Dreams about neglected animals ... what are they all about?

Omfg. Every time I have a stressful time at work I dream that I open a cupboard and find my neglected hamsters in there. That I've forgotten about them and they're nearly dead. So it's not just me!

Aw OP the is so sad 😢.

I do think you should pursue the possible means of this and see if you can resolve the door cause in your life. I think that will end the dreams.

There have been periods of my life where for various reasons parts of my home haven't been accessible and are being used as spare room type places, even when we need to use them really. During these times I have all sorts of dreams about living in or moving to a home in which I discover that there is a big secret extra space somewhere. They are really frustrating because sometimes they are SO realistic and dream me spends loads of time and effort figuring out how to use them, and then I wake up 😑

These dreams resolve themselves when I get my butt into gear and sort my waking world space out.

I too have the car one but I'm pressing on the brakes and nothing is happening, the car just won't slow !

This is a recurring dream for me, along with driving a car and I can't reach the brakes. I think the pet one indicates that I'm stressed about having to do everything, remember to buy the shopping, pay the bills, make sure everyone has their needs met. The car one means I feel my life is out of control and I have feel I have no way to gain control.

I do this all the time. I have 2 cats, a horse and some hens in real life. All cared for incredibly well.

I often dream of different cats shut in cupboards and drawers, horses that are shut in stables not being fed that I have forgotten about, hens at my BTL house that haven’t been let out or fed.

Really realistic and distressing. I have emptied the wardrobe and drawers before checking for animals. Which is absolutely crackers (I have a diagnosis of parasomnia to be fair though).

The other one I have is about missing medication for my DD, I wake up having dreamt there is something (tablets) she is meant to have that I don’t give to her. To the extent that in the middle of the night I check the NHS app to see what her medications are (in real life she has inhalers and some sachets for constipation that she always has as required) because it is so real and I am so panicked and my heart is going like the clappers.

Horrid all round.

I've had the neglected pet dreams but never realized they were so common. I wonder if they are more common in women as I have only heard women talk about them.

The forgot to study for the exam dream seems to be more universal.

the animals are you. you might need to learn to love and care for yourself better.

I've had that a lot, as well, but even worse, I've often dreamed I'd had a baby, then put it in a closet (or similar) and forgotten about it, followed by panic and guilt when I remember. Whether it's a pet or a baby, they are always still impossibly alive, but the guilt and stress are awful. It's like the 'forgot to go to class all term and now it's exam time' dream on steroids!

I too have the same terrible dream from time to time, usually involving our childhood pet rabbits. In the dream I / we have forgotten about them all winter, they haven't been fed, have no straw, the hutch is full of poo. It is really distressing. I wake up thinking did it actually happen when I was a child ? i think it must stem from some kind of guilt.

I get dreams where my animal have had lots of babies and I've forgotten to feed them and some are dead.
It's usually hamsters and sometimes rabbits both of which I have had.
I get these dreams when generally anxious.

Oh, that makes sense. I had the "I've killed my pets!" dream umpteen times.

I've never had a pet. I was, however, my parents' carer and my husband's carer.

I dreamed I was frying up chopped up rats to eat not long ago 🤮

I have this about fish. In my dream I suddenly remember I moved house or went to stay with someone and left my fish in the tank behind.

If the dream goes on and I get back to try and save the fish, they are alive but in horrible conditions- an inch of cloudy green water.

I haven't had fish in over 20 years.

my mum and me have always had these dreams. Usually small animals. Guineapigs, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils. Just horrendous. But since I had reptiles I've started dreaming about dying lizards too . It's so upsetting

I dream of forgetting to feed and water to mixture of Guinea pigs and rabbits. Some are dead some just hanging in there. It’s horrible

Oh my, I have these sorts of dreams a lot, I find their poor dead bodies and realise I forgot to feed/water them. As an animal lover it's so distressing.

I have lots of dreams that I take my cat to some far flung places and he freaks out and runs away. It's always a nightmare and I get so panicky! I wonder what it means?

@minthybobs it's psychology rather than woo.

I have dreams where I'm trying to keep animals safe but somehow can't. So a hamster (or several) will be running free and I know there is a cat there and I feel terrible that I can't sort it out. I last had this type of dream about a week ago and decided it is something about vulnerability and feeling I'm not in control. In my case I think it relates to one of my DC who has some mental health issues.

I have lots of recurring dreams like this and I really hate them, so I sympathise. The animals in mine are always rodents, which I used to assume was because I have kept lots of different rodents over the years - but I’ve also had dogs, birds and fish too and I never have that kind of dream about them, so I think maybe it’s more because rodents are particularly tiny and vulnerable.

I think it just comes from the repressed fear most of us have of fucking up or being unable to handle a responsibility for something important. Or it’s a manifestation of something we feel guilty about, maybe - letting someone down or accidentally hurting someone or neglecting someone/something important. An anxiety dream, basically. It’s horrible, whatever it is!

Trying to keep animals caged/from escaping/running wild could be about trying and struggling to keep things under control and or feelings/emotions in check.

I have these too! Usually multiple gerbils I cannot house, or forgetting to feed a gerbil. Or their tank is filling with water, very disturbing

Mine are always finding my rats with multiple baby rats in various stages of development and wild all over my house. My rats are male and remain male in my dream.

I’ve had a similar dream to the post above about a small animal in a cage that’s falling apart! And trying to keep them in it so they can’t escape into the house. I wonder what it means.