You may share your bed with a human partner but you might want to reconsider. A study that was recently conducted on adult women’s quality of sleep showed some interesting results. Survey data was collected from 962 adult women living in the United States. 55% of these women shared their bed with at least one dog, 31% shared their bed with at least one cat. Additionally, 57% also shared their bed with a human partner.
Sleep Quality was Assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
There was a big difference in sleep quality for humans, dogs, and cats when it comes to sleeping partners in bed. People who slept alongside dogs showed to have the best quality of sleep of the 3.
“Compared with human bed partners, dogs who slept in the owner’s bed were perceived to disturb sleep less and were associated with stronger feelings of comfort and security. “
The study goes on to explain what it found about having a cat as your sleeping companion.
“Conversely, cats who slept in their owner’s bed were reported to be equally as disruptive as human partners, and were associated with weaker feelings of comfort and security than both human and dog bed partners.”
So if you have to choose between a cat and a human, you are more likely to sleep better with a human next to you than a cat!
The Study Examined a Rarely Explored Variant of Sleep
There are very few studies about the impact of pets in the bed at night. Plenty of studies have been done about having a human partner to snuggle up with at night though. The difference in bedtimes between cat and dog owners was also taken into consideration. It seems that dog owners are more likely to stick to a stricter sleep schedule.
“Dog owners had earlier bedtimes and wake times than individuals who had cats but no dogs.”
It’s time to turn the lights off on this post! I hope you enjoyed this interesting look at who makes the best sleeping partners. Do you have a pet that sleeps with you at night? Do they keep you awake or help you feel more rested? Let us know on Facebook by tagging us in your comment with @cuddleclones!
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