I Dreamed Cali Died!!

[Rochester Piggy]

So I dreamed me and my fiance were camping and we brought Cali (she is very aggressive towards other pigs so she is alone). I dreamed we went for a walk and I came back and found Cali dead. I woke up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder. I got out of bed and literally fell down. I was BAWLING and started having a panic attack. I was screaming "GIVE ME MY GUINEA PIG!!!" at my fiance over and over. He remained calm and said he wasn't going to get Cali until I stopped screaming. He sat on the floor and hugged me, whispering "It's ok. It was just a dream." until I stopped screaming. Then he went and got Cali. She was completely healthy and fine. Does this mean she's going to die soon? i'm usually not superstitious, but this is freaking me out. Has anyone ever had dreams about their piggies dying?

 

[TheLottiediarys]

I honestly think this just mean that subconsciously you were thinking of your Guinea Pig,
Have they had any medical problems lately?
Have you been thinking of their age? Anything like that might lead to your subconscious worrying that your pet might pass away soon,

I don't think it means anything untoward is going to happen to Cali,

I've had some pretty bad dreams about my Guinea Pigs before,
For some reason it's always them escaping their hutch outside and I'm trying to pick them all up but there is too many of them to hold,

Try not to worry, nothing bad is going to happen to Cali.
You saw Cali after the dream and Cali was fine,
It sounds like a horrible dream though :/

 

[Rochester Piggy]

I honestly think this just mean that subconsciously you were thinking of your Guinea Pig,
Have they had any medical problems lately?
Have you been thinking of their age? Anything like that might lead to your subconscious worrying that your pet might pass away soon,

I don't think it means anything untoward is going to happen to Cali,

I've had some pretty bad dreams about my Guinea Pigs before,
For some reason it's always them escaping their hutch outside and I'm trying to pick them all up but there is too many of them to hold,

Try not to worry, nothing bad is going to happen to Cali.
You saw Cali after the dream and Cali was fine,
It sounds like a horrible dream though :/

Cali is 3 and has no medical issues. I snuggled her last night and she was fine then. She even got her first fennel yesterday and loved it!

 

[TheLottiediarys]

Well her age and no history of medical issues is a pretty good sign that she's healthy then!

I hate to sound all preachy like a therapist but it might be worth taking some time today to sit with Cali and just think about the dream, how it made you feel, and how you felt when you saw she was okay,

That's the sort of thing I do with my therapist when I have a particularly bad experience and it can really help sometimes

 

[Rochester Piggy]

Well her age and no history of medical issues is a pretty good sign that she's healthy then!

I hate to sound all preachy like a therapist but it might be worth taking some time today to sit with Cali and just think about the dream, how it made you feel, and how you felt when you saw she was okay,

That's the sort of thing I do with my therapist when I have a particularly bad experience and it can really help sometimes

Thank you for your help

 

[rome_italy]

do you want a honest reply? this is a sign of an excess of anxiety which could ruin your life, a marriage, a future family...
But you could learn how to menage it... now that you have a big project for your future life, it is time to think about it... at least learning how to avoid bad scenes during the night. Imagine a little child looking at a mother in panick for stupid nightdreams and daily matters. I was one of them and my mother ruined our life until my father had enough and forced her to do something seriously. I often felt ashamed of the crisis of my mother... (anyway she recovered completely with some years of a good psychotherapy).
Love is not enough for a happy marriage... believe me... especially after long years...
Sorry, but I prefer telling the truth, especially when I see an easy solution of the problem (I am not talking of medicines, but a sort of mental training)

 

[Rochester Piggy]

do you want a honest reply? this is a sign of an excess of anxiety which could ruin your life, a marriage, a future family...
But you could learn how to menage it... now that you have a big project for your future life, it is time to think about it... at least learning how to avoid bad scenes during the night. Imagine a little child looking at a mother in panick for stupid nightdreams and daily matters. I was one of them and my mother ruined our life until my father had enough and forced her to do something seriously. I often felt ashamed of the crisis of my mother... (anyway she recovered completely with some years of a good psychotherapy).
Love is not enough for a happy marriage... believe me... especially after long years...
Sorry, but I prefer telling the truth, especially when I see an easy solution of the problem (I am not talking of medicines, but a sort of mental training)

Thank you. So could I do this "mental training" myself at home?

 

[Flutterby]

I really hate dreams like that

 

[Pawz]

I had dreams about loosing a new kitten once. Not death but that she'd somehow get outside and be lost and I would be looking for her and she'd run further and further away.

It's just some form of anxiety over loosing a pet that you love so much. It was after loosing my first cat to a serious illness. I had been extremely attached to the dying cat and I guess I feared suffering that pain again with the kitten. It got better over time.

 

[rome_italy]

Thank you. So could I do this "mental training" myself at home?

I think you could, there are several books which teach different methods. A friend of mine, male, suffers from serious panick attacks, he cannot even drive a car... but he has a job which requires a mental control. Unfortunately he hates going to a "stranger" pshychologist, therefore in these last years he has worked by himself with his mind. Of course he still has his difficulties, but his wife says that something is changed, at least the external reactions which were very bad...
I think you will go on dreaming bad things about Cali and I also will go on dreaming scaring dreams with me got lost (my worst nightmare... I got lost so many times in real life, even during childhood...); but years ago I used to wake up with a sort of heart attack and now I dream of me saying (in the dream!) "okay, it is only a dream...". At least I only wake up scared and angry of such dreams, but my heart seems to be okay...
I mean: we cannot change our brain... but a little control of our stupid reactions can be possible...
And you have a great gift: you are able to express your emotions and to share them with other people around you. A great gift because this is necessary for going on and win the fear...
My mother had a serious issue and she needed a specialist, even because she wasn't young and her anxiety had old roots...
(anyway: Cali is in danger only if you scream... because piggies have fear and can die for fear... ).

 

[Freela]

I think it's a manifestation of anxiety. I know I once had a dream that one of my past pigs, Linney, got snatched by a hawk... at the time I had just lost her cagemate a month or so before and she was going on for surgery to remove a large ruptured cyst on her back, so I was worried about her and I think the dream manifested that. She got through the surgery fine and lived to a ripe old age... so definitely not prophetic.

As someone who has dealt with depression/anxiety over the years, have you ever looked into some means of managing anxiety or panic? Learning some basic meditation techniques have really helped to reconnect to the present and calm myself and not get lost in 'what-ifs.' I know that I suffered really intrusive anxieties during my pregnancies and when my first two kids were young until I finally had to get a handle on it and I wish I had done so much earlier. I actually began practicing Buddhism when my middle child was about one and basic breathing and mindfulness meditations were very helpful to me, as well as learning to let go of things I couldn't control, but there's no need to make it a spiritual practice, and there are plenty of secular mindfulness training methods out there as well that work just as well. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, I just know firsthand how anxiety can rob us of happiness and wish that I had learned to manage it better earlier, before I had children, etc., and I would wish that opportunity for you as well!