Nothing feels better than cuddling with your furry feline after a long day at work! As a cat parent, you surely find it hard to contain your happiness when your cat chooses to sleep next to you but it’s sad that the special bond you two have can come with health risking costs! Pets deserve all the love in the world, but we should also be aware of the babies and older family members as their immune systems might fail to fight against bacteria and Infections lurking from your feline’s fur or nails. Pet Barn would guide you through the cautions you need to consider when you let your cat sleep in your bed.
1.Sleep Discomforts
All cats share the same favorite hubby of sleeping most of the day but humans sleeping cycle is quite different. Cats can sleep for 15 hours but straight as they usually follow their heritage instinct of hunting at night which means your sleep can be interrupted by falling objects and scratches all over the place. Moreover, cats move a lot and like to stick their head under their owner’s neck while sleeping and as much as it looks lovely, it can be quite disturbing!
If you can’t handle snoring, sharing the bed with your cat might not seem like a nice idea as many cat parents suffer from endless felines snoring.
2.Transmitted Litter Box Debris
You might have a clear idea of how dirty litter boxes are! Cats can’t help but dig and bury their waste which means you’re left with debris of waste and litter stuck on your cat’s paws and nails making it easy to transmit to your bed and pillow. Also, when it comes to raising a pet, you need to keep lines and define the cat-free zones from the very first start.
3.Allergies and asthma
Did you know that up to 30 percent of people have some kind of allergic reaction to pets, especially dogs and cats? Experts say that allergies to cats are more common than it is to dogs. The thing is you might not know you’re allergic as you feel your nose running all the time, we know that the last thing you would wanna blame is your precious feline, but you can try to reduce the close interactions with your cat by preventing her from sleeping in your bed for example.
4.Not Safe For Young Children
Babies are vulnerable to almost everything at a young age and the chances of something going bad are endless. Cats love to be the center of attention and though the chances of cats hurting babies out of jealousy are low, cats might try to join the baby’s crib to get the same attention for example. Also, cat fur flying around the house can cause allergies in the asthma systems of little babies.
In general, cats are absolutely safe to keep around kids but not before they turn one.
5.Do you Really Wanna Risk Developing This Sleeping Habit!
As much it’s hard to let your cat get used to something, it’s even harder to let her stop doing it! Cats love habits and routines, especially regarding their sacred sleeping spot so, you can’t just wake up one day and decide you won’t let your cat share your bed anymore as the results will be no good. If you force it, your cat would express anger by scratching everything or leaving waste here and there. Instead, start slowly by turning your cat’s crib into an appealing place for sleep.
6.Parasites and fungal
Unless you’re keeping up a regular check-up for your cat, you don’t know what parasites are harboring your cat’s body! Though it’s hard for parasites to find the route to your cat if she is a home cat, you still need to consider the fleas that bite people and mites that cause a hellish rush in people.
As we mentioned; cat waste can be transmitted to the bed and this waste contains many parasites like roundworms and hookworms that also affect people when exposed to cat waste.
7.Don’t Forget About Bacteria
Cuddling with your cat all night is more than precious so, let’s blame it on the mean bacteria instead! Starting with the cat-scratch fever which can be deadly for people with a weak immune system! If your cat is infected, one bite or scratch is enough to transmit this disease. The symptoms start with swelling of the lymph nodes, fever, fatigue, and muscle soreness and come with future health consequences.
On the other hand, we have Salmonellosis but it’s not common among home cats as pets get it from eating raw birds and it’s one of the diseases transmitted by exposure to waste and causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach pain.
8.Protozoal infections
Infections like giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and toxoplasmosis are unlikely to be transmitted to cats in the first place but if your cat got infected, you can also get it from exposure to waste. You can avoid this by scheduling stable checkups with your vet.
Conclusion
Letting your cat sleep in your bed can empower the bond between you two but it can also come with risks if you didn’t take caution! Cats learn fast, you can start by letting your cat sleep in the same room but not on the bed before turning the bedroom into a cat-free zone. There are many ways to bond with your cats like the wool rolling game and many others! Pet Barn would love to hear about your favorite cat-parent bonding activity in the comments!
