I agree, dreams are not just random neurons firing.  I've had enough lucid dreams to be convinced of that. 

I'm intrigued by what it appears my cat can do because I've attempted to share dreams with my friends with little success.  We attempted this by making the same intentions to share a dream with each other before bed, but it never worked.  It seemed like there was something we were missing for the whole equation to work.  Perhaps there needs to be some quantity of emotional energy behind those intentions that was missing at the time. 

That's interesting you felt that your cat had died in real life when you had your dream about her.  I had a similar feeling after the first couple times my cat showed up in my dreams while I was away.  It gave me the feeling that something traumatic had happened to him.  The most recent time, he had escaped right before we left, so we weren't sure if our neighbors would be able to let him back into the house again.  I wasn't sure if I was going to have a cat when I came home or not.  Luckily our neighbors had found him and brought him back into the house. 

limukala:

That's a great story and a good reminder that our animal friends never really leave us.  I have two younger daughters and they seem to be more dog people too.  My wife is more of a dog person as well.  I'm the only cat person in our family.  I feel like my cat, being male, helps balance things in a household dominated by females

Now for the strange part, I dreamed I was dead one night.  It didn't disturb me, but I thought I should find my grandpa, since he is the dead person I know best.  I couldn't find him though, but a HUGE orange cat (tit tat was orange) came up (waist high or so).  When I asked who it was, it said "tit tat".  I was blown away.  I walked with my old cat until I woke up, though I never found my grandpa.  I'm guessing it was so big because that is about how large it was in relation to me.  What is really amazing is that in my memory tit tat was an orange tabby, with lots of white stripes.  In my dream he was more solid orange, but when I told this to my mother she told me that my dream was more accurate than my memory!!

I'm thinking my daughter is more a dog/wolf person though, since she is absolutely enamored with dogs and wolves (also, I had a wolf spirit save me from a malicious entity a few years ago, so maybe it was through her unborn spirit, who knows).

My theory is that my cat or perhaps other cats have the ability to enter the dreams of individuals at will when they are distressed.

Of course they can!     Our dreams are not always just neurons firing and telling us stories to pass the time while the body rests and recuperates.  Often times we can meet up with people - animals - in other realms during our sleep state, leaving our bodies behind in our beds.

Sort of similar, yes.   I think maybe in 2003 it was the cat that I used to have in the early 90s appeared in one of my dreams.   It's a long story, but back in '93 I had to give this cat back to my mom because I just wasn't in a place in life where I could have taken care of her.  It ate at me for YEARS and I never got over that.  First it had been my family's pet, then I got her when she was about 2-3 years old.  But then I just couldn't keep her. She was a beautiful black and white female cat with gold eyes, named Patches.  So in this dream she appeared to me and I was holding her and she looked so...serene and happy and beautiful.  Then she merged into my current cat, and that was the end of the dream.  I got the impression that possibly she had just died in real life and paid me a visit in my dream state, because I'd never dreamed about her before that I can remember anyway.  Who knows though.  Could just be overactive neurons or something. 

Just last week my family and I took a vacation to Colorado to visit friends and family.  A few days into the trip I had a dream about my cat.  He was playing in an enclosed patio area in a place I felt was familiar but didn't completely recognize.  I turned on a switch that was supposed to open a little cat door we had built for him.  Instead the wiring wasn't hooked up and sitting on the floor where he was playing with it.  I saw him start to buzz as if being electrocuted.  I immediately turned off the power, but by that time he had fizzed out.  I got a uneasy feeling that I had just killed my cat.  I walked into the other room where he came up to me and started purring on my leg.  I was glad to see him, but confused because it appeared I had killed him in the other room. 

In another dream about a month ago I saw him again in a dream when I was gone on a 5 day trip.  I remember putting him in a travel bag and carrying him around.  For some reason the bag kept getting knocked around and dropped.  It wasn't anything intentional, it was just due to the way I was getting around in this particular dream.  I remember opening the bag later and my cat walked out looking dizzie like he was about ready to tip over. 

Most of the time these dreams involve something traumatic happening to my cat.  It's as if he's trying to tell me something through my dreams. 

I typically don't think much about my cat when I'm away from home, yet he still ends up appearing in my dreams more often than what I would consider a stastical anomally.  My theory is that my cat or perhaps other cats have the ability to enter the dreams of individuals at will when they are distressed. 

I'm just curious if any of you have had similar experiences?