A few years ago, we lost a cat named Obadiah. It turned out that she was a girl, but we didn't know that until after we had named her. Anyhow, she was twelve when she went outside one night and never came back. I learned later that there had been a fox in the area, so we figured that was what had happened to her. Obie was the most gentle cat I've ever had, and one of the largest. She was a real lap cat, which was interesting because her mom was a tiny feral adult when we took her in. Obie was born in our house though, and was very much a house cat. Whenever I think of Obie, particularly in the way she was probably lost, I cry. I miss her a lot, even though she has been gone for more than three years. Last night, I dreamed that she had returned. Of course, I was ecstatic to have her back and she seemed happy to be back. My wife and I both held her, and talked to her, and she purred. Then she went into some kind of an opening in a piece of furniture. It's hard for me to determine just what it was, either because it wasn't clear in my dream or because I have forgotten the details, but she went into this opening and disappeared. Trying to find her, I looked into the hole and heard what sounded like music coming from it faintly, as if it led to another room or something, from which music was playing lightly. But of course, the hole was too small for me to get into it, and I couldn't see into it. Later, I heard what sounded like faint voices from within the hole. Then Obie was back, but she just put her paws up on me as if she wanted my attention. Then she started walking toward the piece of furniture again. I picked her up and begged her not to go, but to stay with us. She rubbed her head on me, but kept trying to get down. "No, Obie. Stay. We love you. Stay here with us." Then she hissed at me, and drew back her paw as if to slap me. I held her and kept talking to her and she started growling loudly, while hissing and slapping at me as if she really needed me to know that she was serious but that she didn't want to actually scratch me. Still I held her, and then she went wild, to a point where I believed she was going to hurt me. In her struggles, she got away and jumped into the hole in the piece of furniture again. But this time when I looked, I could no longer find a hole. It was a solid piece of wood.
@Ken Anderson I, too, have loved several cats over my lifetime, having become entirely too emotional in their well-being and general existence. One, a small, long-haired kitten of perhaps 3 months of age, we encountered in the outside entryway of a Bob's Big Boy restaurant as we exited. A scant 10 feet away, traffic was whizzing by, on Indian School Road (Phoenix), traffic count >100,000 per day. Add to this, it was raining! I picked her up, and she immediately relaxed, and rolled back in my arms! She was a few feet away from death. As though she knew it. We took her home, had her spayed, and enjoyed her long stay with us for years. We named her "Spuntik", which in Czech means a little point, or probe. She was the one cat in all my life so disposed to relate to human emotions, that I swear if reincarnation exists, that cat had been a human earlier.
It's obvious that you're still missing your cat, @Ken Anderson. To me, that dream is a testimony of your longing for a missed someone which is Obie. And her insistence on leaving is to tell you that she is not coming back and that you have to accept that fact and not to resist for you will just be hurt (with her scratching). We have lost 2 dogs and I still miss both of them although the longing is somewhat deadened by our present 3 dogs. Some people just don't understand our attachment to our pets but for me, they are more deserving of my love than most people I know.
Oh Ken...I'm not a Cat person..but I love animals especially dogs, and we've had a few of our dogs leave us for rainbow bridge .. and your story made me well up ....I can just imagine the sadness you felt when you realised it was all a dream..enough to make you cry. perhaps it was Obi coming back to say a last goodbye, perhaps she was there telling you that she's happy with her new friends in the little place where you couldn't see...but one day perhaps you'll be reunited... I often dream of my lost loved ones, humans and animals and think they are still with me...it's so heartbreaking when you wake up and they're not there , maybe it's their spirit way of just comforting us in our grief...
They have to get back to the Rainbow Bridge or they'll be lost I know I'll see my dog again - just a matter of time ............
So sorry about the loss of your kitty Ken. I find your dream extremely interesting and comforting in a way. In the end she had to struggle with you because she knew she couldn't stay. She had to go back to where she now belongs.
Life reminds us of happy times with those that have passed. We may never see them again on Earth, but we can dream. At night when no one is looking, I wave at the night sky and say hello to those that passed, for it comforts me and it seems they are still near that they can see me wave and that haven't forgotten them. We can see them one more time in our dreams...how wonderful.
Since this thread is a few years old and hasn't been posted to since the month in which it was started, I'll bump this one. Most of you weren't here in 2016, after all. Remember that while most forums don't like people bumping old threads, we're quite okay with it here. Of course, I'd rather it be done with more than a simple "bump." Like most people, I suppose, I don't generally remember much about my dreams, so this one was special, in that sense.
I got a puppy years ago when doing animal rescue work, and then a kitten from a county animal shelter. They both lived to their early 20s, and passed about 25 years ago. There are still times I'll dream of that dog and wake up wondering if she's still around. (I don't recall it ever happening with the cat.) They become so integrated into our lives that the slightest trigger makes their presence felt.