Is It Bad to Sleep With Your Pet? 7 Things Science Says

One of our three cats sleeps on our bed every night. Well, technically he sleeps on my wife, Sara, but he’s definitely in the bed.

We’re not weird. Roughly half of American pet owners share a bed with their dog or cat, depending on which survey you trust.

But is it actually a good idea?

The science here turned out to be more interesting than I expected. Some of it makes a real case for kicking Fido to a dog bed. Some of it says cuddling up might do good for your body and your brain.

Here’s what the research says — both the good news and the parts nobody on Instagram is talking about.

1. It’s common

Americans own roughly 87 million dogs and 76 million cats, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s 2025 pet ownership data. And a large chunk of those animals aren’t sleeping on the floor.

A 2024 study published in Scientific Reports surveyed 1,591 U.S. adults and found that 47.6% of pet owners co-sleep with their pets. Other research from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine puts the figure closer to 46%.

Translation: This isn’t some fringe behavior.

So if you’ve been secretly assuming your habit was a little weird, relax. You’ve got company. Lots of it.

2. The biggest recent study found measurably worse sleep

That same 2024 Scientific Reports paper is the one that gave me pause.

Researchers found that people who co-slept with pets reported poorer sleep quality and more severe insomnia symptoms than people who didn’t. The effect held up even after accounting for age, income, and other demographic differences.

This wasn’t a small study. It was nationally representative, with nearly 1,600 participants. That makes it harder to wave off.

The takeaway isn’t that everyone who sleeps with a pet is ruining their health. It’s that on average, the data tilts in one direction — and it isn’t the direction most pet owners assume.

3. But people who do it overwhelmingly think it helps

Here’s where things get strange.

In an earlier Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine study, 41% of patients said their pets were either beneficial or unobtrusive in bed. Only one in five called them disruptive.

And in the 2024 Scientific Reports study, roughly 60% of co-sleepers said they believed sharing a bed with their pet had a positive effect on their sleep — even as their scores on clinical sleep surveys said otherwise.

So which is it? Probably both. Your subjective experience of comfort is real. The data on how much you’re tossing and turning is also real. They just don’t always agree.

If your pet makes you feel safer and you wake up rested, fine. If you wake up tired and don’t know why, this is a variable worth testing.

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4. The mental health benefits aren’t hype

Sleeping next to a pet does things to your nervous system.

Research cited by the National Institutes of Health links pet interaction with lower blood pressure, lower cortisol levels, and reduced feelings of loneliness. Touching a warm, breathing animal triggers oxytocin release — the same chemical that fires when humans hug each other.

For people who live alone, who’ve lost a partner, or who deal with chronic anxiety, that’s not a small benefit. It’s a real one.

Worth noting: My piece on the surprising ways your dog or cat could save you money covers this from another angle — the healthcare savings that come with the cardiovascular benefits of pet ownership.

So when researchers measure and analyze sleep patterns, they may be missing something the participants can feel but wearable devices can’t.

5. The hygiene risks are real, but usually overblown

Now for the part nobody wants to think about while their cat is purring on their chest.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has flagged risks tied to sharing a bed with pets. Scratches from a cat carrying infected fleas can transmit cat scratch disease, and the fleas themselves can, in rare cases, transmit plague.

Before you panic: Most of these risks are small for healthy adults whose pets are on regular flea and parasite prevention. The Animal Medical Center notes that solid preventive care makes co-sleeping much safer.

But the risks aren’t zero. And they’re meaningfully higher for young children, the elderly, and anyone with a weakened immune system. If that’s your household, the risk changes.

6. Allergies and dander mess with sleep more than people realize

Pet dander is one of the most common indoor allergens in the United States. And it doesn’t politely stay outside the bedroom.

The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reports that as many as three in 10 people with allergies have allergic reactions to cats and dogs. Even mild dander exposure can drive sneezing, congestion, itchy eyes, and asthma flares — all of which fragment sleep without you realizing it.

So you might think your dog is just keeping you warm. Your immune system might be losing its mind under the covers.

If you have a stuffy nose every morning that clears up by lunchtime, your bed partner might be the reason.

7. Dogs and cats aren’t the same

The 2024 study had one finding that surprised me more than the rest.

When researchers broke the data down by pet type, the negative effect on sleep was driven entirely by dog owners. Cat owners showed no hit to sleep quality. (Although Sara might disagree when Jagger uses her face as a pillow.)

The likely reason: Dogs move more, weigh more, and tend to sync their sleep-wake cycle with their humans — which means when they shift, you shift. Cats are smaller, lighter, and largely indifferent to your circadian rhythm.

A separate 2023 study covered by Fortune found that dog owners were more likely to have a diagnosed sleep disorder than non-pet owners, while cat owners showed different patterns — including more leg jerks at night, possibly because cats are most active when humans are trying to sleep.

The species matters. Curious about the broader cost differences between the two? Money Talks News broke down cats versus dogs in dollar terms — worth a read if you’re still picking a pet.

The bottom line

If you sleep with your pet and wake up rested, you’re probably fine. The companionship and stress-reduction benefits are real, and the sleep disruption may be smaller than the comfort upside for you personally.

But if you wake up tired and don’t know why — if you’re sneezing every morning or if your dog is a 70-pound mover who shifts the mattress every two hours — your pet might be the variable to test.

Try one week with your pet on a separate bed in the same room. See what changes. The data won’t tell you what to do. It can only tell you what to check. And if your sleep issues turn out to have nothing to do with the dog, you might want to look at a handful of sleep tricks that actually work before you try anything more drastic.

The rest is between you and your best friend.