People go to bed later and sleep less on nights before a full moon, study reveals
On the nights leading up to a full moon, people go to bed later and sleep for shorter periods of time, a new study reveals.
Sleep cycles generally change during the 29.5-day lunar cycle, as the moon gradually goes from being practically invisible new moon to a bright full moon and back again.
Nights leading up to the full moon resulted in less sleep and going to sleep later, the experts found, while nights leading to the new moon led to longer sleeps and going to bed earlier.
Okay, we know the effect the full moon has on werewolves, but what about cats and dogs?
There have been plenty of studies suggesting that pets get into more mischief and are injured more often when the moon is fullest, but is lunar activity the reason?
The study, authored by Raegan Wells, DVM, and her colleagues at Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said there seemed to be a correlation between an increase in emergency room visits for dogs and cats when there was a full moon.
The study, titled "Canine and feline emergency room visits and the lunar cycle,” appears in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The data, compiled from case histories of 11,940 dogs and cats treated at the university's Veterinary Medical Center, indicates that the risk of emergencies on fuller moon days was 23 percent greater in cats and 28 percent greater in dogs when compared with other days.
The types of emergencies ranged from cardiac arrest to epileptic seizures and trauma, and the increase was most pronounced during the moon's three fullest stages—waxing gibbous, full and waning gibbous.
"If you talk to any person, from kennel help, nurse, front-desk person to doctor, you frequently hear the comment on a busy night, 'Gee is it a full moon?'" said Wells. "There is the belief that things are busier on full-moon nights."
We realize that folklore alone does not make for good science, but the research indicates that this folklore may indeed be based in fact.
Modern studies have associated the full Moon with insanity, traffic accidents, increased aggression, unintentional poisonings and absenteeism, and the female menstrual cycle, but many of the studies are a mixed bag of results.
"While the results of our retrospective study indicate that there is an increased likelihood of emergency room visits on the days surrounding a full moon, it is difficult to interpret the clinical significance of these findings," Wells writes.
There has always been the belief that a full moon can effect people and animals causing them to act strangely. In fact, the word ‘Lunatic’ came about due to the belief that the Moon can make one mad.
We have a lot of cats, we have dogs as well, and regardless of what the opponents say, we see that our 4 legged family members are affected to some degree during the full moon.
Because we have some knowledge of ours own cats behavior, we know when things are different.
As a result we get a lot of questions from cat owners about their cats and the full moon!
“Can a full moon cause cats to act weird?,” “cat meowing more," “cat more crazy than usual during the full moon?,” “cat temperament changes around full moon,” “why are my cats more aggressive during a full moon?"
It's obvious people see something is different with their pets when the full moon is out.
So, we believe there is a full moon behavior having an effect on the feline's circadian rhythm, that is, physiological and metabolic processes that are based on a passage of time, change of season, tidal variations, gravitational cycles and amount of light or darkness. This variation in circadian rhythm presented by the completion of the lunar cycle to full moon, thereby leading to changes in night-time light and gravity, affects the behavior of felines.
It is not only felines that get affected, as the same variations of behavior associated with full moon affect dogs and even people in much the same way.
So, what does all this mean for pet owners?
"It serves as a good reminder to remain cognizant of your pet's environment and overall health status, and to avoid situations that would put them in harm's way," Wells said.
This advice includes keeping a closer eye on them near the full moon, when their likelihood of injury explicable peaks.
