letting my dog sleep in my bed was a good idea,” says DeAngelis, a communications director at Westminster College. “But I realized that they can keep you up when they rustle around, wake you up if they have to go out and sometimes go to the bathroom in the bed if you don’t wake up.”

Make a Good Choice

“Having your pet sleep in the bed with you is a personal choice,” says holistic Veterinarian Patrick Mahaney, of California Pet Acupuncture & Wellness, in West Hollywood. By discouraging this behavior, “Your pet will be less likely to confuse your bed with theirs, and therefore prevent potential territory-related problems.” By failing to discourage it, “You not only face the possibility of behavioral problems, you could also face adverse effects to your own sleep and health,” he notes.

Staying in close contact makes it easier to pick up fleas, ticks or skin mites a pet may carry, and can worsen allergies. ~ Roger Valentine, holistic veterinarian


According to results published in a survey of 300 sleep disorder patients conducted by Dr. John Shepard, then medical director of the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center, in Rochester, Minnesota, nearly 60 percent of the pet owners in the study slept with their pets inside the bedroom. Twenty-two percent of the patients were likely to have pets sleeping on the bed with them. Plus, 53 percent said their sleep was disrupted to some extent every night. Twenty-one percent and 7 percent of their dogs and cats, respectively, snored.

Yet, a British study of 420 UK cat owners conducted by the nonprofit Cats Protection revealed that 44 percent of respondents (including 51 percent of women polled) said they enjoyed a better night’s sleep with a cat in bed with them than with a human companion. Benefits listed included an absence of snoring, more space on the bed and soothing purrs.

A pet’s companionship can reduce levels of stress hormones while enabling people to deal with their emotions and stressful situations.
~ American Heart Association journal, Hypertension


“The advantages of letting your pet share your bed include companionship, warmth and a sense of security,” advises Mahaney. Among the drawbacks, he notes lack of space for people to sleep, interruption of normal sleep patterns and the pet’s confusion about its expected place to sleep.

Nip Problems in the Bud

To break a pet of a bed-sleeping habit, Mahaney recommends applying persistence, consistency and the following tips:

• Establish a separate area or bed for the pet to sleep. A cat or dog bed can be as simple as a clean, soft blanket placed nearby.

• Use positive reinforcement techniques. Offer a tiny training treat, “gooddog” clicker noise or praise when the animal is comfortably resting in its own bed, to reinforce this desirable behavior.

• Immediately address any territorial aggression when co-sleeping with a pet, such as growling or nipping. First, authoritatively say, “No!” Then put the pet on the floor or into its own bed and give the command to sit and stay.

• If problematic behavior persists, seek consultation with a veterinary behavior specialist.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

If a family member decides to share a bed with a pet, Mahaney offers the following recommendations:

• Let it sleep on top of the covers, instead of under them.

• Be aware of the need to remove environmental debris, including fecal material, on its coat before bedtime.

• Give the dog an opportunity to void itself within a reasonable time frame before going to sleep. A typical healthy dog should not have to get up in the middle of the night to urinate or defecate.

• Allow a cat the opportunity to exit the bedroom throughout the night to play, eat, drink and use the litter box. Cats are nocturnal animals and are more likely to be active during lights out.


Erik J. Martin regularly contributes to WebVet.com, from which this was adapted.

This article appears in the December 2014 issue of Natural Awakenings

New Group Not Going to the Dogs This Time

Written by Ruth Heide- Alamosa Courier Editor

Cats Alive!, a new feline assistance group, hopes to reduce the number of feral cats in the San Luis Valley.  "There's no place in the San Luis Valley, nothing organized, no organization that is doing this," said one of the Cats Alive! founders, Donna Ditmore.  "That's why I got into this."

Ditmore was born and raised in the San Luis Valley and her heart goes out to the hundreds of cats who seek shelter and food in dumpsters, barns, and abandoned buildings.  She said she heard about one abandoned building in a nearby county where there were 300 feral cats.  She and other volunteers in Cats Alive!, which is in the process of obtaining nonprofit tax-exempt status, hope to trap, spay/neuter and release feral and abandonded cats as well as medically treat them and provide food and shelter for them.

From left-Marilyn Flynn, Synthia Trujillo, Carol Bradshaw, Donna K.Ditmore, Vera Ballew & Carrie Basinger

 The group hopes to acquire grant funding to hire a veterinarian to assist with their mission.  "At this time, we are limited in what we can do for feral abandoned cats," Ditmore said.  "When we get our vet, we will be able to help people spay and neuter cats because there are a lot of abandonded cats."
Cats Alive! does not intend to build a shelter but will try to assist the animals where they are and eventually reduce their number through spaying and neutering the adults.

Volunteer Vera Ballew is working on the paperwork for the group's 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.  She stressed that until the nonprofit status is secured, the group cannot ask for donations.  People can assist the group on an unsolicated basis, but the group cannot ask for donations yet.

Up to the this point, people throughout the valley have used their own money to spay or neuter feral cats, but there has not been an organized effort, Ditmore explained.  Some of the initial Cats Alive! volunteers include Carrie Kenney Basinger, Marilyn Flynn, Synthia Trujillo and Carol Bradshaw. 

They know of instances where feral cats have had kittens that froze to death because they did not have adequate shelter and they want to change that.  Nature has also taken its course in reducing the cat population in some places where foxes have been killing them.  Cats Alive! volunteers want to reduce the cat population, too, but in a different way, through spaying and neutering.

"We want to reduce the number of wild and abandoned cats in the San Luis Valley," Ballew said.  "To do that we plan to capture, spay/neuter and release the wild cats, feral cats.  We hope to transfer tame cats to shelters where they can be adopted as pets or to individuals.  In the future, we hope to be able to help pet owners get discounted costs for spaying/neutering.  We also want to educate the public.   Our primary focus is reducing numbers by spay/neuter, education and relocation."

"It's going to take time but if we stick together, we can do it."  Bradshaw said.  "I am excited about it."

Those who wish to learn more about this new group may contact Donna Ditmore at 719-589-5952.

Choosing a Pet Insurance Policy

 by Joan Shin

Companies selling pet insurance in the U.S. include Veterinary Pet Insurance, Pethealth Inc., The Hartville Group, Pets Best Insurance, Embrace Pet Insurance, PetFirst Healthcare, PetPartners and Petplan USA.

These companies generally offer a few levels of policies ranging from $5 to $30 a month on average for a healthy pet. The cost varies depending on the extent of coverage, benefit limits, deductibles and co-payments. Dogs are generally more expensive to insure than cats.

Coverage varies according to company and plan as well. For example, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance's most basic "safety plan" covers only treatment for injuries such as broken bones, bee stings and burns. At the other end of the spectrum, Embrace Pet Insurance's policies, which can be customized, cover cancer treatment and alternative therapy like acupuncture.

When shopping around for a policy, find out exactly what the policy covers and what the exclusions are.

Most policies exclude pre-existing conditions and many exclude hereditary conditions, which purebred cats and dogs are more likely to have, or limit coverage for older animals.

Here are some additional questions to ask the insurance company:
• Are my claim payments based on my vet bill or the insurance company's benefit schedule?
• Are drug and dental coverage included?
• Will my premium go up over time, as I file claims, or my pet gets older?
• How will I be reimbursed? Do I pay the vet and then submit the bill, or will the vet handle billing?
• Does the plan cover chronic or recurring conditions?
• What are the financial limits of coverage? How are they applied?
If your pet is advanced in years, in poor health, or if you do not want to subject the animal to a major surgical procedure, insurance may not be a worthwhile investment. Talk to your vet about your pet's health and query insurance companies about the limits of coverage before purchasing a policy.