Once he crawled into a pillowcase to sleep and when I picked up the pillow he plunked out onto the floor. Poor Pooh.
Sleeping with pets is usually not the best idea. I’ve done it, I do it. Not much now because I learned my lesson. The list will explain.
But a recent study has revealed, yet again, that sleeping with pets can bring home parasites and health issues. See links below for the MSN story or the Google results link for search “sleeping with pets” .
Let’s build a list of why we do not want to sleep with our pet skunks. I have about eleven….. seventeen…. twenty reasons to begin. Add your reasons through the comments. I will moderate, of course, but am hoping I did not actually or nearly experience all the reasons we don’t want to sleep with our pets skunks.
It’s not like we are sleeping with a pet boa constrictor. Yes! I overheard a story in a coffee shop of a lady who asked why her pet boa constrictor was not sleeping in a roll in her bed, like it used to when younger. Now it was sleeping stretched out beside her. Because it was measuring her! To see if it could handle her for a meal. Or was she too large and it had more growing to do.
Reasons sleeping with pets – SKUNKS here – is a bad idea
- You could squish your skunk.
- You could suffocate your skunk.
- If you wake up and think you have suffocated or squished your skunk, your heart could stop.
- Your skunk could wake up — not recognizing where it is or who you are — and it could tear your lip off.
- When sleeping with pet anything this could happen, but….. your skunk could bite you in the jugular vein.
- If you roll over on your pet skunk, it could bite you in the arse.
- If you throw your leg over your pet skunk, it could bite your family jewels.
- Given a chance to bite, when your guard is down, could cost your pet skunk its life, as legally it must be killed and checked for rabies. Has to be said.
- The pet skunk could decide the bed is theirs and their wild instinct takes over. So, needing to leave their skunk scent for protection for all of you, could sheeet in the bed during the day, even on your pillow, thus loosing the privilege to a stairway up to the mattress. Then the pet skunk could decide to begin sheeeting beneath the bed out of spite. Think. We are talking about pet skunks and oh, yes, they would.
Our Jeronimo in his own soft heavenly bed behind the door in the bathroom.
- Having lost the stairway you placed at the bedside so they could walk up the steps, the pet skunk could climb the side of the quilt to sheeet in the bed anyway, thus the climb distressing the material before its time. Not to mention, by now your bed is in need of new everything.
- If your pet skunk has to sheeet (pooey from here out) but cannot wake you to help it down from the bed, it could jump off and break an elbow.
- If it needs down for the litter box, it might instead decide not to get out of bed and just pooey over the side of the bed.
- If the pet skunk pooeys over the side of the bed, you could step in pooey clumps that land on the floor.
- Your pet skunk could decide not to even get out from under the covers and to to the foot of the bed to pooey in the sheet pocket ….. which you may not find for a week or worse. augh
- When sleeping with pets, if you snore, you could scare your pet skunk to death and they will poof and stomp you.
- Your cat might catch a mouse for you and let it loose in your bed, thus a bloodbath to clean up.
- Your pet skunk does not shed, but they might puke, though at least not a hairball or a mouse.
- Your skunk might groom your hair and you wake up with bald spots.
- Your skunk might crawl underneath your nightgown to snuggle parts of you that you would rather it did not snuggle.
- Your skunk could decide to try to groom those parts — saying ‘try’ because that activity wouldn’t last long.
Okay – I have a history of sleeping with pets.
Skunks mostly. And like I said, it all has either happened to me, almost happened, could have happened or at least occurred to me that it could escalate to the next level.
Share your stories. Will be fun. This list will be on here for years, so if you pop in in 2020, add to the list. If I have not updated in a few years, I probably died, but other than that little issue, I do get busy and do not stop back as often as I would like.
As far as sleeping with pets now. The dog is 145-pounds of Newfoundland and I have a queen size bed. I want my space but he likes to sleep with his legs stretched out in front of him. So we haven’t tried that. Besides, Danny Boy is too furry.
If I sleep with a pet skunk, I wrap them in a soft baby blankie or tuck them into a tee shirt and hold them against my chest. This way, I know if they are trying to get down, I feel the wriggling and they cannot get out of the snuggle pocket I make. This keeps them safe and in place. When they are ready to get down, I can lower them to the floor with the blanket or tee shirt and they are allowed down to go to their litter box, in case that is why they are tired of me and it’s not my snoring keeping them awake.
But sleeping with pets like skunks is tricky. The part of getting bit in the jugular or the face being torn off, that could still happen, so they need held away from the neck and face, down by the chest. Still, I am concerned I could suffocate them while I am sleeping, so I almost never do this. Only if I know I will be getting up to go to the bathroom or with an alarm in a few minutes. Or if Hubby is sitting beside me on the sofa watching television.
Here is the “Sleeping with pets” article on MSN.
There are also videos and articles on CBS and ABC and PetMD. Bottomline for the study, a healthy pet is a healthy bedfellow. But the reasons above still come into play for everyone’s safety when it comes to sleeping with pets like skunks.
Pet Skunks for Sale 
Posted on October 12, 2012