If my cat sounds upset in their sleep, are they having a nightmare?
Dear Readers,
It could be.
If we’ve watched a dog sleeping, it’s common to see them make paw twitches and facial expressions that indicate they are running after something in their dreams.
But cats do this so rarely I theorize that a creature which spends so much time in various levels of sleep needs to have a solid disconnect between their dream state and what their body is doing.
Dogs curl up on solid surfaces; cats are likely to nap on places, like bookcases and the backs of couches, where any enthused dream-acting could lead to a rude awakening.
more cat pictures
But I have also observed distressed vocalization in sleeping cats who I know have had a trauma they are getting over. So I think cats “work out” their troubles in dreams, just as a traumatic event leads to nightmares in humans. The switches which keep cats from acting out their dreams are apparently not as powerful when it comes to vocalization.
Many years ago, we lost James Bond for almost two months. The outside of the house was being painted, and all the windows were covered with plastic sheeting. While we were away from the house one afternoon, we had a sudden thunderstorm. The barometric pressure dropped, the windows were all sealed, and our apartment door was sucked open with such force that the lock tore out of the wood.
When James Bond, in full panic mode, reached the downstairs, those doors were open, too. He must not have stopped for at least a mile, because after much walking of the streets at dawn and advertisements in every outlet from cable access to posters all over the neighborhood, we finally got him back after he’d been hit by a car; far away from our house.
The lady who found him took him to the vet and asked around the neighborhood. When she discovered everyone thought he was someone else’s cat, she found my cable access ad, still running. (She got a huge bouquet of flowers from us!)
This was around the twentieth call I had gotten; every time before, it had not been James Bond. So I had no hopes when I took my lunch hour at the vet’s to check out the situation. They brought in a cat with a head the size of a cantaloupe, legs that didn’t work on one side, and one enormous fixed pupil. He extended a paw and I grasped it, exclaiming, “It’s Mr. Bond!”
It took over a year, but he made a full recovery.
However, during that year, his sleep was often disturbed by apparent nightmares that made him make anguished noises, especially if he was sleeping while an ambulance siren went by. He might have been hit by an ambulance; he might have been afraid of the way it tore through the night; he might have had general fears that were triggered by its wailing siren.
So I do think cats can have nightmares. Here’s how to help them:
Verbally reassure. When Mr. Bond would wail in his sleep, we would always call soothingly to him and remind him he was home.
We shouldn’t try to pet them now; they are still in the scary dream, and this could make them react with even more fright.
Anchor them. If they come awake and recognize us, we can place our hand in front of their nose. Scent connects to deep emotional centers in the brain, and lets them know where they are.
Rubbing their blanket with our scent (use the back of our neck and our hair) will help keep them oriented in sleep.
Support recovery. Whether we adopt a cat with an unknown past or see our cat through a crisis, we must remember that mental and physical recovery arrives at its own pace.
Digestive illnesses can mean our cat needs new food varieties; they won’t trust their old standbys for a while. A cat recovering from a fight will not have the same confidence during confrontation. A cat who had the bejabbers scared out of them will associate their fright with things around them at the time; whether it makes sense, or not.
We can’t do anything about the past. We can only remind the cat that, here in the present, they are loved, are getting what they need, and they can, slowly, forget.
As much as any of us can.
Because as awful as trauma is, it lingers in the memory as a learning experience. That is its purpose. So we shouldn’t be impatient or upset with our cat.
Maybe we have gotten over it; but they have not.
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It’s rare? Cleo often seems to dream of chasing mice when she falls asleep in my lap.
Of my 3 kids, Killsy and DJ sleep like babies (or at least kittens). They both came to my house after only 1 or 2 other inside-always foster houses.
Byron was abandoned by his mother in the woods at the age of 2 weeks, either because he’s deaf or part bobcat or both. At 2 weeks, he was not even old enough to eat on his own. I work in a liquor store, and the one time I took Kitten Byron into the beer cooler while I wrote an order, he began to shake uncontrollably in apparent fear. It’s dark and cold in here, I realized, just like the nights when he was all alone.
He’s the only one that clearly dreams. He’ll twitch his feet like he’s running, and sometimes make an unhappy noise. I’ve found that by holding my hand by his sleeping nose, and then very gently, slowly and gradually petting him, just lightly touching his fur, it calms him, and he awakens happy. “Oh, it was all a dream!” Maybe that’s just him.
He’s also the only cat–well, only any mammal–that I’ve seen who can sleep with his eyes wide open. Cats have that nictitating membrane that keeps their eyes lubricated, and which is why you can never win a staring contest with a cat! And, yes, dreaming’s called Rapid Eye Movement sleep for a reason. He once had an eyes-open REM dream, his eyes shooting around everywhere despite being in a deep sleep. It only ended after 5 minutes, when Killsy wondered why I was staring at him, and walked over and woke him up with a curious sniff. He made his “brriiIIP?” who-woke-me-up sound. My favorite dream sequence was when he opened his mouth really wide, chomped repeatedly on some imaginary food, then loudly licked his lips in pleasure. Maybe, in his dream, he’d landed a whole tuna!
..and as I typed this, he twitched his feet, shook his head, and awoke from a dream. And after reassuring himself that a dream is all it was, he’s back asleep.
mine, Duhban dreams a lot I think. I really know nothing about his history before I got him from a rural shelter but at times I know he dreams and like others have mentioned his vocalizations more then anything tell me it’s a nightmare.
I’ve found that if I have provided an arm he’ll wrap himself around that arm without even waking up.
I love this heartwarming story about how you got Mr. Bond back! I was on the edge of my seat reading this.
My cat actually does the paw-twitching thing in his sleep, just like the dog! I suspect that he is hunting birds in his fantasies. The main difference between them is the cat doesn’t snore
That is a great story about Mr. Bond. So glad you found him and that he got better. That is sure amazing that the doors were sucked open. Thank heavens he is OK even if he does have night mares.
Have a good week end Pammy.
.-= Marg´s last blog ..The Therapy cat =-.
My biggest cat, Bud, has nightmares. He snorts, and makes very strange growl-like sounds, and some that just have an “afraid” note, in his sleep. On cold nights when he’s beside me for the long haul, I’ve noticed this can be occur off and on all night.
We took him in as a stray so I don’t know his complete history and if it’s a cause of this.
I’m glad you found Mr. Bond!
Well that should have read “this can occur off and on all night”. Not my best editing!
I love this blog, BTW.
When cats dream their feet twitch and their mouths can show chin chatter like they are bird watching, movements so charming I want to say “feeties” instead of feet. CatMan, my friend and cat scientist showed my class on sleep a video and a printout of his oldest Tom’s sleep pattern, and there it was, the rapid eye movement, the brain activity, etc.
Our oldest girl-beast Sophie dreams a lot and also snorts when she does. She’s been an inside kitty as long as we’ve had her, but once as a kitten, she ran out of our house when a violent snowstorm blew open our back door. Thankfully, it was not as long or perilous a return as you describe with Mr. Bond! But for a long time afterward,her dreams went beyond twitches and chin chatter, into outright howls. Poor baby, we scooped her up into a soft baby blanket onto our bed, and that’s still her favorite place to sleep.
I’m fascinated by the range of behavior you are all describing. While my take on nightmares seems to be the same, my cat experiences regarding dreams has been rather different.
Of course, cats are all individuals, as are we humans. Once we start combining them, we will never run out of variations.
When our Nora was about 3 months old, she seemed to be actively dreaming about NURSING. Fortunately I had the camera nearby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__4HAinQhhw
But in general…
When I notice cats with their paws & whiskers twitching in sleep, it’s clear they’re dreaming of running – but whether it’s a good dream of chasing something (which I shouldn’t interrupt) or a bad dream of being chased (which I should), I can never tell. ..
My cat, Sky, dreams all the time and some of them are nightmares for sure. I don’t know how I can tell he’s having a nightmare but when I see one I know it is. The sounds he makes have an air of distress in them, different from the hunting dream for sure. He suffered a traumatic injury as a small kitten, probably after crawling into a car engine to keep warm one cold winter. He was found by an animal control officer frozen to the snow by his own blood. He lost his front leg, a toe from one back leg and the very tip of his long tail. Poor guy has a lot of fright to process. When he saw snow for the first time this year he got very concerned. He had a lot of anxiety last year but he seems to be a lot better now. Your blog helps me a lot to work through his issues with him. Thanks.
I’m so glad my blog helps. And he has such a lovely name; I’m sure he’s also a lovely cat!
My cat is on the last stages of life. He’s deaf, blind and has a slight case of artheritus in his legs. He was found stuck in a corner, unable to get up. He had excessive thirst, and his tongue was moist and white-ish around the back, sticking out of his mouth. We put him down, but he shows willing of wanting to walk, but he lacks the energy to stand unassisted. He -now lying on his mat- looks like he’s trying to run in his sleep. His legs are going, literally, like a horse. What could this mean? I’m really worried about him, but I know he’s going to go at the end of the month, if not sooner. Fred (My Cat) is a 15 year old. One of the oldest cats in my town, according to the vets. What should I do to make him have a nice, comforting and natural depart?
This article, about when to say goodbye, might help you.
a little while after my 2 other cats(el tigre and mittens) had to go because they had 4 babies and i couldnt keep 7 cats. this was still around the the time my other cat flash was looking for them thinking they were still there. he was sleeping in my lap and then his paw started twiching and he started to meow and then he just woke up as we would in those dreams were your falling.
My Cat is about 15 Years old Her name is blue, She is my best pal
and we do everything together. In the evening when I curl up to watch
TV she will curl up in lap and go sound to sleep. Now the past week
She has had terriffic dreams and jumped straight up in the air and
hit my face and dug deep scratches in my leg, This has happened
three times in the last week alone. I try to calm her and she calms
down fast. This is something she started lately and I don`t know
why. There is no upsets in our home We are an older couple and
everything seems Quiet. Has anyone ever had their cat do something
like this?
Try some of my tips in this article on senior cat care.
Wolfie has been having dreams that seem like nightmares for the last few days. I can’t really tell but we just moved into a significantly smaller apartment and he went from having 9 windows to 2. I can tell he doesn’t like the move so I wonder if that has anything to do with it. He also got a urinary tract infection a few months ago and has been on medicated food. Lots of change for him.
I came here looking for advice because not 5 minutes ago did my cat meow as if to say, “I’m scared!”
She was asleep on my chair, so I could only assume it was a nightmare.
Anyway, Thankyou for the brilliant advice. I am now sat here comforting my cat, Tiny.
Cheers, Dean.
First of all, I’m SO glad you got your baby boy back! It’s touching how much you did in order to find him – from one cat parent to another, kudos!
My cat Alexa had a horrific accident with an ironing board. She broke her little leg in two places and had to have a cast on for several months. I had to keep her in a cage – which, I admit, I was never far from.
She and I both had nightmares for months!
Even today, while she’s sleeping near me in our home office (she’s never far from her mommy – especially since the accident), she’ll awaken with a start and a meow – then run and jump on my desk.
Naturally, I drop everything I’m in the middle of and give her tons of rubbing and love. After she’s reassured, she’ll go back to her perch, watching birds in the yard or lie on my desk watching what I’m typing online…. it’s where she is now, actually, watching every word!
Thanks for a great article and congratulations again on getting your little guy back.
Omg I almost cried cuz of ur story I am glad u got him back and that he can sleep safely at home. I would do the same thing for my cats. But Midnight is my own kitty the others are family cats but it doesn’t matter ut midnight spends her sleeping hours or minutes with me and I like to watch her sleep it’s so cute because She gets a smile look on her face and I wonder what she is dreaming about.
One of my cats definitely dreams, but I never wondered if his dreams were nightmares until recently. He had gone to sleep in a favorite position — near my iMac and underneath the lamp (for maximum heat absorption, I suppose) — and then woke up hissing! Then he blinked and after a few moments where I asked him, like an idiot, if he was ok, he went back to sleep. At least he was able to go back to sleep faster than I am when I have a nightmare!
I don’t think this was trauma-related, because I’ve not seen this behavior before and haven’t again, but what you mentioned about trauma and processing makes a lot of sense. It wouldn’t surprise me that cats, like other sentient beings, would come to grips with life-altering events in dreams.
Having had kitties all my life, it’s still amazing what goes on behind those little jewel eyes of their’s in their sleep!!! So happy for you that you got your baby back!!!