Who are You Sleeping With?

By Tobi Schwartz-Cassell

Confession: I’m sleeping with someone besides my husband. And Stan’s okay with it because he’s sleeping with this guy, too. We’re sleeping with Fred. He’s our dog.

Once in a while, our cat Lucy joins us, too, but she normally sleeps with our daughter, Jardin.

As it turns out, we’re not the only family who welcomes pets in bed. The American Pet Products Association sponsored the 2013-2014 National Pet Owners Survey, and of the 527 dog owners surveyed, 42% said they allowed their dogs in bed. Of the 461 cat owners asked, 65% welcome their kitties in bed.

So I did my own little survey. I asked my Facebook friends if they let their pets sleep with them, and if they did, why. Here’s what I found out:

First to answer was my elementary school friend Dar, whose beagle Ella sleeps at the foot of her bed. “I’ve had pets my whole life and have always let them sleep with me. My parents used to find me sleeping with our Beagle Tippy during the night, curled up in Tippy’s bed.”

My networking friend Deb and her hubby sleep with their cat, Gadzooks. Like Dar, it all started back in Deb’s childhood, “Growing up, my dog and cat slept in our beds or on the couches with us, so I just always believed beds are for pets and humans to share.”

“We have two male cats,” says another networking friend, Staci. “Brody and Oreo. Brody is the diva. I call Oreo ‘Vlad’ because of his long fangs that hang over his lower lip. Plus, he bites. They both sleep in our beds. When my daughter is home from school, Oreo goes back and forth all night long between our two beds.”

Is anybody else relating to this?

Judy’s story (Judy is also an elementary school friend) is a little different because she has a bigger brood: four cats, all female (Darcy, Pumpkin Spice, Snow White, Black Beauty) and three dogs {Niles (male), Minka and Gigi (females)}. “Niles sleeps next to my back. When I move him to get more room, he gets mad. Gigi is under the covers next to me. She will get up in the middle of the night and walk around my head. Yes, it is annoying. Then Minka loves to sleep on the pillow next to mine. She is not annoying at all.”

Amy (a new friend, and the instructor for my Crafting Dinners) has a cat named Butternut. He sleeps at the foot of the bed on her husband’s side. “His presence impedes our sleep in the morning as he meows and sticks his wet nose in our faces. He also pounces on our kidneys.”

Fun.

Fred sleeps horizontally at the foot of my side of the bed. It’s a real pain because I can’t stretch my legs out. But do I move him? Not a chance. First off, he’s way too heavy. Second, I don’t want him to leave. Again, I am not alone…

“I have to contort myself at night so he can have the foot of the bed,” says Deb. “Often I sleep with my legs scissored around him.”

I got lots of different answers about why my FB Buds allow their pets to sleep in bed with them:

Dar: I’m just used to having Ella up against me, like a ‘security blanket,’ I guess.

Judy: They are my babies and demand to sleep with me.

Amy: If we didn’t allow him in our room, he’d scratch the door until we let him in.

Staci: They are fluffy, soft, cuddly, and love to be loved.

So who are YOU sleeping with? Do you allow your pets in bed with you? Why?  Please share with us by posting your comment below. Thanks!

With ♥,

PS: Here’s the answer to my Betty Crocker question from my last blog post, 50 Shades of Betty: My Strange Sophomore Sleepovers. It was B. That was the Betty who scared Carol and I. Thanks so much for your guesses!