If you’re a new cat owner and you’re wondering whether it’s okay to let your cat sleep with you in your bed at night – I’m going to cut to the chase and let you know that – 1. Yes, it is okay, and 2. I’m going to assume that the vast majority of (at least indoor) cat owners probably allow their cats to sleep with them at night.
Not only that, but most pet parents of indoor cats I know probably couldn’t even imagine why you might think it’s not okay to let your cat sleep with you in your bed.
Sure there are reasons you may want to keep a cat from sleeping with you – but these are exceptions, normally, and unless there is an obvious reason, it doesn’t really make sense to many of us to keep them away from a bedroom at night.
Actually, one of the nicest, most comforting feelings is falling asleep with a cat beside you, nestled sleeping by your legs, by your head, even curled up in a ball on your chest while falling asleep at night, and while not every cat will want to sleep nudged right by you, even falling asleep or waking up to a cat sleeping at the foot of your bed is incredibly comforting.
Going to bed is made so much more enticing when there’s a snuggle bug to cuddle up with, before, and during your time sleeping. And you may even find your kitty waiting for you at bed just before bedtime, getting ready for the best cuddle time ever.
Heck, a lot of cats even nag their pet parents around bedtime, letting them know it’s time to go to bed, because they’re so excited to head off to dreamland together.
Some of the reasons you might want to prevent your cat from sleeping with you include your cat meowing and crying all night leading you to not be able to sleep, or waking you up because your cat’s hyper (often called getting “zoomies”) out of the blue, and this leading you to not be able to get a good night’s sleep.
Some cats also get hyper and end up nibbling/biting their humans while they’re sleeping to wake ’em up for play time or attention. Or even something else, like to let them know they’re hungry.
But if you haven’t yet tried letting your cat into your bedroom at night, you have no idea if these things will happen, and while these problems are not uncommon, they do typically resolve themselves over time – especially if you adopted a kitten whose energy levels will calm as your cat ages.
In my opinion – if you want to let your cat sleep with you at night, you should! And if there are problems that crop up, easy enough – just figure out how to fix them, and handle whichever one crops up, if one even does!
I for one cannot imagine not letting my cats sleep with me at night.
And while my first cat, Avery, got hyper enough at night the first few months of being with us, after closing the door to my bedroom at night for even just a few months, letting him in every so often to test if he’d be calm did the trick and eventually he passed the test and never once disturbed us at night for play again.
Playing with him before bedtime also helped in that regard. He’d get tuckered out, then know it’s time for snuggles. It’s always so nice when they get in a rhythm with you and your rest time aligns.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. If you’re asking yourself this question and just want to know if it’s a green light for testing it out – go for it. And enjoy the snuggles – they are the absolute best!
