# on cats and the breath of babes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 29, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cats-and-the-breath-of-babes/447342 "2008-04-29T11:43:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![motherengine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@motherengine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motherengine)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cats-and-the-breath-of-babes/447342/1 "2008-04-29T11:43:14Z")
For what it is worth, I awoke one evening this last year to find my friends cat creeping forward on my chest with her mouth very close to my own. My idea is that she was interested in my breath, though not due to any connection to a possible soul, but merely as a scent. I have awoke several times to similar behavior and feel just as soulful as ever. My conclusion is that similar nocturnal ventures in the annals of cat curiosity may have led people to create this myth. They are damn strange creatures. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cats-and-the-breath-of-babes/447342/2 "2008-04-29T12:11:43Z")
Welcome, **motherengine** , to the Straight Dope Message Board! Sit down, put your feet up, relax, look around, and we hope you enjoy your stay. I think you will find we are an interesting bunch of loonie… er, people. 😃 When starting a thread around here about one of Uncle Cecil’s columns, we like to put a link to the column in the opening post. You can do this by cutting and pasting the url from your web browser’s address field, like this: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=465968](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=465968) . This helps everyone be certain which of the Perfect Master’s threads you are referencing. In this case, I presume you are talking about [What’s the origin of the myth that cats can suck the breath out of babies?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=465968) Hope you have fun, and again, welcome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![motherengine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@motherengine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motherengine)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cats-and-the-breath-of-babes/447342/3 "2008-04-29T12:42:16Z")
Forget about the soul reference of the first post. I was thinking of a different aspect of the myth not directly addressed in the original question. Godspeed. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cats-and-the-breath-of-babes/447342/4 "2008-04-29T16:37:05Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] \ In this case, I presume you are talking about [What’s the origin of the myth that cats can suck the breath out of babies?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=465968) [/QUOTE] Or possibly even this one, [FIXED LINK](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_081.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cats-and-the-breath-of-babes/447342/5 "2008-04-29T19:15:07Z")
Hehehe, um, yeah. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cats-and-the-breath-of-babes/447342/6 "2008-04-29T20:01:59Z")
My cat’s breath smells like babes. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cats-and-the-breath-of-babes/447342/7 "2008-04-30T19:12:09Z")
I took in a feral kitten once and woke up the next morning to find her sitting on my chest. I only caught a glimpse of her before having to shut my eyes again, because she had apparently been eyeing my eyes with the idea of catching them when they came out! I suffered only the odd sensation of having my eyelids batted (tentatively, at that). Otherwise I escaped without injury.