Ginger Cat's Unusual Sleeping Habit Hailed as 'Cutest Thing Ever'

A ginger cat has achieved internet notoriety after his owner shared hilarious footage of the feline hissing in his sleep.

Loki the cat's unique habit was showcased in a clip shared to TikTok by a user posting under the handle lokithegingercat_. "NEVER have I seen this before!!! It was the cutest thing ever!" a caption to the footage reads.

It's proved popular to say the least, with the 11-second video racking up over 3.8 million viewers from astonished pet fans.

It's common knowledge that cats enjoy more than their fair share of shut-eye. In fact, the average cat spends around 15 hours a day sleeping, with some snoozing for as long as 20 hours.

What's less known is what goes on during these periods of rest. Namely, do cats dream? And if they do, are these dreams filled with adventures, such as chasing mice or being chased by dogs?

Mikel Delgado, a cat behavior consultant and postdoctoral fellow at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, is a firm believer in the idea that our feline friends enjoy dreams in much the same way as their human companions.

"We see patterns of brain activity, including low-amplitude, high-frequency patterns and physical behaviors, that suggest cats are in what is called paradoxical sleep, or REM sleep," Delgado said in an interview on the Dog People website.

He said this indicates that cats are capable of dreaming. And the cat behaviorist has a pretty good idea of what they could be dreaming about.

"I would assume that cats dream about their experiences in their daily lives, and that would likely include the humans or other animals they live with," he said.

All of which begs the question: What is Loki dreaming about?

In the video shared by his owner, the ginger cat can be seen hissing in his sleep. Is he warding off an imaginary dog or reenacting some other animal encounter from his day? That's certainly what it looks like.

In any case, the sight of a cat hissing in his sleep was unique in itself to some, and it was certainly met with astonishment on social media.

Milissa Goodgion commented, "I've never seen a cat do that before," and njaul1 was equally surprised, writing, "I've never seen this with any of my kitties across the decades."

Coolbluecarpet agreed with Loki's owner that "this is the cutest thing I've ever seen," while Modern Vintage Studio loved "the little nose movement" the cat made.

Elsewhere, pet fans were busy speculating about what Loki could have been dreaming about.

Danie_rain was convinced Loki was acting like the "Lion King in his dream." Sixonebeauty1986 joked, "Definitely giving out them paws of life in his dreams," while SpicyMama said he was busy "threatening them squirrels."