Talkative Cat
Several nights ago, I was sleeping with cats on either side of my head, listening to Hemi-sync Supersleep (subliminal binaural beats under the sounds of ocean surf) repeated continuously after a healing yoga nidra track had played first. I had on headband earphones for comfort. I was dreaming about a class at a university that someone I know was taking on electricity. I was explaining to a man in the dream that she was not taking the basic class, which is in a large lecture hall with a couple hundred students, but a more involved and advanced class with only 3 people in it. He said enigmatically, “Electricity is the life spark (or life current) of the Universe.” Then suddenly I was in the electricity class as a subject of an experiment with electrodes on my head (possibly because I had earphones and a sleep mask on in the waking reality). I began to hear someone talking behind me in a strange language. I realized from within the dream that this speaking is not within the dream and I had better wake up fast. I was very alarmed. Who was speaking behind my head? Slowly I realized it was Sylvie the cat. I was very relieved. Stupidly, because I wanted to go back to sleep, I quieted her down. I should have listened and encouraged her, maybe recorded her.
This is the third time this has happened in some form. She seems to be a sleep talker. Odd thing is, she seems to be speaking a language she does not speak in her waking life. It is not little growls and purrs and meows. No, it is syllables with sounds she ordinarily can’t produce.
Sylvie is 15 1/2 years old now and very youthful. The first time it happened was a number of years ago, probably at least seven. Another cat, now deceased, was also there. I was in a state of sleep paralysis, aware of my surroundings but unable to move and vibrating pretty violently. Sylvie was on my chest, sitting with bent elbows talking into my face. I understood what she said at the time but could not remember later. Second time it happened was perhaps a year ago and I was wide awake in bed. I was flabbergasted. She was asleep then, speaking the same odd language she did recently.
I know that animals dream. Both she and other cats and dogs I have known have showed signs of it, legs twitching like they were running, perhaps mewing softly. This is different. She is definitely trying to articulate sounds which she is otherwise incapable. I have lived with many cats and three dogs over the course of my life and no other animal, save one dog, who kind of barked “mama” when coaxed, has ever spoken.
I’d like to record the syllables Sylvie speaks but it happens so seldom it would be hard to catch. I wonder if she is being possessed by a discarnate being. I’d like to hear from anyone with a similar experience.
Addendum: I recall receiving information in the past, retrieved through meditation that cats, specifically felis domesticus, led other existences during their copious sleep-time in our physical realm, so this is a possible explanation.
Fahrusha's Weblog 
December 5, 2011 at 4:0 1
Hi Fahrusha, One of my friends had a little dog (Pikipoo I think) that would respond very clearly to her when she said, “I love you.” That little dog would say it back to her as clear as any human. I don’t know if the dog talked in her sleep. My friend never mentioned it.
December 5, 2011 at 4:0 1
Hi Shelia, I would love to have seen that dog in action! What you are speaking of is mimicry, kind of what my childhood dog Cindy did when she said “Mama” and that is in itself an amazement. Parrots practice mimicry very well and it has been shown that they have some comprehension. This is rather different. I cannot understand the cat’s vocalizations, but when it happened they were long, intricate, and involved sounds that were not observed before in cats by me.
Thank you for your comment. Maybe you could ask your friend if her dog spoke in his sleep. It would be interesting to know.
December 6, 2011 at 4:0 1
I shared dreams with one of my cats but he never talked in his sleep. According to Buddhist beliefs, we can incarnate as any sort of being–if one sees a beautiful fur coat and admires it, perhaps you will enter a mother cat’s body. So, perhaps your kitty remembers a language from a past life.
I also notice that animals seem to suddenly be developing new and unusual behaviors, as though they are making an evolutionary leap forward.
December 6, 2011 at 4:0 1
Thanks Roxan, for the comment. Cats have also appeared in my dreams frequently and some have played active roles. As to animals developing new behaviors, perhaps it is some of humankind which are evolving sufficiently to perceive these animal talents as well. Maybe (hopefully) we are all vibrating at a higher level, but observing the national political scene makes me feel that that is merely wishful thinking. 😉
December 14, 2011 at 4:0 1
The notion that humans can learn from animals talking to us is foreign to the western mind (scientific, religious, and even esoteric), which has always viewed humans as a “higher” form of life, intelligence, or consciousness (or even as the exclusive possessors thereof–recall René Descartes, who thought of animals as inanimate “robots” who could not even experience pain.). For us it’s a “Doctor Doolittle” fairy-tale. But it was neither fantasy nor foreign to the indigenous tribes, who viewed animals as closer to the Creator, and in many ways superior to us humans. As Eagle Chief of the Pawnee Indian tribe said: “In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell men that he showed himself through the beasts, and that from them, and from the stars and the sun and the moon should man learn . . . all things tell of Tirawa.” The Zuni, Sioux, and most of the other native American peoples I know of held similar views. In the Bible, Eve, of course, heard a snake talk–but that was supposed to be a disaster, after all, and the last time we should ever listen to animals talk. But maybe that’s just silly propaganda, no? I side with the Indians, however, so I accept what you say as a matter of course. I’d be curious of you could deliberately re-create or recall what you heard through some sort of active imagination or other meditative technique.
December 15, 2011 at 4:0 1
Dear Joe,
Thank you for your comment. I have never been a proponent of the idea that humans were a higher form of life so I certainly agree with the concepts you and the Native Americans propose. I even feel as though my companion animals, other animals, plants and some nonphysical beings communicate with me and others (including you) mostly through what seems to be a kind of telepathy. I’ve even told other persons what I thought their companion animals were thinking. I’ve observed animals appearing to successfully communicate with one another. But this is the only time I’ve experienced an animal speaking a language that their physiology would indicate they should not be able to do.
I am going to try to be calmer and more present if and when she speaks again, but I think if I attempt to recreate what I heard I will not convince myself that what I imagine is what she actually said. I will probably try to meet her in the Dreamtime.
Best,
Fahrusha
November 22, 2012 at 4:0 1
Hello i just stumbled here while searching animal sleep talking. its weird that you were listening to binaural beats at the time. i have been running binaural software at night recently and noticed the cat talking now and before what seemed like back and forth voicing between two or more people/ cats. scared me cause it sounded like actual talking and it sometimes is sad or angry. im going to try and record it.
November 23, 2012 at 4:0 1
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for your comment. Oddly Sylvie was mumbling last night also. Much lower volume than the other times, maybe something she does more often than I am aware. She was definitely asleep. Please get back to me if you do manage to record your cat’s conversations.
Best,
Fahrusha
September 6, 2019 at 4:0 1
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