Night terrors, often known as sleep terrors, have a sure way of making us feel rattled. After all, who wants to have anything other than peaceful sleep? Unfortunately, for those of us experiencing night terrors, undisturbed sleep is hardly ever achieved. Night terrors are a form of sleep disturbance that occurs when your brain is partially asleep and partially awake.
They occur during non-REM sleep, often at the beginning of a sleep cycle, and can last up to 40 minutes. Unlike a nightmare where you wake up rattled from a bad dream, during a night terror, you’re left screaming and shaking but eventually fall back asleep. When you wake up, you likely have no recollection of what happened.
Night terrors, however, are not distinctly human. They can also happen to your beloved pets.
Can Animals Have Night Terrors?
Mammals like dogs, cats, rats, and elephants are especially prone to nightmares and night terrors. In fact, if you’ve ever heard your pet whimper or scream while they’re sleeping, they’re most likely experiencing a night terror.
Your pet may be experiencing night terrors if they display any of the following behaviors while sleeping:
Rapid eye movements
Rapid breathing
Twitching
Barking, growling, howling, or purring
Intense chewing or biting
Sudden uncontrolled body movements
Do Animals Remember Having These Night Terrors?
What makes night terrors scarier than nightmares is that your pet may not recall the experience at all and, therefore, can become especially rattled when they wake up briefly in the middle of a night terror episode.
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology, night terrors can often lead to a very brief and abrupt awakening, which may be accompanied by automatic defensive movement. This can be displayed in pets through aggressive behavior upon waking up, like growling, barking, or even biting.
Read More: Do Animals Dream and How Can We Tell?
What Causes Night Terrors in Animals?
When scientists studied a group of rats' brain activity during their sleep, their research found that physical and emotional trauma recall and stress can cause heightened brain activity during the rodent’s sleep. Scientists reached this conclusion by studying a group of rats that were blasted with a small gust of non-harmful air as they made their way through a maze.
Researchers noted certain activity in different regions of the brain as this event happened. Later, as the rats slept, these same regions of the brain would light up alongside activity in the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory recall, as well as the amygdala, the brain region responsible for emotions, likely indicating that the rats may have been experiencing the anxious events of the day again in their sleep.
While it is not possible to know for certain what the rats were dreaming of, just like humans, animals can also experience nightmares after traumatic experiences. For instance, a verbally or emotionally abused dog may experience nightmares or night terrors due to recalling past experiences in their dreams. This is because research shows that these pets, similar to humans, dream about waking life. Therefore, anxious, traumatic, or stressful activities can also show up in their dreams and disrupt sleep.
Night terrors are “sudden fearful reactions that occur during transitions from one sleep phase to another,” according to Harvard Medical School. These reactions can be heightened by not only psychological reasons but also physical ones, like your pet having a fever, experiencing a seizure, or being in physical pain. Medications can also be the culprit for your pet’s night terrors. If you suspect medications to be tampering with your pet’s sleep patterns, then it's best to discuss this with your veterinarian before stopping or changing them.
Read More: Can Cats Dream? What Do Their Sleep Patterns Tell Us?
Treating your Pet’s Night Terrors
Getting your pet some medical attention is the best way to help them through night terrors, nightmares, or any other sleep disorders. It can be especially helpful to record video or audio proof of your pets’ night terrors so that their needs are addressed properly.
There are also some steps you can take at home to ensure that your pet gets the best quality sleep. For instance, since stress and anxiety have been pinpointed as some of the causes of night terrors, you can ensure that your pet has a low-stress and relaxed environment during the day. Giving them that extra attention in the daytime through play and cuddles can help promote deep and anxiety-free sleep at night.
Just like humans, animals also need a peaceful environment to help them sleep soundly. To minimize unwanted sleep disturbances, you can make sure that your pet has a quiet, dark, and comfortable sleeping environment. If their night terror episodes are particularly violent, then a crate may be needed for their safety.
If you think your pet is experiencing night terrors, it is best to proceed with caution and not wake them up suddenly, as they may still feel unsafe and unable to properly perceive their current environment. Instead, try to let your pet sleep through the episode, but be sure to record their behavior to show the veterinarian later. If you feel that they are in extreme physical pain and need to seek medical attention, then it is best to wake them up by calling out their name.
Read More: Can Animals Have Sleep Disorders?
Donna has a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Psychology from Marquette University. Her collection of work features deep dives into human psychology as well as the latest health and technology news. Her work has also been published in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including wikiHow, All That's Interesting, Health Digest, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
