Do Our Pets Dream?
February 18, 2021
Do you ever watch your pet while they sleep? Do you notice tail wags, twitching, and fluttering eye movements while they're in a deep slumber?
Cat and dog owners everywhere witness their pets reacting to their dreams on a consistent basis. Whether your cat swats in the air or your dog starts to quietly bark in their sleep, these are sure signs that they are dreaming of something. Many scientists agree that there is evidence to support the notions that cats and dogs dream. In fact, every mammal that has been studied does experience dreaming!
Similar to humans, cats and dogs experience two main types of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow wave sleep (SWS).
During both types of sleep, the brain processes the information it learned that day. At some point during sleep, the dreaming process takes over. This is when you will see the physical signs that your cat or dog is deep in their own dream world. Adult dogs and cats spend approximately 10-12% of their slumber in the REM sleep stage. Puppies and kittens spend a much greater portion of their sleep time in the REM stage because they have tons of new data to process as they're exploring and learning about the world around them.
While watching your pets twitch in their sleep, the question becomes "what do they dream of?"
REM sleep is associated with learning and storing memories. That is why a majority of our dreams have connections to what happened that day. Therefore, your dog or cat is most likely dreaming about the smells and activities that they encountered that day. That means they are also likely dreaming about you!
In 2001, Michael Wilson and Kenway Louie of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted a study
where they compared the brain activity of rats while they were awake and while they were sleeping. During the day, the rats were allowed to explore a maze while their brain activity was being recorded. Once the rats reached their REM sleep stage that night, the same amount of brain activity was recorded. In addition, the part of the brain linked to memory storage was studied and the results are shocking! The brain activity during the day and while asleep was so similar that the scientists were able to identify where in the dream maze the rodents were. This concludes that the rats were recalling their memories in their dreams, which is very similar to the human dreaming process.
We may never know exactly what our pets are dreaming of, but their brains need rest just like ours! Pets use sleep just like humans, as a way to restore memory and get the rest needed for the day ahead!
If your pets' dreams concern you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact Briarcrest Veterinary Clinic today. We offer compassionate and quality veterinary care
regardless of your needs. Call today
to schedule an appointment.
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