Whats the origin of the myth that cats can suck the breath out of babies?
Dear Cecil: How did the myth that cats sometimes steal people’s breath when they sleep get started? — Rick Weaver, North Bay, California Dear Rick: Well, not to be Mr. Paranoid or anything, but I’m not totally sure it’s a myth, and neither are some cat writers, as we shall see. No question, people have been getting freaked about cats for a long time. One cat book notes that to many people, “cats may still presage evil, particularly if they are black; they may still, as has been widely held throughout the world, cause the death of a child by creeping upon it and sucking its breath.” Furthermore, we read, “Lilith, the dark goddess of Hebrew mythology, changed herself into a vampire cat, El-Broosha, and in that form sucked the blood of her favorite prey, the newborn infant.” The authors describe such beliefs as “without factual substantiation.” Maybe, maybe not. Some cat-care experts–folks who presumably would laugh off unfounded legends about cats–warn against allowing a cat into a roo
