Scratchings-and-Sniffings

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Do Pets Dream? Posted: 29 Jun 2010 10:07 AM PDT I can tell you that my pets dream. Carmie definitely chased rabbits or squirrels in her dreams. And, Wabby, well, she probably chases the ferret. Or, spends her dreaming time wondering when her next meal is. Or, maybe she's thinking about being FURminated! She loves her FURMinator! I came across a great article in Bloomberg Businessweek titled, "Where Do Pets Go When They Dream?" and I couldn't resist sharing. The conclusion of the article is, "Pets do dream while sleeping." Which isn't news to any pet parents, of course. But, the way this was uncovered is interesting. It turns out that our pets, dogs and cats, go through stages of sleep, also. Seems that science has discovered that we have similar hippocampuses... which is a specific part of the brain. This is responsible, I think - from what I'm reading - for the REM sleep we all experience. It's in this REM sleep that we dream in full. The article notes, "In dogs, research shows the fequency and length of dreams is linked to their physical size." Bigger dogs dream longer and more extensively than their little counterparts. This fromStanley Coren, Ph.D. who wrote, How Dogs Think. One then begins to wonder, do horses dream? Horses hardly even sleep! Since they stand most of the time, and have to be alert to danger (we're talking wild horses but really, even domesticated horses rarely lie down), they can't really fall into a deep sleep. But, when they do sleep, do they dream? And, if so... does this prove consciousness? Can we now say that they "think"? Ah, I feel a long discussion beginning. Thinking begats intelligence. Intelligence begats knowledge. Knowledge begats sharing. Sharing begats thinking. And so on. Another article, at the Sleep Foundation, discusses sleep cycles and other animals - horses, birds, dolphins (which, it says, never sleeps completely - and can surface and take a breath while sleeping). I find it fascinating. We pet parents know our dogs and cats dream as they sleep. We watch them chase squirrels or mice, or bark at imaginary intruders. We know they are reliving some experience from yesterday, or last week. We hope they are enjoying it...and that they don't have nightmares. But, one must wonder - if they dream, do they then have nightmares, too? And what would a nightmare look like to a dog or a cat? Hmm....

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