Where did the myth of cats stealing your breath as you sleep come from?
What do we have with cats anyway? Cat got your tounge, 9 lives, black cat, the breath thing. Why do we hate cats so much, apart from the fact that dogs are clearly superior?
all the cat myths go as far back as the time of the pharos and i have no idea why.most of them have cats as evil. why?
…and where are my manners? A hearty “Welcome to the boards!” to you.
Because cats are evil soul-devouring monstrosities. Believe me, I am an expert on sould-devouring.
Chandeleur,thankyou for the welcome and the info it was a lot of help. I still dont see why so many people over time have thought cats=evil
Yep Chandeleur. I also heard that it came from the fact that cats like warmth. They also like milk. Where can they find both? In a cradle, with a baby. Cut to the olden days, where superstition & ignorance runs rampant: Baby drinks his milk before retiring…perhaps some dribbles down his chin. Meanwhile, the cat is looking for a nice, warm place to sleep. Hops into the cradle, smells the milk, proceeds to clean up the baby’s chin. EGAD! It looks like the cat is trying to suffocate the baby!! IT’S STEALING HIS BREATH WHILE HE SLEEPS!!! Another myth is born. I think a lot of people hate cats because you can’t get them to obey you, as a dog will. Dogs need the approval of the pack leader, which is his human master. Cats don’t need anyone’s approval. They don’t come to you…you go to them. And even then, they may just turn tail and walk away. You cannot control a cat, or tell it what to do. It has an air of self-possession. “A cat may look at a king.” “Touch not the cat without a glove.” Think of how the ignorant populace during medieval times viewed an animal that acted like that. Nocturnal…stealthy, sensual. If it was black cat…well, that was the devil’s color. The familiar of the witch. And any cats found roaming the streets were burned right along with people convicted of being witches. Funny how some of the only people who survived the onslaught of the Black Plague were the women suspected of being witches. Why? They secretly kept cats. Cats ate the rats. Rats carried the plague. Too bad more than half the population of Europe was wiped out by the plague before they figured this out. The cat slowly came back into favor because the need to control plague-bearing rats was more important than supposed witchery. Some superstitions still remain, and some folks just don’t like an animal that will not be tamed.
You can see the lion in any cat, but can you see the wolf in a chihuahua? Oh, well…Just a few long-winded thoughts of the historical kind.
Stare into a dog eyes and you can read just about anything you want. Stare into a cats eyes and you are staring into the unknowable.Cats fascinate us because we just can’t seem to figure them out. Cats seem completely underwhelmed with Humans, They tolerate us as long as we are properly training to feed them on demand and pet them when necessary. Sorry, this has nothing to do with your orginal question, I just can’t resist an opportunity to talk about cats.
That was great. Priceless. Thank you.
My cat climbs on my chest while I sleep on a regular basis. I suppose, if I was a lot less fond of him, I might find it disturbing to wake up and find a cat on my chest. Instead of scratching him behind the ears and going to sleep, I suppose I might scream “Augh! He’s crushing my lungs!” Especially if I already thought cats were evil.
I’ve had many cats over the years, as well as a few dogs. My favorite was a dog, but cats are better overall…I’ve noticed that most people who hate cats don’t have the greatest personalities in the world, but a dog will love any asshole.
IIRC all of my cats were known to sleep on my chest, from time to time. If a cat were to sleep on a baby’s chest, I could certainly see how that could present difficulties for the baby. Also, the “milk on baby’s breath” idea could work in concert & help with the myth, especially if the baby had already succumbed to the cat’s weight on his poor chest. However, I think most cats would be smart enough not to perch on a baby’s chest.