When you see your gorgeous feline friend twitching and jumping in their sleep, the tempation is usually to wake them up because they seem stressed. But like humans, they are probably just dreaming and it may just be a nice dream, so perhaps best to let sleeping cats lie?!
I guess we will never be totally sure that cats are actually dreaming at all. Studies with rats have proved that their brain patterns are very similar to their waking thought patterns when they are working on simple tasks, so its probably true to say that all mammals (including cats) do dream in this way.
No doubt they dream about their day, including such tasks as chasing mice, running around for no reason and eating. The rest of their day (21 hours) they sleep and dream!
So if its true they are dreaming, then like humans, they are probably having the occasional nightmare too. This might explain all that whisker twitching that they do. Maybe, like me, you gently stroke their head to calm them down during this phase.
So its true, cats do dream. Here at Homefuryou we would like to reassure you that when you are away for a weekend or on holiday, they will be dreaming of your return. In the meantime, we will take care of them, feed them, clean up their mess and gently stroke their heads when they have the odd nightmare.
Sweet dreams!