Animals in dreams often represent basic, instinctive drives, such as the drive to find food, to have sex, to build a home or to be recognized within a social group. Pets in dreams represent the basic drives to care for others, to be cared for by others and to give and receive love.
If you dream about a pet, you may be feeling dependent on someone and not fully in control of a situation. Such a dream can also mean that someone you know is in a vulnerable position and needs your emotional support. A dream of a pet can also symbolize a need to be loved unconditionally. It can also stand for a desire to have children.
A pet can symbolize an aspect of your personality. For example, a cat can represent independence, a dog can represent loyalty, a horse can represent energy and enthusiasm, and a ferret can symbolize playfulness.
If you dream of a pet that you have now, or of a pet from your past, your unconscious mind may be reminding you of the feelings you associate with that pet. These could be, for example, love, affection, comfort or grief. The meaning of the dream will depend upon what your relationship with that pet is like or was like in waking life.
Caring for Your Dream Pet
Dreaming that you are caring for a pet or that you are purchasing pet supplies is a sign that you have been considering your own emotional needs.
However, if you dream that your pet hasn’t been cared for, and is hungry, thirsty or not properly groomed, you may neglecting your own needs, particularly your need for companionship and your need for affection. Dreaming that you are fighting with a pet is also a sign that you are neglecting these needs.
Jung believed that if you dream about pets that are starving or being destructive, you are ignoring your inner nature.
Saving Your Dream Pet’s Life
Dreaming that you have saved your pet’s life can be a sign that you are acknowledging the qualities in yourself that the pet represents. It can also mean that you have been feeling vulnerable and overwhelmed and that you need to be rescued.
Pets that Talk
A talking pet can represent your ability to reach your potential.
Some people believe that if you dream of a pet that talks, its words represent mystical or supernatural knowledge. This is especially true if the pet is very old, for example, if the pet is an old tortoise.
Unusual Pets
An unusual or exotic pet – an animal that many people would not think of as a pet – can represent your latent creative potential. It is a small part of your wild nature that you will be able to tame.
In your dream, any negative qualities you may associate with that animal in the wild will be replaced by positive ones.
For example, while a wild rat in a dream can represent disease and danger, a pet rat can symbolize intelligence and caring. A wild snake can symbolize anger, envy and poisonous thoughts, but a pet snake can represent wisdom and healing.