One recurring element in my dreams is that I will neglect pets. Often during the course of my dream’s main plot, I’ll have small pets of some kind. Most often, it’s rabbits (likely because I used to have caged rabbits growing up), but sometimes it’s hamsters or mice or occasionally small cats.

At some point, I’ll realize that I’ve grossly neglected them–I’ll have not fed them for days or changed their litter for weeks. The animals will be sick or at least crazed in desperation to survive. Naturally, the dream will mostly come to a halt as I’m washed over with guilt and scramble to take care of them.

The best that I can figure is that this all comes from some underlying guilt about neglecting responsibilities. Anything from not keeping a solid track of my finances or the maintenance of my car to not giving enough appreciation to friends or family. These dream pets are probably manifestations of my own regrets.

I’m curious what the significance would be of finding pets that have died. So far, they’ve all been found alive, despite not having eaten in days and living in complete filth. Are the manifestations only effective if I find them in suffering? Is it because it affects me more to empathize with the suffering creature than to mourn my own loss by their passing?

The mind is a very strange machine. I may never know if my unconscious is trying to communicate with my conscious in order to make healthy changes or if I’m simply witnessing how my unconscious protects my conscious in how it copes with disturbance.