# How do our pets not suffocate under blankets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600 "2013-03-22T01:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600/21 "2013-03-22T22:20:58Z")
Must be a tolerance thing. I’m in the southern part of Texas where most nights I’m too warm, not cold. I never realized so many people burrowed too! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600/22 "2013-03-22T22:31:21Z")
> [@MoodIndigo1](#): > > I sleep with the sheet, a wool Hudson’s Bay blanket and a comforter over my head. I breathe fine. My cats, on the other hand, don’t like to be under the blankets. The three females love to burrow. The male can’t stand it. Pixel will head down around my feet. Havoc will stretch along my belly, and Brindle will curl up under my chin. They don’t pick on the wife until I get up to head off to school. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600/23 "2013-03-22T22:41:35Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > This, IMO, pretty much sums it up. > > The feeling of suffocation comes from a buildup of CO2 rather than a lack of oxygen. That would make sense, if it’s been established that CO2 will actually build up under an ordinary blanket. Does anyone have a cite for that? ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600/24 "2013-03-26T21:35:58Z")
No cites, sorry. Just theory pending testing and the scientific method. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600/25 "2013-03-26T22:14:18Z")
> [@MoodIndigo1](#): > > I sleep with the sheet, a wool Hudson’s Bay blanket and a comforter over my head. I breathe fine. My cats, on the other hand, don’t like to be under the blankets. I felt my blood CO2 levels rise just reading that … :eek: \< ---- _gasping for breath_ ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600/26 "2013-03-28T21:13:56Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I sleep with my head and nose under the covers frequently, there is plenty of air. It’s sort of a humidifier too, keeps my nasal passages and throat from drying out in the winter as much. I do this, but only when I have a cold or sore throat, and for exactly this reason. Generally, I have sore throats mostly in winter, when the air is dry dry dry, and I imagine that keeping my nose under the covers irritates my throat less because the air is more humid. Doesn’t stop me from hating it, though - I’d much rather leave my nose out of the covers. Which is why I only sleep with a covered nose when I’m sick. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600/27 "2013-03-30T18:13:59Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > My husband likes to sleep with a blanket over his face and our daughter somehow inherited this tendency. It drives me CRAZY, worrying about her smothering under there. Good to hear that many critters do it regularly and survive. My mother always used to tell not to sleep with a sheet/blanket over my head because I might suffocate in my sleep, but I’ve been doing it for 25+ years now and it has yet to prove fatal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-our-pets-not-suffocate-under-blankets/653600.md?page=1)