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I, myself do not have any pets, but when I stayed with my sister quite a while ago she had 2 cats and a dog and none of them bothered my cpap equipment at all and the bedroom door is open all day and my pap was on the floor next to the bed and the hose was drapped on the headboard and the mask on the bed and none of the pets got near it. I imagine if you have a cat that likes to scratch at things, it might have a tendency to poke holes in the hose. I read about a woman who just got a brand new machine and as she was unpacking it getting it set up, her cat poked a few holes in the brand new hose so she had to dr it up until she was able to get another hose. I bet she had a time of it training the cat to stay away. Take care and have a great day, Huggies, Fay................If you get a pet, it's better to place your equipment some place where the pet won't get to it until you get ready to use it at bedtime. Good luck

I have a pair of standard longhaired dachshunds who sleep with us. I set up my hose support and hose a couple of days before I got my machine. It didn't bother them at all and they've never touched it, except for the time my Shadow-goof used my hose (while I was wearing the mask and the machine was running) as an under-fur air conditioner. (He'd pulled the hose down and was lying on it. I woke up and wondered why, when I didn't have a hose heater on, the air was so hot!)

We then were adopted by a Beagle. The beagle is another story. The beagle has tried to turn my mask into a chew toy several times. She's torn up my chin support. We had to buy a metal gate to keep her out of the bedroom, and she sleeps in a crate at the foot of the bed because she can't be trusted. (She's sweet, but she can't be trusted.) I have to remember to put everything well up before I let her out of her crate, because she'll try to get at it. She's learning to be less... not less interested, but less likely to act on that interest, especially after my Shadow disciplined her for that interest. (It belongs to Missy! It's not yours!)

Difficulties with pets and CPAP basically depends on the temperament of the animal, and its training. You'll be well-trained, too, after almost losing a $150 mask...

As far as while I'm wearing and using the machine, none of the animals worries about that, not even the beagle, who gets let out of her crate every morning by my husband. Apparently, only when it's off is it a play toy.

Well, thanks to this thread I've found the answer to a puzzling situation. I have one lovely annoying beastie-cat, who spends at least part of each night in my bed. She has never tried to mess with my CPAP equipment (she rarely plays with anything) and I have a pretty thick homemade cover on my hose. A few days after returning from my vacation a couple of weeks ago my leak rate jumped from around 0.05 to a completely unacceptable 0.34. I messed with the mask, checked connections, looked at all the data and just could NOT figure out what was wrong. While reading this thread last night, it occurred to me that I hadn't checked the hose itself. I'm firmly in the don't-wash-this-stuff-too-often camp, and I'd thoroughly cleaned everything before my big trip, so I hadn't seen the hose recently. Could the beastie-cat have damaged it? Hmmmm...I took the hose cover off and found a tiny little hole in the hose. It is currently taped up while I wait for a new hose to be delivered. To be fair, the hole is right next to the connector, and I don't think the cat had anything to do with it. I think it was damaged during the big vacation. Still, the mystery was solved by reading this thread! Thanks, y'all!

The CPAP will be a normal thing for the dog to explore, just like everything else in its new environment. As with everything else; it could totally ignore it, sniff it, or start chewing on it. If the dog chews on it, hopefully it will be a $10 hose and not a $200 mask.

I have had several cats while I have been on CPAP, the worst that happened was that a kitten put some tiny claw holes in a hose. I used the holy hose for several months until the kitty was no longer a kitten.

torontoCPAPguy wrote:

Jaylee wrote:

torontoCPAPguy wrote: Friends had a dog. Real story. Get any food you have out of your mouth. They had a German Sheppard that ruled the roost. Chewed whatever it wanted. He was in law enforcement supply and the dog chewed every leather holster that came home for inspection and playing with. Nothing would stop it. One day his pager went off on the coffee table and the stupid dog ate the pager. And it was one of the wee Motorolas, built like a tank. Every time the pager went off you could hear it inside the dog until a couple of days later when it was in the back yard.... they actually brought the thing in for exchange. Geez.

Hey, CPapGuy, I actually read an entire post by you. Do I get a cookie for that?

Jaylee. No cookies for you! (Or is that supposed to be 'no soup for you'). I miss Seinfeld. You do, however, get the Toronto Literacy Prize for braveness is reading and digesting quality posts and literature (literature comes later). More posts to follow so you can continue to practice

I'm thrilled.

I am thinking about geting a dog but wonder what the odds are a dog will bother my mask
and or tubing. Any advice on preventing this from happening?

hi there,
Are you a dog person? Have you had a lot of dogs before? Are you home during the day? Will the dog have a companion?
Are you experienced at training a dog?

If you get a puppy, you will have your hands full, and you can bet it will get into all sorts of things, but you can train a puppy if you
have a lot of patience to be a perfect little friend who wont bother your cpap.

I have three dobermans and a cat, they all get on the bed at different times, no problems, but the first thing I teach them is the term..
"excuse me" so they know what space is mine, and they move when I say it.. and the term.. "MINE" which means, its for me, dont touch it,
its out of bounds for YOU DOG..
So when I got my apap, I just showed it to them, and said.. MINE! and that was it.
Also, during the day, I have it all covered with a scarf, so kitty isnt interested.
So, yes, pets and cpaps mix just fine! Hope you find a nice doggy!

I have a cat she could care less about the hoses and strange noises coming from me every night. When I go to bed she crawls up on my chest and lies there nose to hose for a few moments then goes to lie on the bed next to me. It is almost as if she were checking to make sure it is me under all that stuff.
Never has she bothered an of the equipment.

Laura

I have 5 cats, 1 pommie,1 5-month old puppy who comes to visits. None of them bother my cpap. They are very thrilled that I have stopped sounding like a mack truck!

I have a "Throw Away" Dog, (a rescue, our last 3 dogs have been) none of them have even paid any attention to any of my machines.

I had to train my cat to stay off my bed because he has fine fur that gets behind the mask cushion. Not only does it feel awful but I didn't want to breathe dirt. He pouted for a while but now knows to stay away from my bed.