If you own a pet in your dream, your unconscious is drawing your attention to your ability to look after someone or something more vulnerable than yourself. It is also a symbol of unconditional love, and being sensitive to the distress and needs of others. Alternatively, it may also represent an aspect of your character or personality that you feel you should use in a particular situation.
If a woman dreams of baby pets, this may signify her desire for children; if adults of either sex dream of baby pets, it may be relating to their feelings of dependency and how they feel about not being fully in control.
If children dream about pets, this may similarly refer to their feelings of being dependent, but will generally represent their desire for unconditional love from their parents or carers.
If the pet you dream about is familiar to you, the interpretation will very much rest on the nature of your relationship with that particular pet.
Dreams in which you are caring for your pet or shopping for pet supplies show that you are paying attention to your emotional needs or making sure you get what you need. But if a pet appears starving, uncared for and without food or water, this suggests that you are not taking enough care of your own basic needs for affection and attention. Perhaps you are too busy and have forgotten your needs, or perhaps you are so wrapped up in caring for the needs of someone else that you have neglected your own. To dream that you are saving the life of your pet suggests that you are successfully acknowledging certain emotions and characteristics represented by the animal. The dream may also stem from feelings of inadequacy or feeling overwhelmed. Dreams which feature pet shows or competitions can suggest pride in your achievements and emotional confidence, Strange and unusual pet
In general, when dreaming of strange or unusual pets that would most typically be found living in the wild, any negative associations with that particular animal, insect or reptile are replaced by positive associations. For example, the general associations with wild rats are extremely negative but if you dream of a pet rat, the associations are quite different. Pet rats in dreams suggest vulnerability, instinctive intelligence and the caring feelings. In dreams, wild snakes conjure up images of worries, fears and poisonous words and deeds; but if you dream of a pet snake, this can indicate healing and enlightenment.
Any exotic or unusual pet is like a small part of untamed nature and in dreams they can represent personal growth, untapped creative energies and a sense of new-found respect, wonder, curiosity and excitement about life and the adventures it sends your way. Take the Madagascar hissing cockroach, for example, which is kept by some people as a pet. The very name sends a chill up the spine of some people but those people who keep such cockroaches as pets are fascinated at the elaborate rituals these creatures have developed to defend territory, produce offspring or simply to identify themselves. So if a hissing cockroach or any other scary creature-turned-pet such as a tarantula or Bengal tiger appears in your dreams and you are happy to care for it, this is a sign that you are conquering your hidden fears.
See also ANIMALS; INSECTS AND ARACHNIDS; REPTILES, FISH AND AMPHIBIANS.
but they can also suggest the potential for arrogance.
Animals symbolize the untamed and uncivilized aspects of yourself, so to dream that you are fighting or struggling with your pet suggests that you are trying to reject or hide your need for affection and companionship in waking life. To dream of talking pets suggests that you are listening to some form of superior or mystical knowledge. What the animal is saying to you will usually be some form of wisdom, particularly if the pet is very old, like a tortoise.
Alternatively, a talking pet denotes your potential to be all that you can be.