CPAP and Pets: How to Share the Bed Safely With Your Animal Friends

By Admin

For many people, pets are not only a member of the family, but a life companion. Our animal friends join us in nearly every home activity, from eating to playing to sleeping. But when it comes to sharing the bed with an animal, it is important to make sure you’re not compromising your own sleep health for the benefit of a pampered pet. And if you use a CPAP device, this is especially important. There are sanitation issues to consider, and animals can bump into hoses or cause additional arousals in the night, reducing a device’s effectiveness. Sleep positions can also be important for avoiding apnea events, and a larger animal can sometimes limit your freedom of movement. This doesn’t mean you have to kick your best friend out of bed, but it’s a good idea to be proactive about these potential problems. Sleep health depends on a number of factors such as a supportive bedroom environment, consistent nightly routines, and a healthy lifestyle. Many pet owners report positive associations with pets in the bed, citing health benefits such as motivation and security as well as the emotional experience of having an animal companion. Pet ownership has been on the rise since at least the turn of the 21st century in the United States, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sleep disorders have been as well. In fact, even our pets can sometimes have the disorder, requiring special attention to their own particular sleep needs and behaviors. In order to balance these two aspects of our lives and maintain optimal health for both our pets and ourselves, we should be extremely diligent about our sleep needs and keep our beds as clean and sanitary as possible. While this may require work (a lot of hair to deal with in some cases), it is an extremely important issue that gets little to no attention in current health media publications.

The Pros and Cons of Having Pets in the Bedroom

People allow their pets to sleep in their beds for a lot of reasons. Clearly, there are emotional benefits to sharing a bed with a furry animal that responds to human affections almost unconditionally. Pet owners often feel an emotional bond with their animals, giving them comfort, calmness, and in some cases, less reason to feel lonely or depressed. But there are other benefits as well. Animals have excellent hearing and partial night vision, allowing them to detect potential dangers in the night. Dogs (and cats in some cases) can protect their owners from potential intruders. All of these benefits can help pet owners rest easier and achieve higher quality sleep. In studies on pet-owner relationships, people report lower stress and anxiety levels when their pets are nearby. Another role of the house pet, often overlooked, is the potential for animals to motivate their owners and help them keep a regular schedule in and around the home. Animals catch on to routines quickly, especially for sleep, meals, and exercise. For people with sleep issues, this can be extremely important, and much more helpful than alarms or apps, as a pet will often nag its owner until it gets what it wants.

For further benefits, there is also the option of trained service animals. Service animals have become very popular, especially for therapeutic purposes. Studies have found service dogs to be useful in the treatment of sleep disorders, including sleep apnea. Dogs can be trained to wake patients by nudging or pawing them when an apnea event occurs, or when a CPAP mask slips off. Training can also focus on sleep walking, sleep-related movement disorders like restless leg syndrome (RLS) or nightmares.

On the other hand, animals can wake their owners for any number of reasons. Given their heightened senses and responsiveness, they may wake or move when hearing other animals outside, passing cars, or any other sound in the night. And according to some research, sleep problems can arise from mismatches in human/pet body temperatures or different sleep-wake cycles. Just as some people can have compatibility problems when sharing a bed, some people-pet combinations may not be the best matches either. And if more than one pet is sharing a bed, the potential for sleep disruption is greater, affecting both hygiene and sleep hygiene if cleanliness and boundaries are not taken seriously.

Keeping Equipment Safe and Sanitary

Cleanliness is always important with pets, but particularly in the bedroom setting, and especially if you use CPAP. When we sleep, we breathe deeply, with or without equipment, and any hair, dander, or debris from animals can affect respiratory health. Keeping the pet, the bed (as well as the bedroom), and any equipment clean should be a consistent part of your daily or weekly routines. Sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, bed changes, and pet washing and grooming (including feet) should be done consistently and often. In addition, air purifiers with efficiency-standard HEPA filters can be used to eliminate particulate matter in the air. CPAP company ResMed offers a great list of tips for keeping pets in the bedroom environment. According to ResMed, the best thing you can do to keep you and your pet’s sleeping arrangement safe and healthy is to take an “honest look” at how your current setup is working. Here is a summary of ResMed’s 7 tips for sleeping with pets:

1. Keep your pets healthy to keep you healthy – Ensuring pet health is important for keeping yourself healthy. Regular baths, quality food, and vet checkups keep pets in good health and free of parasites or other critters that can invade the bedroom.

2. Keep PAP equipment in a safe place – Pets can get into things and chew on hoses or masks. It’s your responsibility to protect these items and keep them clean and sanitized.

3. Purifiers and filters – these systems can protect you from hair, dander, and debris. Make sure to replace filters when necessary at minimum, and consider a purifier for the bedroom or other rooms as well.

4. Space and boundaries – Make sure to establish boundaries in the bed and bedroom, especially when using CPAP. ResMed recommends trying to give pets their own beds near you, rather than allowing them in yours, but even if you want to sleep with your pet, there should be some form of boundary to abide by. Even the neediest animals can be trained in time.

5. Get some exercise for you and your pet – Exercise = better health. The more you can stay active and keep your pet active during the day, the better the sleep experience will be.

6. Bedtime routines – Make meals, walks, and bedtimes part of a consistent routine. This will help with your sleep as well as your pet’s, and makes for an easier, healthier lifestyle.

7. Talk to a professional – Anyone with a sleep disorder should talk with a healthcare professional about sleep arrangements and bedtime routines. A healthy professional can assess your situation and help find solutions to any potential problems.

These tips are especially significant during the current pandemic. In an era of Covid, you should pay more attention to your pets and anyone (or anything) they may come in contact with. With a lot of attention focused on day-to-day activities, it is not always obvious how pets may be affecting your sleep environment. Talking to a health expert is the best way to make sure you have everything covered for optimal sleeping. In most cases, the pet will be just fine in the bed, as long as it’s clean, healthy, and well behaved.