Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Can cats have nightmares?

1 reply

ImInStealthMode · 20/06/2022 16:49

Looking for reassurance that this may not necessarily be anything sinister.

Our 12 year old cat was happily sleeping at the foot of our bed last night when about 5am he suddenly starting thrashing around in an absolute frenzy; so much so that he woke us both up and managed to roll himself clean off the end of the bed.

As soon as he hit the floor he stopped thrashing and darted straight to his 'safe space' under the bed where he remained until DH got up at 6.30am; then back to the usual following him to the kitchen for breakfast as if nothing had happened.

Could this have been a nightmare? I'd have thought that if it were something medical like a seizure that hitting the floor wouldn't have necessarily have shaken him straight out of it like that?

Anyone experienced anything similar? He's never done anything like this before but is a jumpy old soul at the best of times. Obviously we'll keep a close eye on him and anything seems out of the ordinary in behaviour / appetite / toileting etc or if it happens again we'll take him straight to the vet, I just don't want to jump the gun if it was a one-off.

TIA

OP posts:
JoanOgden · 20/06/2022 18:33

Yes, I think so. Sometimes mine wakes up suddenly with a start and a cry, and needs a snuggle until she calms down again. After all, we know cats can dream, so they can presumably have bad dreams...?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page