# Cats and dreaming **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578 "2015-01-22T15:37:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/1 "2015-01-22T15:37:01Z")
We used to watch our cats when they were asleep; sometimes they would make motions suggesting they were running (somnambulism). But we wondered: Was the cat dreaming that he/she was running? We couldn’t account for the body movements any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/2 "2015-01-22T15:40:12Z")
They have to be dreaming. I have a cat the meows in his sleep. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/3 "2015-01-22T16:53:18Z")
How would we know? It sure looks like dreaming to us, but we have no way to know what the cat or dog is experiencing when they are asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/4 "2015-01-22T17:32:50Z")
Why wouldn’t it be dreaming? Cat’s are smart enough to get a free ride and sleep 90% of the day. Surely they must be dreaming of ways to get even more out of us. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/5 "2015-01-22T17:43:35Z")
You can be sure that some scientist will have studied this, and MIT is probably the most likely place: They did it on rats, but all animals have the same brain patterns. > [@](#): > > In research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) rats have been shown to dream about previously running a maze (see also) and researchers have also discovered that they have complex dreams. To quote from an account of this research, the “rats were hooked up to a device that measured the pattern of neurons firing in the hippocampus, an area of the brain known to be involved in memory. The scientists had the rats perform specific tasks in a maze which produced very distinctive brain patterns. When they repeatedly saw almost exactly the same patterns reproduced during sleep, they concluded the rats were dreaming about running through the maze. The correlation was so great that scientists said they could place where in the maze the rat was dreaming it was — and even if it was dreaming of running or walking.” > **[Do Animals Dream? Science Shows Of Course They Do, Rats Too](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/animal-emotions/201212/do-animals-dream-science-shows-course-they-do-rats-too)** > > If we dream it's very likely that other animals also do and science is showing this is so. Rats, for example, dream about a maze they previously ran through, and it's likely that dogs and many other animals are also dreaming about past events and... ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/6 "2015-01-22T18:10:13Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > You can be sure that some scientist will have studied this, and MIT is probably the most likely place: They did it on rats, but all animals have the same brain patterns. > [Do Animals Dream? Science Shows Of Course They Do, Rats Too | Psychology Today](http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201212/do-animals-dream-science-shows-course-they-do-rats-too) Well, if **rats** can do it… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Toastmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Toastmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toastmaker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/7 "2015-01-22T18:46:56Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > How would we know? It sure looks like dreaming to us, but we have no way to know what the cat or dog is experiencing when they are asleep. I think this is most likely true. I’ve owned multiple cats most of my life and watched them a lot. The movements and twitching I see in their sleep look a lot like random, autonomous nerve activity. Caused by unconscious dreams ? - maybe, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/8 "2015-01-22T19:00:14Z")
Cat’s dream = yes Dogs dream = yes I would think that most mammals dream. Sharks, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Toastmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Toastmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toastmaker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/9 "2015-01-22T19:18:52Z")
How do you know this ? I know of no scientific proof that any animals have dreams, like humans do. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/10 "2015-01-22T19:27:12Z")
> [@Toastmaker](#): > > How do you know this ? I know of no scientific proof that any animals have dreams, like humans do. [Here’s some good reading on the subect.](http://www.petsadviser.com/behaviors/what-do-cats-dream-about/) [QUOTE=Pet adiser] Cats sleep roughly 16-18 hours a day. Like humans, they experience Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. The REM stage is where most dreaming occurs, although some does happen in the non-REM stage as well. The non-REM dreams are more fragmentary and less visual. With kittens, such as the little guy in the video, the amount of “dream” or REM sleep will decrease as they mature. So will a lot of the muscle-twitching that goes along with it. Feline dreams don’t differ all that much from ours, according to Matthew Wilson, an associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. They, too, dream about the stuff of their day-to-day lives — playing, stalking prey, etc. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/11 "2015-01-22T20:19:42Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > [Here’s some good reading on the subect.](http://www.petsadviser.com/behaviors/what-do-cats-dream-about/) And with Archie, it probably included musing on what to do about all those silly humans (and that dumb dog) living in his house, and how to get at those guppies in the tank on the mantelpiece. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/12 "2015-01-22T22:01:19Z")
> [@Toastmaker](#): > > How do you know this ? I know of no scientific proof that any animals have dreams, like humans do. Also, see post #5 ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/13 "2015-01-22T22:06:39Z")
Look out when a [1000 cats all have the same dream](http://thehoosh.tumblr.com/post/783668820/sandman-a-dream-of-a-thousand-cats) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/14 "2015-01-23T00:02:03Z")
They dream of stalking and pouncing. If you destroy the portion of the brain that paralyzes animals while they sleep, the animal will act out their dream; and that’s what cats do. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/15 "2015-01-23T00:40:45Z")
My black lab loved to swim in our pool-I even taught him to swim underwater. I’d often see him when asleep, his legs moving rhythmically in the slow cadence that he’d use when in the pool. ---
**Author:** ![Willcross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Willcross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willcross)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/16 "2015-01-23T06:26:15Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > They dream of stalking and pouncing. If you destroy the portion of the brain that paralyzes animals while they sleep, the animal will act out their dream; and that’s what cats do. That’s pretty interesting. Has this been done? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/17 "2015-01-23T07:28:27Z")
> [@Willcross](#): > > That’s pretty interesting. Has this been done? Yes; googling got me [this](http://www.intropsych.com/ch03_states/rem_sleep_in_cats.html). > [@](#): > > Jouvet found a brain area near a structure called the locus coeruleus that was necessary for muscle relaxation during REM sleep. When this area was surgically destroyed, the animals went to sleep normally, but during paradoxical or REM sleep they hissed and scratched violently, sometimes running around the cage with their eyes closed for a minute or two as if attacking another animal. Jouvet (1967) reported, “The sleeping animal’s behavior may even be so fierce as to make the experimenter recoil.” Evidently the cats were acting out dreams about their favorite daytime activity: hunting. Note that humans who suffer similar brain damage for whatever reason have also been known to act out their dreams, sometimes dangerously. I recall the case of a woman throwing her children out the windows because she dreamed the house was on fire. ---
**Author:** ![Willcross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Willcross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willcross)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/18 "2015-01-23T08:20:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Yes; googling got me [this](http://www.intropsych.com/ch03_states/rem_sleep_in_cats.html). > > Note that humans who suffer similar brain damage for whatever reason have also been known to act out their dreams, sometimes dangerously. I recall the case of a woman throwing her children out the windows because she dreamed the house was on fire. Thanks! That’s really fascinating. I have the opposite problem, that area of the brain is often still active after I wake up, resulting in sleep paralysis. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/19 "2015-01-23T15:36:13Z")
I wonder if rats ever dream that they’re being tested on running the maze, but they haven’t shown up to run the maze all semester. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dreaming/710578/20 "2015-01-23T15:45:50Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > I wonder if rats ever dream that they’re being tested on running the maze, but they haven’t shown up to run the maze all semester. Maybe they’re on to you. 😉