Cats in Dreams

[Wesley]

Lately I have been dealing with things about my mother, trying to remember and evaluate what happened in situations when I was a child and such. I have had 2 different dreams on 2 nights in a row (which is great compared to how often I normally dream) which had cats in it.

In the first, a large cougar-like black cat attacked me and I shot it like 6 times before it went down, then later in the dream a second one seemed about to attack me, but when my gun jammed I was wondering if it was actually attacking me but rather just seemed to scarily lunge at me and then turn around and try again.

In the second, my mom was talking with a cat-sitter about the cats while my cat and another cat I randomly see around were chasing and scratching me as I tried to run upstairs. One of them got upstairs (which as a child, my dad wouldn't have allowed) so I had to sneak up on it and put it downstairs quick. The cat bit me in process of trying to do that.

In real life, I always find cats kind of pointless as they don't interact with you and only care about themselves. You''ll also pet them and be having a great time, then it'll randomly scratch you. We have had several cats as outdoor cats in order to hunt mice as we live near a farm and a creek, so it can be pretty bad without a cat. I have never had any real personal attachment to a cat.

I have searched, and there seem to be 2 possibilities. One is it is representative of female power, which makes sense as I am working on analyzing my mother right now in which case it attacking me is a bad sign. The other option is that it could represent my intuition or trying to get me to notice a problem that is going on, by which case it attacking me is trying to be helpful and get me to notice something.

I can provide more info on the dreams or circumstances if people want, but I didn't want to make it super long as the dreams are a bit on the long side for me. I am starting to put together bits of the dreams, but I do not know if the cat is the danger or it is trying to get me to notice something else and thus being helpful.

[Stephen C]

I've had a reoccuring theme of cats attacking me in dreams, your descriptions resonates with me a bunch.It might be worth asking the cats who they are, what their goal is, how they feel and if they like what they are doing. Any information you can get from them will be useful.  I know cats can't talk, but in my experience everything in my dreams has something to say, even inanimate objects. 

[Dave Bockman]

If the cat is 'scaled up', larger but not a readily identifiable species (like a panther, for example, which is to my knowledge the only large member of the cat family that is black), then consider the scale between you two as perhaps important (by that I mean, a typical housecat might seem very large when you're an infant or very small child).

Traditional symbolism also includes black cats as 'bad luck', also they are said to be witches in animal form.

what were the repercussions in your real life as a child if a cat found his way upstairs? How would your father react, what would he say or do? Why (in the dream) was it your responsibility to go retrieve him?

[Wesley]

what were the repercussions in your real life as a child if a cat found his way upstairs? How would your father react, what would he say or do?

Most likely be yelled at and verbally abused. My father enjoyed throwing out demeaning words like "stupid" and "dipshit". 

Why (in the dream) was it your responsibility to go retrieve him?

Well in the dream it was because my mother was talking with the "cat-sitter" who apparently was watching the cat from the 2nd act in my dream when I was away (unmentioned). I think it was often that my mom would get in these long discussions with people where I would be left waiting or working for way longer than I was told. 

In real life, it would have been me most likely becuase my dad wouldn't deal with it unless he had to and I was the oldest of my brothers. I was often punished for things they did or I was punished more for things we all did because I was the oldest and should know better.

[Stephen C]

In the dreams I have with a cat or cats, they stick to me, and don't want to be without me. They do claw me, but there's a sense of neediness, clinginess, not that there's anything wrong with neediness. In real life cats and animals in general warm up to me very quickly, I can't tell you how many times I've been told by a pet owner "She/he usually doesnt like anyone! That's so weird!" There are two little girls, sisters (9 and 7) in the apartment below me. They usually keep their apartment door open for air flow/ventilation (I assume)  and when one of them sees me walking up or down the stairs they run out and say HI! and I always spend some time talking to them, asking how they are, and what they're up to. Sometimes they tell me stories, the little one is such a quick talker and I can tell it's because she has to be because her older sister is dominating in a certain way, which i pointed out to them last time we spoke. Anyway, there's a lot I can say about them and my interactions with them, they seem to like me very much and I get a sense that they don't want me to ever go once we start interacting. They recently got a new kitty cat because their last cat ran away a year ago. Last year that cat would climb up the fire escape and come to my window and start meowing. I would always let it in and let it hang out for awhile and snoop around, and I'd eventually bring it back downstairs to the girls. It would always make it's way back up to my window until it finally ran away from them. This cat they just got always comes out into the hallway when I'm there talking to the girls and last time the younger sister said "I don't know why, but whenever you're here the cat comes out to see you. It doesn't do that with anyone else!". Just last night I was laying down listening to myself, my thoughts, my Parts / mecosystem stuff and I hear a cat meowing outside my window so i go to open it and it's the kitty from downstairs. This is the second cat of theirs that makes it's way up the fire escape to my window and starts meowing. I don't even understand how it knows I'm up here in this apartment, but it does. Eventually I brought it back downstairs and the older sister answered the door and I pointed down to the cat and she said "How do you keep getting our cat?!"Some of the thoughts I was having about this is, well...lemme say first off this sounds kind of grandiose, and mystical. let me know if this be bullshit. I get a vibe from people that they sense something about me that they love, and they want and (sadness, tearing up as a type this) the world is so much lacking in empathy and care. Genuine care, that doesn't involve someone looking for something to gain. I think people and animals sense that in me...not always, sometimes I am so blended with other Parts of myself I can be cold, defensive and maybe even mean. But, when I'm feeling at my finest, peak Self energy, living things yearn for me in a certain way I can't describe. it frightens me at times, I don't have enough to give. Sometimes I'm even having trouble giving myself what I need. I wish i could do more, I wish I could soak up all the suffering in the world. 

Anyway, I know that this is your thread, Snipes so I'm sorry for making a post so centered on me. This might not have anything to do with your dreams, but I think it's worth telling. Oh, also...in the dreams, the wounds that are inflicted on me by the cats disappear immediately, almost as if I have Wolverine like regenerative abilities or maybe the wounds are just illusions, but the pain is very real and it scares the shit out of me. 

[Wesley]

I may not totally understand it yet, which I have had some things going on so I havent been dreaming as much again, but I have been thinking some about these dreams.

I am beginning to think that the cats are not evil or good and trying to help me. They appear when I am trying to see the truth about a situation. I am at a point where I want to analyze something that is confusing or ambivalent. The cats try to scare me or delay me from seeing the truth. They seem to symbolize my own insecurities about wanting to know the answer.

In the large cat dream, it was dealing with the church, but I was able to kill the cat and see the problems, but then it got to my mother (where there were two large cats) and I was not able to kill them and begun to question if I should (ambivolence about it appearing in my dream).

In the house cat dream, I was listening in on a conversation with my mother and a cat-sitter, which then the cats chased me and tried to scare me upstairs so I would not continue to hear the conversation and evaluate it. I then tried to tackle a cat that escaped and got bit by it. I then went downstairs again and was shocked that she was still talking and ignoring that I was attacked by the cats.

In a sense, I think the cats are trying to protect me from the truth, which as trying to be a philosopher I would try to reject. I would be curious if this trend starts to hold or if it digresses if I can get to deal with some of these things and start dreaming again.

 

 

In response to what you are saying I would be very curious how these girls treat their cat. I also to not think it is mystical at all to say that you portray outwardly a lot of information about yourself that people can pick up on. You can know almost everything about someone within a couple of seconds of interaction because of the amazing processing power of the subconscious. Being truly empathetic I am sure attracts people who have enough empathy to want to experience empathy.

[Stephen C]

 

I may not totally understand it yet, which I have had some things going on so I havent been dreaming as much again, but I have been thinking some about these dreams.

I am beginning to think that the cats are not evil or good and trying to help me. They appear when I am trying to see the truth about a situation. I am at a point where I want to analyze something that is confusing or ambivalent. The cats try to scare me or delay me from seeing the truth. They seem to symbolize my own insecurities about wanting to know the answer.

In the large cat dream, it was dealing with the church, but I was able to kill the cat and see the problems, but then it got to my mother (where there were two large cats) and I was not able to kill them and begun to question if I should (ambivolence about it appearing in my dream).

In the house cat dream, I was listening in on a conversation with my mother and a cat-sitter, which then the cats chased me and tried to scare me upstairs so I would not continue to hear the conversation and evaluate it. I then tried to tackle a cat that escaped and got bit by it. I then went downstairs again and was shocked that she was still talking and ignoring that I was attacked by the cats.

In a sense, I think the cats are trying to protect me from the truth, which as trying to be a philosopher I would try to reject. I would be curious if this trend starts to hold or if it digresses if I can get to deal with some of these things and start dreaming again.

 

 

In response to what you are saying I would be very curious how these girls treat their cat. I also to not think it is mystical at all to say that you portray outwardly a lot of information about yourself that people can pick up on. You can know almost everything about someone within a couple of seconds of interaction because of the amazing processing power of the subconscious. Being truly empathetic I am sure attracts people who have enough empathy to want to experience empathy.

 

Thanks so much for the update, Snipes. it sounds like you've gained some clarity about the cats in your dream. At times where I'm not recalling my dreams and I want to reconnect with my unconscious I will ask my unconscious when laying down to sleep to "Please show me what you'd like me to know." and let it know I'm curious, or I'll send it my curiosity. That's helped me.  I've found my unconscious won't put in much effort in communicating with me when I'm not really listening, if that makes sense. Also, if I find myself pushing my dreams to the side when i wake up I make a conscious effort to spend more time recalling my dream. I'll either lay there and think about how I felt throughout the dream, or do it while I'm getting ready for the day. 

The little girls don't seem to be very in touch with the cats experience and preferences. For example, they pick it up roughly and put it somewhere it doesn't really want to be. I don't think the cat appreciates this. I try to never pick up cats because I dont sense they ever like it, when it comes time to bring the cat downstairs I'll put down a shopping bag and lure it in there, then I'll gentely scoop up the bag and carry it downstairs.