Sunday, January 17, 2021

Neville Not Awake

It is always interesting watching cats as they dream. I know that not all of their dreams are good ones. I recall Tungsten periodically waking herself by crying out. Often when she woke from dreaming, she would call to me; I would come to where she was, and she would start purring.

Neville, on the other hand, had a dream this morning, in which he seemed to be chastising someone. Lying on the bed, he started saying something. To me – and bear in mind that I am not multilingual, either in human or feline speech – it sounded as if he repeated the same phrase three times; the inflection throughout was the same, even at the conclusion, to which he gave a curious little ‘curl’ to the sound. This was followed by a different sentence.

Then he woke up. He may have been embarrassed that he was caught speaking while asleep, for he purred and flexed his paws. I couldn’t help laughing at him, but he took my amusement well.

Not usually so vocal, the Nevsky normally restricts his speech to meal times, when he can’t help commenting in his gravelly tones about the approaching food bowl. Sometimes, he will remark upon the meal as he’s eating it. This was the first time I’d heard him talk in his sleep. I wish I knew what sights and sounds he had experienced on the other side of wakefulness. They appeared to be entertaining, whatever they were.

21 comments:

  1. Several of mine speak while eating. I remind them not to complain about the food with their mouths full.
    "The food was poor and the portions were small.."

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    1. Yes, Neville is probably complaining about the service, too. Tell yours that if the food is poor, they should be glad the portions are small...

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  2. My Willow is a talker. When I get home, she always has to give me a full account of how her day went. (Or perhaps she's complaining because I left her and went out for awhile.)

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  3. That photo reminds me of lines by William Blake: “Sleep! sleep! beauty bright,
    Dreaming o'er the joys of night...”

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  4. Maybe good dreams about the felons being gone? Possibly Neville dreamed he was the one who had managed to free the cozy apartment. And he'll get larger meal portions.

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    1. Eureka! You have found the answer! I do believe that is right on the nail head!

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  5. I let it out sometimes when I'm dreaming too, it sure happens!

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  6. HeHe! And it's great fun when there in the
    land of nod..and they start to twitch, the
    odd leg, head or tail..so funny..! :).

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  7. I love to see the boys dreaming, and from the movements I am sure they were mostly filled with chasing mice. Flynn who was very vocal when awake never made a sound in his dreams. Eric often made ack ack sounds of watching birds, so I am sure he often dreamed of them too.

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  8. I just had a thought. Flynn was a very good hunter and silence and stealth was his forté so that could be why he dreamed silently.

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    1. Yes, while dreams may be unreal at times, our reactions in them are often as in life.

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  9. You know...I hadn't thought of it until now but Katie talks occasionally. It's a low and gentle sound and her speech is always short. A few words and glances to me. OH! For goodness sakes, I remembered just this minute that a reference to Cammie was in one of my dreams last night. Go figure. Just a hit and run type of reference...a one liner so to speak. I was dreaming of Katie for a little while and that is when I had a thought of Cammie for whatever reason.

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  10. Nev might have been embarrassed but seeing you upon waking must have made him happy!

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  11. We wonder, too, what Neville experienced in slumber land?

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  12. Neville, you wouldn't;t um...kiss and tell would you? Perhaps a brief moment whispering to a lovely Ladycat?

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  13. dood....cod...what ever ewe due make SURE dad doez knot lurn oh

    ************** **** ****** ***** ******* *****

    oe de jig iz up for sure !! ;) ☺☺♥3

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  14. It sounds like it wasn't a bad dream and he was happy to see you. Neither of my cats are vocal when they sleep but they certainly are when they are trying to wake me. :)

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  15. We sometimes dream. Dad says he can tell cuz we twitch and move our legs. And sometimes we suddenly wake up all spooked, so it wasnt a GOOD dream. Not that we ever remember them...

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  16. Nevsky, we won't tell him that you were simply communicating with the mothership!

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  17. Our Buddy used to dream quite actively and now Einstein regularly. He was in dire straights when he came, on the edge of passing at a tender age. He kicks and moans and twitches then settling down to a very deep slumber. He sleeps deeply. More than any cat I have known and can actually be hard to arouse which, for a cat, is unusual. It would be so nice to be privy to their dreams.

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