As night falls, many pet owners face the familiar ritual of ensuring their beloved cat or dog is snug and ready for slumber. Yet, this routine often blurs the line between their pet’s bed and their own.
The debate over whether to share your bed with a pet sparks passionate opinions on both sides. Some pet lovers are convinced that their animal companion’s presence enhances their sleep quality, while others worry that inviting a furry friend into bed is like welcoming a germ-laden bundle under the sheets.
A survey conducted last year involving 1,000 pet owners revealed that 37% sleep with their pets every evening. Notably, 44% of this group were women. According to the data published by Petplan, dogs tend to be the preferred bedmates, possibly because cats are naturally more active at night.
The survey highlighted that a significant 87% of respondents reported positive experiences co-sleeping with their pets. Interestingly, one in nine cat owners and one in seven dog owners noted that their sleep suffered on nights when they didn’t share their bed with their pet.
The figures, released by Petplan, found that dogs were most likely to be found snuggling up with their owners come nightfall – perhaps due to cats’ natural nocturnal instincts.
The survey discovered that a huge 87 per cent of owners surveyed had a positive experience when co-sleeping with their pet, with one in nine cat owners and one in seven dog owners saying their sleep was negatively impacted when not sharing the bed with their pet.
However, that’s not to say that swapping a hot water bottle (or partner) for a fur baby is the key to great sleep – over a third (36 per cent) of the pet owners said that they wake up ‘not feeling refreshed’.
With so many reasons to – and not to – sleep with your pet at night, we asked the experts about the risks… and if they’re really worth it.
Some people wouldn’t dream of asking their pet to sleep in their own bed
Germs and bacteria
A 2022 study from Utrecht University concluded that the biggest risk of letting pets sleep in the bed comes from the germs they have the potential to bring under the covers with them.
One of the biggest arguments against letting dogs sleep in the bed is that they can bring a range of germs into bed on their paws, tail fur, saliva and faeces congealed around their bottoms.
These include bacteria such as Campylobacter, Salmonella and Pasteurella, and E. coli which naturally lives in dogs’ guts.
Once on sheets, E. coli can survive for days or even weeks, creating a possible route of transmission if someone touches the bedding and then their face, or if a dog licks their face or broken skin.
Some research also suggests dogs and their owners can share strains of E. coli linked to human UTIs.
Dogs can also carry giardia, a microscopic parasite that can cause giardiasis. Symptoms include diarrhoea, bloating, wind, stomach cramps, nausea and greasy, foul-smelling stools. Symptoms can last for days or weeks if untreated.
There’s also the threat of roundworms, fleas carrying tapeworm, and fungal infections such as ringworm.
They can also pick up ticks outdoors, which may then transfer to bedding and potentially bite humans – leading to potential infection with incurable Lyme Disease.
Cats can also bring in some nasty extras, and can carry germs that may occasionally spread to humans.
These include Pasteurella from bites and scratches, Bartonella, which causes cat scratch disease, Toxoplasma from contaminated litter or soil, gut bugs such as Campylobacter and Salmonella, and ringworm.
Disturbed sleep
Scurrying, scratching, knocking over bins, random zoomies, barking, snoring, meowing, noisily playing with toys, bringing a mouse into the house or hacking up a hairball… there are myriad ways that our pets’ noises can wake us up in the middle of the night.
And a pet’s ability to emit unexpected levels of heat, forcing you to kick off the duvet at 3am shouldn’t be overlooked, either.
Petplan’s survey found that 88 per cent of cat owners and 85 per cent of dog owners admitted they’ve been woken in the night by their pet, with a quarter of them needing at least 20-minutes to fall back to sleep.
A 2024 study carried out by a team at Trinity College in the US, was looking for links between sleeping with pets as a way to protect people from the sleep-disrupting effects of stress.
They spoke to 1,591 US adults and found that almost half reported sleeping with pets, but those who did had poorer perceived sleep quality and more severe insomnia symptoms than those who did not.
The effect appeared to be linked more strongly to sleeping with dogs than cats, and was worse among people with more pets.
The study did not prove pets caused poorer sleep, but it suggested that noise, heat and movement from animals in the bedroom may disturb sleep for some owners.
Allergies
Even if you are not allergic to your dog or cat, they still have the potential to leave you spluttering and struggling with streaming eyes – which is not conducive to a good night’s sleep.
This is because pet fur is a magnet for pollen and other potential allergens.
Furthermore, pet hair and dander, which is made up of microscopic dead skin cells, are two common allergens that can irritate your hay fever.
Dr Hana Patel said: ‘It’s important to restrict where they can access after they’ve been outside. Consider sleeping in a separate room from your pet to relieve symptoms at night.’
But that doesn’t mean you have to stop sleeping with your pet during the warmer months, she also advises hoovering more regularly and changing your bedsheets at least once a week.
You might want to invest in a mattress cover, too. A 1998 paper published in European journal Pediatr Allergy Immunol found that germs, allergens or general pet debris can easily accumulate within the bed because mattresses and bed linens easily trap it.
Relationship issues
Princess Diana famously said there were ‘three people’ in her marriage – a common scenario for pet owners whose dog or cat insists on sleeping in their bed.
Statistics released by Rover.com found that almost 1 in 5 (19 per cent) have kicked their partner out of the bedroom to make room for their dog, or have even gone to sleep elsewhere because their pooch was hogging the bed.
Concerningly, a third of people claimed that they had enjoyed less intimacy since getting a dog – and with many pets enjoying being sandwiched between their owners, it’s no surprise.
Dogs can unknowingly bring nasty bacteria into the bed on their fur and paws
A 2025 paper published in journal Human-Animal Interaction further confirmed that dogs can do more damage in the bedroom than just hogging the blankets.
A survey of 354 dog-owning adults in the US and Canada found that while most people felt their dog had a positive effect on their relationship, a sizeable minority said dog ownership created tension.
Around 30–35 per cent said dog care frequently took time away from their partner, 25 per cent reported jealousy over their partner cuddling the dog, and 22 per cent said the dog intruded during shared activities.
The study also found dogs negatively affected sleep for 29 per cent of respondents and sexual intimacy for some couples, suggesting pets can sometimes disrupt the private time, physical closeness and undisturbed space that relationships need.
Psychologically comforting
For years, medical professionals advised against sleeping with pets due to the risk of bringing allergens and bacteria into the bed, but modern science has found it can bring psychological benefits.
Neurophysiologist Dr Nerina Ramlakhan explained that nodding off with a pet can actually improve your sleep.
‘Receiving unconditional love from your pet stimulates a powerful biochemical response in your body and you produce a hormone called oxytocin,’ she said.
‘This is the hormone a mother produces during childbirth, which deepens the mother-child connection, and we produce this same hormone when we receive this deep love from our pets.
‘Having them beside us at night calms, soothes and enables us to produce the sleep hormone melatonin, so we sleep more deeply.’
She added that certain types of dogs may be healing for people with mental health problems such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) whose sleep might be more fitful and agitated.
‘Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers are renowned for providing emotional support because they are loyal, intelligent and calm,’ she said.
‘In a study of war veterans, over half stated that their dog helped ease their nightmares and bring them better sleep.’
In 2015, Frontiers in Psychology published a systematic literature review on Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI) for trauma.
The findings demonstrated that the animals helped ease anxiety, reduce depression, and mitigate symptoms of post-traumatic stress, including comforting people with the condition when they awoke with night terrors.
For people who live alone, having a pet in bed with them can combat loneliness and help them sleep more soundly.
Routine-boosting
Anyone who has owned or cared for a cat or dog will know that they love a routine – and you often have no choice but to stick to it.
Maintaining a regular bedtime and wake-up schedule is one of the cornerstones of great sleep hygiene, and a 2020 study directly linked it to enjoying better health.
Going to sleep and, most importantly, waking up at the same time every day – even at weekends – helps anchor your body clock, and makes it easier to fall asleep, wake up refreshed and support long-term heart, metabolic and gut health.
And while you can easily snooze an alarm clock, it’s not so simple to fob off a whining dog or hungry cat come breakfast time.
…But is it good for our pets?
Cats and dogs are complex creatures – and just like humans, they can struggle with their mental health, with separation anxiety a common issue.
This is when a pet becomes highly stressed, panicked, or anxious when left completely alone or separated from their primary caregiver, and has the potential to become a serious behavioural issue.
In extreme cases, cats and dogs will destroy furniture, wail and howl and may even resort to self-harming behaviours such as gnawing at their skin, excessive licking or grooming or pull out their own fur.
The Dogs’ Trust warns that if your pet relies entirely on your presence to relax, co-sleeping can deepen their separation anxiety and it is worth making the effort to train them to sleep soundly in a crate or their own bed.
It’s also imperative to remember that pets should be given a choice about if they sleep with us or elsewhere… maybe they don’t actually want to spoon with you at all.
