Recent statistics indicate that more and more people are bringing pets into their lives.
From dogs and cats to birds and ferrets, we seem to love our little friends more and more with each passing decade.
But did you know your best pal may be encouraging you to sweat more at night? I should note that most studies related to this topic involve cats and dogs and I don't know if dogs with hair rather than fur, like poodles, were included.
Dander May Raise Your Internal Thermostat While it is obvious that people who suffer from specific animal allergies will have trouble sleeping with such an animal around, the fact is that all of us struggle a little more when we have a lot of animals around.
Even perfectly clean and healthy animals contain dander that act as an allergen.
Even if you are not allergic to that dander, your respiratory system still must work a little harder when working those foreign particles through your system.
This somewhat minor distress simply causes your system to work harder thus raising your core body temperature.
Extra Dirt and Dust For many people it may not be an issue if it were dander alone.
But a lot comes with our furry friends.
Cats require litter boxes and dogs require grooming.
Even if you keep it clean, a cat litter box contributes additional particles and toxins into the air.
And even Fido's brush may slowly emit dander into the air over time if you leave it near you while you sleep.
I am not in any way discouraging people from getting pets and I am definitely not saying you need to exclude them from your life.
I just encourage you take extra steps to maintain clean air in your sleeping environment.
Use a an air filtration device.
Vacuum more often.
Ventilate the room more with a cracked window.
You and Fluffy can live happily ever after - just put a little extra effort into keeping the air you breathe when you sleep nice and clean.