My cat Muffin often cries in his sleep like he is having nightmares

Yes, I may just talk to the vet about it just in case. I do love all of my cats (we have 4) and this one has "adopted" me to be his pet human, so I feel especially attached to him. Plus he is the sweetest and gentlest of the 4 (even though he is also the biggest) so I sort of feel like I have to look out for him.

I can imagine him slowly getting on to your lap and wanting to be hugged and caressed. We too had cats but we don't keep them any more. I too am passionate about animals.

You are right, for the most part, except for the slowly part--he just jumps right onto my lap whenever he can--or, if I am sleeping, he usually jumps onto my pillow and my head! (Gently, of course). But because he is so big, if I don't see him coming he can leave me a little breathless at first!

He is definitely not sick, and probably not cold, either--he does this all year round, and has been doing it for years. I think it might be nightmares, however, or at least vivid dreams.

I have never seen the dog video, but I have seen the mommy cat and kitten video and it is adorable! That is what Muffin looks like, except now he is a 3 1/2 year old large Tuxedo cat, not a kitten. I do think he at least dreams almost all the time in his sleep. He is my "neediest" cat too--he is a lap cat, he chews on blankets, sweaters--and the people inside them--and even when he is just sleeping next to someone, he reaches out his paw to touch them. Very cute.

My cat's a tuxedo too..though I have yet to notice any disturbed sleep by her dreaming..She'll curl up on my lap and snooze whenever,given the chance,with occasional wakes for a wash or at an interesting or disturbing sound..

That's very cute--it's nice to have a lap cat, isn't it? Muffin likes to sit on my lap too. But he is so big he spills over the sides! He is not that fat, just very long and very big. So usually he ends up sleeping next to me instead--more comfortable for both of us, I think.

That's sad that he lost his "uncle" before he was completely grown. Rygel was only 10 months old when Oliver joined us, so he's been really good with the kittens.

It was sad for all of us--he was my special cat, so hard on me, but he was also the "alpha" cat for all of the cats we had, starting with our original 3 and then continuing as we lost and then gained new cat friends. he kept all of the cats in line--and happy. And he was very comforting to them (and to me). If he did have to "correct" another cat's behavior, usually all he had to do is stare at them, but he was always the first one to lick them and rub heads with them if they needed that, too. Now we have 4 cats--two male and two female, and none has assumed the role of "alpha" so they fight more often than they did when Simba was alive. And I know that they miss him--especially Cleo, who grew up with him, and Muffin, who became attached to him. Muffin doesn't have the personality to be an "alpha" cat, although at least he holds his own when he gets pounced on! And he is also the cat that purrs the most, so I think he is generally happy most of the time. That's why I hope you are right about the dreams being happy hunting dreams!

I like the hunting theory--I will try it and see what happens. We have a small pack--4 cats altogether. We used to have a big (old) orange maine (c)oon who kind of looked after Muffin when he was a kitten, but unfortunately he passed away before Muffin really grew up, and although the two female cats tolerate him, they do not really snuggle with him. And our younger male pounces on him! So he may still be looking for his "mommy", and maybe that's why he cries in his sleep. However, his "warrior" cry sounds a lot like his sleeping cry, so maybe he is really just hunting!

Sorry to hear about Muffin's tail. A kink in it sound like he probably got it stuck in a door somehow. I know just a couple months after I got Tigger I was bringing in groceries and talking on the cell phone. I went to close the door with my foot. I was trying to be quick to keep Tigger from running outside, and Tigger saw a door wide open. Well, the end result was he ran for the open door just as I was closing it. He got his tail stuck in the door. His tail has had a permanent kink in it since that day. It took him a long while after that before he would try running out the front door. Tigger has this cut thing that he will do with his tail that he will actual use it to stroke your arm. He sometimes will also do it try to get my attention like if I am working on the laptop all of a sudden I will have this tail right in my way of typing. It is kind of funny. He even once got lasagna on his tail. I was trying to eat dinner, and he wanted attention. The next thing I knew someone's tail was inside the bowl. It is quite funny when you end up needing a napkin to wipe off the kitty's tail. Vet said his nose and mouth healed up just fine. I was surprised when he came off his soft kitty food diet that he actually returned to enjoying eating crunchy cat food. Do not get me wrong, he loves can cat food. He generally gets one can of kitty food a day, but when he hurt himself for a couple of weeks he could only eat can cat food. I was surprised when I put the crunchy bowl back down that he actually returned to eating both crunchy cat food and canned cat food. I thought he would have become spoiled and wanted canned cat food all the time, but apparently he likes the variety. Tonight, he is pouting in his tree house. We are out of canned cat food. I need to go shopping. Well as I told him there are crunchy cat food, sometimes we have to eat what there is rather than what we want to eat for dinner.

Well, maybe Muffin got the behavior from a dog. It reminds more of something that a dog might do in their sleep than a kitty. I definitely can say that when cats and dogs are together at a young age they can pick up some of the others characteristics. I know Tigger was around dogs as a kitten. It amazes me how calm he will be around giant dogs. They do not bother him at all. I even had to once explain this to Petsmart, I wanted to take him in one weekend to get his claws trimmed. It is so much better than always getting scratched with his claws as he loves to play. I called to make sure that there was someone available to trim the claws for cats. Do not know why it is different. I just know I took him in once and no one was available for cats. I end up having to explain to the manager that my kitty would be fine going into the grooming area even if there were large dogs. That he loved dogs, and they did not bother him. It was so funny when we went into Petsmart. I has standing there with a perfectly calm litty kitty in my arms, while very were like four dogs sitting on the floor waiting. Everyone was shocked! They were like my cat would not go for that at all (referring to all the dogs). I was perfectly happy to wait, yet they seemed to decide the kitty was going to be next even though we had been almost the last to arrive. Even Tigger has his own doggy like characteristics. He loves turkey. Not the canned cat food turkey. No, I am talking the turkey that you cook in the oven. He will even eat deli turkey meat. He will do the whole little bit just like a dog of putting his paws up on your rear because he wants turkey too! He always gets turkey when I buy it or make a turkey. Unlike most cats that will meow to go out Tigger will scratch at the door with his front paws like a puppy dog. I need to get the mini blinds on the door fixed in the apartment. Someone (I will not name names) has torn apart the bottom section of the blinds.

That is a good point--he definitely is happy most of the time that he is awake, and wakes up happy, too. He purrs and purrs when he is awake. he did come to us with a kink in his tail, so maybe he did suffer an injury that he vaguely remembers. Another funny habit he has--he twitches his tail when he is happy, like a dog, instead of when he is annoyed, like most cats. So maybe in his first weeks of life he spent some time around dogs, and maybe one of them scared him? As for your Tigger, I am sorry about the accident, but sounds like he is ok now. Maybe he heard a mouse or something inside the wall and was trying to catch it? What did the vet say about his nose?

Interesting! Sounds like your dogs are very active sleepers too! My other three cats sleep very quietly and soundly most of the time; Muffin is the only one who consistently makes noise in his sleep. Hopefully you are right and he is just dreaming, rather than having nightmares. It is very cute, I have to admit!

That is how I feel about my little kitty Tigger who snores in his sleep. It is just so adorable. A few times when I have been on the computer participating on myLot he will fall asleep on the couch right next to me, and all I will hear is this cute little kitty snoring sound. Okay, he is not quite so little I have had him for about 5 years now, but he still acts like a little kitty. The only one that seems to have trouble sleeping sometimes is me. Although there are a few times, that I notice mine not being able to sleep will actually keep Tigger awake. He thinks it is his job to wake me up. There is nothing more adorable them his paw on my face with him gently tapping his claw to say wake up. I do agree that our pets are just like humans. He will meow, and rush me to get dressed because he wants to go outside on the patio. When their are to many people outside, he will come lay on the carpet in the middle of the door. It is like he is saying I want the door open, but I am not going out their right now. He is quite clever.

Your Tigger sounds adorable! Muffin sits next to me when I am using the computer too. Actually, it is more accurate to say that he sleeps behind the laptop, with his tail curling onto the keyboard. Sometimes when I get up to do something, he will happily lay across the keyboard! And all of our cats will come into our bedroom to wake us up if we haven't gotten up early enough to feed them--usually by 6 am! It is very sweet that your kitty comforts you when you are having trouble sleeping--pets really do seem to know when their owners are upset or troubled, and they can offer very valuable comfort themselves. It is one of the nicest things about owning pets, I think.

I'm not sure how to stop the nightmares (if that is what they are), so I just do the best I can to comfort him and make him feel loved. If I knew for sure that they were just dreams, I wouldn't be as worried, but I am hopeful that he may just be having kitty dreams.

I do comfort him all the time, while he is sleeping and when he is awake, too. As a matter of fact, he is sleeping right next to my laptop right now as I am typing and he is meowing and twitching, so I keep having to stop typing to pet him..... He is definitely the sweetest cat I've ever had, although he is a bit of a trouble maker, too!

Yes, that is good advice. I have actually taken him to the vet more than once to check for illnesses such as cancer that might be hard to detect, and he always gets a clean bill of health. But I may talk to the vet about it again just to be sure. I am also beginning to wonder if he does it because he likes the response--whenever he meows in his sleep, one of the family members will pet him and cuddle with him. I actually wonder if he does it when we are not home! And he is very vocal cat even when he is awake, so maybe he is just expressing himself in his sleep as well. But I am definitely keeping a close eye on him, just in case.

Yes, I do comfort him and pet him, and usually he calms down--although sometimes he starts meowing again every time I stop petting him! Since his eyes are still closed, I am assuming he is at least half-asleep while he is doing this, but he is clearly aware that I am petting him, so I think it does comfort him.