What do cats dream of: scientists have revealed the secret

Cat owners are well aware that when their cat falls asleep, it can dream. Cats may purr, funnily smack their lips, twitch their paws, and even hiss or growl. However, it has remained a mystery what they see.

As OBOZREVATEL has found out, scientists have shed light on this. Most mammals are prone to dreaming. To study cat sleep, researchers connected electrodes to the brains of experimental animals.

It turns out that a cat's brain activity during sleep is very similar to its activity when it is awake. This suggests that the feline brain functions similarly in both situations and what cats see in their dreams is likely not much different from their actual surroundings. According to scientists, during sleep, a cat's mind processes the information it has learned over the past day.

American veterinarians have also analyzed the movements of cats during their sleep and suggested that they often envision hunting scenes. Since cats are obligate predators, chasing prey is one of their fundamental behavioral patterns. It's logical to assume that their brains process such signals during sleep.

Other common feline dreams, according to experts, involve interactions with their familiar environment. For instance, communicating with their owner, playing with toys, or using a scratching post.

As for the movements made by a sleeping cat, scientists say that this is normal. Animals experience dreams during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, characterized by active eye movements. These impulses are transmitted to other parts of the body, including the paws, tongue, jaws, and so on.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL told you what a cat's meow means.

Subscribe to OBOZREVATEL's Telegram and Viber channels to keep up with the latest developments.