BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Dreams Family members loses pet.

This dream disturbed me.

From what I can remember, My family went somewhere and I have no idea where they went. They came back and apparently while they were out, they lost one of my cats.

All through the dream I was trying to find out how they lost him. Mostly, I was focused on my sister. I remember being in her room and always asking her what happened. I got the sense that it was her fault. She didn't want me to know what happened.

There was a brief moment here where I discovered she was pregnant. She's not pregnant in real life.

So all through the dream I'm very upset about the loss of my cat and I just want to know how they lost him.

I remember thinking that everything will be okay. He will come back. Either we will find him or he's traveling on his way back home like those uncanny stories about pets traveling thousands of miles to be with the family when the family moved and couldn't take the pet with them.

At the end of the dream, I finally confront my mother (My sister is also in the room for some reason) and I asked her, "How did you lose him?"

And it seemed like no one was telling me. They were too busy making excuses or saying other things that I started screaming at the top of my lungs, "How did you lose him? How did you lose him?"

My sister suddenly shouted, "Shut up!"

I must've been more angry than I thought because I woke up, still in a daze, and cried out an obscene retort that was meant for my sister. This is something I never say when I'm angry.

I don't know if the 'woke up' part is what makes this whole thing more disturbing than it is... but I am really bothered by the loss of my cat through family members.

In real life, My sister lives a state away. I, nor anyone else, have taken my cats anywhere for a trip.

Hi DreaminDragon,

This dream is loaded with emotion. The two that stand out are your feeling of losing something dear to you and anger at people that you love and trust.

Dreams of loss express anxiety of losing something familiar and can signal entering a new phase. Although you dreamed of losing your cat, the symbolism is more likely that you are struggling with losing a part of yourself, or fear of leaving a comfort zone in your life to move on. This is where family comes in as well - they are your roots, your foundation. Are you facing a change in your life, or are you struggling with moving on in some area? For instance, applying for a new job or leaving an unhealthy relationship? Or, do you have some sort of physical move coming up?

Carl Jung claimed that the sister dream symbol was indicative of sibling rivalry and jealousy. For a female dreamer, the sister represents the shadow side of the self that is being neglected and under-developed. Again, this could be a part of yourself that needs to grow and you're fighting with that somehow. The fact that she is pregnant in the dream signifies growth, making this meaning even stronger in this dream.

Cats represent instinct, and the positive, creative side of the feminine. Again, this points to a side of yourself that you feel is being lost or is not being used.

Anger is a very powerful symbol. It could symbolize aggression within the self that is stuffed, that we don't want to deal with. It can also symbolize a feeling of being undervalued or unappreciated, or feeling like we are the victim of circumstance, or that we are blaming someone or something for our lot in life.

So I'm going to stick my neck out here - feel free to swing the axe - and say that you feel that your family or someone symbolic of family, such as a partner in a relationship, is holding you back from moving on - and that you may be the one who is afraid but would rather give them credit for your fear.

This is very interesting. I actually was going to post today because I have over the last few months, on 3 occasions, dreamt of being somewhere with my cats and someone leaving a door open and letting them get out. I can usually find 2 of them but the black cat, who is very skittish, I can't find, or have a very difficult time finding. And in the dreams I am also trying to make sure that the other 2 are still where I left them.

Hi Fiona!

Could the black cat symbolize a fearful or skittish part of yourself, or your shadow self? I'm getting that you are on the edge of something. You are very close to your goal or have actually achieved it, but you are afraid of failure or the changes that might come about. This could be something as simple as extra work; i.e., "What have I gotten myself into?"

Worrying about the other two cats may symbolize things in your comfort zone. Can you go toward this new venture without giving up other things that are important to you?

Since cats symbolize instinct, they are very strong symbols. This dream is trying to help you sort out some very important issues.

hehe I figure that you are right about the struggle to keep the other two in sight being about my comfort zone, but I think the black cat is my fear.

You said earlier
Cats represent instinct, and the positive, creative side of the feminine. Again, this points to a side of yourself that you feel is being lost or is not being used.

So I am guessing that this is in relation to my art. Ia m at the moment behind the 8 ball a bit on deadlines. So perhaps she is my fear that I will not be able to catch up and that I will lose the opportunities it can bring in.

The other two are about me trying to keep in controk of all of the important areas of my life without losing my comfort zone, like you mentioned

Fiona, It's funny you mention the black cat. My cat (same one in dream), Morpheus, is all black as well. I named him after the God of Dreams. I thought for a little while if that had any emphasis but I don't believe it does.

Parthena, I suppose you hit something dead on. You said, "fear of leaving a comfort zone in your life to move on." and that is very true. Even when you said that the cat represents something about me that's not being used. I can understand it would make perfect sense if I had lost my cat myself... but family members losing my cat instead of me, I don't know. I don't blame anyone else.

DreaminDragon, in all 3 of my dreams someone else has let the cats out. Either my sister or a coworker or in the last one I was in the hospital for some kind of surgery and I went down the hall and the nurse let her out. (any idea what THAT is about, Parthena?)

I think that the fact that it isnt US that lose the cats it means that the forces pulling us out of our comfort zone are outside forces, other people or situations.

DreaminDragon:The fact that others are letting your cats out doesn't necessarily mean that you are blaming someone else. It can also mean that you'd prefer to blame someone else but you know that it's really your issue. I also like Fiona's insight about outside forces having an influence. That's more likely what is happening. Is there any feeling of conflict between you and your family, or do you feel that they are not as supportive as you need them to be? Remember, your family in the dream may be only symbolic and may be representing other people in your life who are close to you. When a male dreams of a sister, this may also represent the female side of the personality, or anima <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> so this could be the aspect of yourself that isn't being used.

Fiona, the hospital/nurse dream is interesting. Hospitals are a place of healing and in dreams, a place of psychological and spiritual healing. I see two possible meanings here. One is that this part of yourself represented in the cat is something that you don't need anymore. It's served its purpose, but it's time to let it go - and you are hanging on so tightly that you need surgery to help with that! Another possibility (and this one is completely intuitive) is that the nurse represents a partner of some sort whom you feel you can trust, but you're struggling with giving over to complete trust. There is probably nothing wrong with this person, but you're still nervous about letting someone else handle things that you'd rather do yourself. Sounds like you have a good handle on what these dreams are telling you.

:beamedup: I have this feeling that I'm going to start dreaming about escaping cats soon since I can identify with both of you! Fiona, I know exactly what you mean about missing out on opportunities. I've taken on a lot myself and most of it is for little or no money and a lot of work, but I am absolutely sure that if I hang in there, those opportunities will happen.

Sounds like we are all facing a very exciting year!

The interesting thing about the surgery was that it was elective (not sure what I was having done but I knew I was there by choice) and I was not afraid at all.

*grin* I dabble a bit in dream analysis myself but I tend to have a harder time figuring out my own unless I get a jump start somewhere. Thanks for the insight, Parthena!

You are doing remarkably well! I'll say it again - the dreamer is the best interpreter of the dream. Sounds like the issue is one that you are aware of and are ready to let go of, so I'd take your insight as being more correct.

We all have the ability to interpret our dreams, and my vision for this forum is to help you all do exactly that. It's great to have support and re-affirmation, and sometimes input from several sources can really help.