Do Cats Have Bad Dreams?

[chuckythecat]

I think this is a serious question.

My cat Charlie sleeps on the bed with us at night or by herself during the day. I have never noticed anything wrong before, I've had her since she was a baby, no traumatic experiences other than moving one time and my boyfriend moving in with us (lol) a little over 2 years ago, and she doesn't really care about the new puppy.

I know that dogs can get pretty...VERY animated when dreaming. My dad used to have a retired greyhound, fresh off the track and for months he'd dream about racing and bark and run in his sleep pretty hard. but Charlie has never done things like that in her sleep before but she does hug her face and scrunches her toes

MY CONCERN IS: When she is sleeping,she looks peaceful, like every other sleeping cat in the world but for some reason--side bar; has anyone ever been jarred awake from one of those falling/tripping/stumbling dreams and you're like OMG--she jumps awake like some one just struck a match under her but and looked frightened or confused and disoriented for a minute then goes back to her normal self like nothing happened. And other time after this happens she shoots off the bed and heads for the bathroom or the closet.

Weird right? I don't know, but she falls off the bed sometimes too when this happens and I'm afraid she's gonna hurt herself. Can anyone explain this?

 

[pascall]

I certainly HAVE had those moments waking up & I SWEAR sometimes I actually DID fall back onto my bed!
I don't know but I can't see why they wouldn't have bad dreams but then when I wake up like that I wasn't necessarily having a bad dream - not that I remember anyway. It's obvious they do dream, though I know some people would say they don't but then they probably don't think they have personalities.
Having not been through any traumas may just mean that what she considers 'bad' may not be bad by our own standards. My Eddie often wakes up with a real start & looks at me like I may have done something to him. He doesn't jump off the bed or lounge though.
I was reading a thread here earlier about thunder shirts - maybe if you are concerned you could try one on her at night?
I used to drive between my home & my parents, crossing a hilly range, twice a week with Eddie & everytime we got close to their place or not long after leaving there he would meowl. Eventually one day I noticed he did it at exactly the same time as my ears ' popped'! I asked my vet if cats ears popped like ours & while she admitted she didn't know she couldn't see why not.