Is it safe to sleep with your pets? About 80 percent of all pet owners admit they like to sleep with their pets. Despite the popularity of this practice physicians and veterinarians both claim this is not healthy for many reasons.
Physicians claim that this is a problem for human health because it has been proven that pets sleeping with their owners can transmit MRSA skin infection, or H1N1 virus for example.
It is more likely to contract a virus from sharing a bed with another human than with a well-cared-for pet. But there is evidence that you can contract illnesses from your pet by sharing the same bed.
Not exactly!
The CDC has set a report in 2011 "The risk of transmission of zoonotic agents [those transmitted from animal to human] by close contact between pets and their owners through bed sharing, kissing or licking is real and has been documented for life-threatening infections such as plague."
Some veterinarians also believe that allowing dogs to sleep on human beds is not a good thing, behaviorally speaking. Puppies that are more prone to issues with aggression may fully develop these behaviors when allowed to sleep with humans. Housebreaking may also be affected if beds take the place of crates, for example. That’s why bed-sharing should always be delayed until training is complete and social maturity is achieved, behaviorists suggest.
To reduce the health risks associated with bed-sharing and other close contact with a pet, the CDC recommends that pets have regular veterinary care. This should include keeping up to date with vaccinations, treating illnesses with medications, and using flea and tick preventives since often fleas and ticks carry bacteria and diseases that can also be transmitted to people.
