Do cats steal your breath?

Answer 1

No they don't.

This lore is first recorded back in 1607. There was even a coroner's inquest in Plymouth, England, in 1791 that ruled a cat had killed a child by "sucking out its breath."

Cats have long been associated with evil and the unknown. This legend is one of those sad parts of that ill-informed time.

If you look to legends and myths from other parts of the globe cats are more good than evil and home with a cat is thought to be very lucky indeed. In Ireland alone, cats with a home are believed to:
-keep mischievious "little folk" away from children and babies.
-prevent banshees from coming to the door.
-if the cat walks down the pathway infront of you in the morning, you'll have good luck all day.
-if a cat rubs heads with a cow it'll calf soon (which brings profit to the farm).

And a parting quote to keep in mind:

"A home without a cat -- and a well fed, well petted and properly revered cat -- may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove its title?" --Pudd'nhead Wilson

Answer 2

No, are you in the Middle Ages or something? The reason people thought cats stole your breath was because cats like to sleep on warm spots (that's why you'll occasionally find Fluffy hidden under the hood of your car- the engine is so warm and toasty.)
The cat sometimes fall asleep on top of a baby in it's crib because the baby was nice and warm. The child would suffocate under the cat, leading to old wives' tales about cats stealing baby's breath.
It didn't help that cats were often thought to be witches' familiars(animal helpers) in disguise. Some young women were even burned at the stake for witchcraft because they owned a cat!
Some people claim they actually saw the cat trying to steal their baby's breath. But if you think about it, you usually give a baby a bottle before bed, right? The cat was just licking some milk off the baby's face.

Answer 3

NO!!!!!
the cat is attacted by the odor of your breath ei.milk. I would never leave any animal in babies room for that reason. The cat is drawing to warm bodies and the comforting sound of a perso;n breathing. The weight of the cat constricts the chest wall. Same as with adult. Oh-- how often I suffered through a leg cramp just so as not to disturb a sleeping cat.

Answer 4

No the reason this myth can about was because cats will sleep in babys cribs and they tend to sleep right up by the face. Well a young child can not push the cat away and there have been cases where the child suffacated because the cat was to close to the face and the child could not breath>> Hope that helps!!

Answer 5

cats stealing breath is the same as cats suffocating babies. pure fantasy. old wives tales & bog-standard demonising of something the (absurd) claimant hates for their own ignorant prejudices. i have shared my beds & cribs with cats (& their kittens) since birth & no ill came of it. nor in 35 yrs of studying animals (especially cats) have i ever heard of a cast-iron proven case of such. only ever rumour. & we all know what that's worth.

Answer 6

no, that is a VERY old wives tale. How could they steal your breath? Think about it.

Answer 7

Yes

Answer 8

no thats a mith, you know sometimes my cats sleeps next to me, very close to my face, but he's not stealing my breath you think he's got time to do that if he is totally asleep??

Answer 9

Yes they do. Just like fairies have parties on toadstools and leprechauns will give you their gold if you catch `em and sailing too far away from the shore will cause you to fall off the earth. Now if you`ll excuse me, I must exercise my unicorn and clip my dragon`s claws.

Answer 10

I'm gonna have to go with the crowd on this one; that's an old Wives tale... better yet, and old hillbilly Dominican wive's tale!