When talking about sleep, everything can be disruptive. From noises outside, to a leaky faucet, to your neighbors being particularly loud during their nightly round of love making, anything can stop you from getting a good night sleep. However, according to scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, pets are actually helpful to a good night sleep.
- Nine in ten pet owners surveyed consider their animal a member of the family
- Over 60% of American households own a dog or a cat
- More than half of all pet owners admit to talking to their speechless companion
- Over 80% of dog and cat owners claim that their animals can feel their mood
- Americans spend over $5 billion dollars each year on presents for their pets
The researchers led by Dr. Lois Krahn of the Center for Sleep Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona surveyed 150 people in order to study the impact of a sleeping pet on their owners’ own sleep.
The results were surprising, as most of the participants claimed to not be bothered at all by their sleeping furry companion, and with some even reporting feelings of security, relaxation and contentedness.
Since pet numbers are at the highest they’ve been in the past few decades, and millions of Americans continue to suffer from insomnia, the researchers decided to verify the relationship between the two.
Out of the 150 subjects, 31 had more than one animal, while 74 of them had at least one.
It was revealed that over half of the surveyed participants, 56% to be more exact, allowed their pets to sleep in the bedroom or on the bed with them, and only 20% of the subjects claimed their sleep to be disrupted by the presence of the animal.
Meanwhile, 41% of the participants had no issues with the pet sleeping in the room with them, some even claiming that it helped.
Most of the participants reported feeling safe and comforted by the presence of their pets, while the minority was bothered by various sounds the pets would make during the night, such as snoring, whimpering, barking, shuffling, or squawking.
The majority of the participants who reported getting aid from the presence of their pets were either single, or their partners travelled a lot.
The results are quite obvious.
People appreciate the company of their pets when they are sleeping due to an increased sense of security and companionship, while the ones who don’t do so because they have trouble sleeping, and the movements and noises produced by the pets are bothersome.
Image source: Flickr
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