reason for myth that cats steal your breath

catnapt

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 15, 2003
Messages
437
Purraise
11
Location
NH
i always wondered why there was that myth or whatever you would call it, that cats steal your breath while you are sleeping.

well my grandkitty is showing me where it comes from- he comes to me at night, stuffs his nose up my nose, rubs his mouth all over my face, rubs his cheeks all over my hair, sniffs me to make sure i smell good after all this, and then does a little semi circle and plops down with his back or his butt literally ON my face, so that i cannot breathe!


ok, the first few times it was cute, funny even

but now, i would like to be able to sleep without him on my face, any suggestions?

its not possible to keep any of my cats out of the bedroom (i have a mattress on the floor in the living room plus my bed, and quite often my old girl kicks me out of one place so she can have the whole thing- my cats are way too spoiled)

this may sound stupid, but i am afraid if i push him away he wont want to snuggle with me at all, and i love to snuggle with him.

can cats learn that snuggling is ok but blocking off mom's air way is not???
 

tnr1

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Oct 5, 2003
Messages
7,980
Purraise
13
Location
Northern Virginia
Interesting issue you have....my mom has the same situation with their cat. It's almost like he's checking to make sure she is still breathing. My cats actually sleep on either side of my bed. I have put blankets for them to sleep on...and they actually go and lay on their own blanket. Nothing better than waking up with your kitties on either side of you.


Katie
 

enigma

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jun 10, 2005
Messages
291
Purraise
2
Location
Georgia
my cats especialy my ragdoll, LOVE the smell of my breath. (my husband says otherwise in the mornings. . .
) I read someplace that cats are attracted to the milk smell on the babies mouth, and somehow the myth came about that they were trying to steal the babies breath while instead they were checking out that yummy milk smell. funny though that people still believe it!! as the owner of seven (maybe eight if my husband says YES), people always tell me when I start having kids to make sure I do something about the cats. (the way they say that also angers me
)
 

decadenz

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Aug 25, 2005
Messages
362
Purraise
1
Such a weird myth! I have never heard of that over here in Singapore. Anyhow, my friend had a huge Brit blue who would sit on her face in the morning hehe... I think they never got her to stop that habit, apart from shoving her off
 

hbrady

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
Messages
82
Purraise
1
Location
Omaha, NE
Sounds like you're getting some night time luvin' The sitting on your face part sounds similar to what my Josie does. Outwitting cats states that cats put their butt to your face when they identify you as the "mama cat". The mama cat is supposed to clean and inspect the behinds of their kittens. It's their way of calling you mama.
I wouldn't recommend the cleaning part.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

catnapt

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 15, 2003
Messages
437
Purraise
11
Location
NH
Originally Posted by HBrady

Sounds like you're getting some night time luvin' The sitting on your face part sounds similar to what my Josie does. Outwitting cats states that cats put their butt to your face when they identify you as the "mama cat". The mama cat is supposed to clean and inspect the behinds of their kittens. It's their way of calling you mama.
I wouldn't recommend the cleaning part.
aww geez!! and here i thought he wanted me to be his girlfreind


now that i think of it, my Nell used to stick her butt in my face, too, but she never sat on my face....girls are just so much more polite


my babies!!
 

pushylady

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 26, 2005
Messages
16,398
Purraise
451
Location
Canada

Ewww to the cleaning part!
My Wiggies does this sometimes. It's always nice to have a cuddle, but quite a relief when he decides to leave again!
 

aries

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
201
Purraise
2
Bless you! I thought my cats were the only ones that did this.

Thank goodness, they haven't actually sat on my face, but Snow and Pete both used to sit on my chest or shoulder and breath in my face at night. I finally banned them from my bedroom.

I love my kitties , but I am allergic and breathing all that cat hair just kills me. Poor Pete used to be the cleanest cat on the planet. When I first got him and didn't know any better, he got a bath like twice a month. If I get anymore cats in the house, we may have to resume frequent bathing habits.
 

mrod1

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Messages
273
Purraise
1
Location
California
I heard that myth all the time growing up. Its because they like the warmth from your breathing, so they cuddle up on your face or near your face for the warmth. The myth of steeling breath, is because they can suffocate small children by doing this. When I was little, my cat tried one time to go to sleep on my sisters face( Shes Okay). They don't mean any harm by it, but it can be dangerous for small babies and children, since they are not strong enough to push away kitty. When My kids were babies, I put a net cover around the crib, which stop my cat from jumping in the crib. Kitty's just want to be cosy and warm and thats one way of getting warm.
 

mirinae

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
1,292
Purraise
1
Location
Ontario
Originally Posted by enigma

people always tell me when I start having kids to make sure I do something about the cats. (the way they say that also angers me
)
No kidding! It angers me, too. Maybe I've been spoiled, but I've always had positive experiences with cats interacting with babies. When I still lived with my parents, we had my infant cousin visiting for the day and at first my parents' cat was a little wary of the baby (strange smells, strange sounds, plus PJ Cat has never been fond of strangers). Then, we put the baby on a blanket on the floor, and suddenly PJ was like this super-mommy! She had never even seen an infant before, but it was as if she knew exactly how to behave and what to do. She was very attentive towards the baby, and came crying to us when the baby started crying. Heck, she was a better babysitter than I was!


And not too long ago, while I was living with roommates, we had friends bring over their young son. Now, this kid wasn't a baby, but he was under the age of four, and our own cats (there were four in the house at the time: two mine, two my roommates') hadn't been around children before. My roommates' cats just hid, but both my cats turned into incredible sucks! Somehow Spike and Oz got it into their heads that small child = extra cuddles, so they followed this little boy around from room to room in order to be snuggled, petted and otherwise adored. (As is their due, of course!) To be fair, the little boy was extremely well-behaved (it was pretty clear he wanted a pet of his own, and that his father had explained proper treatment of small animals to him), but we had been worried about how our cats would react, given that they had no experience with children. All in all, I think the day was a grand success: the little boy demonstrated to his parents that, despite his young age, he could behave appropriately around pets, and my cats demonstrated to me that when the time comes to expand my little family, things ought to work out just fine!

It irks me when people decide that having children means you have to get rid of the family pet. Then again, I've only heard good things about pet owners who also happened to be the parents of small children. (One story I remember from my childhood was the family cat preventing the toddler from toppling down a flight of stairs in her sleep. The cat perched next to the toddler and was heavy enough to keep the child from rolling down the stairs; meanwhile, kitty was yowling at the top of her lungs to get some parental supervision!)
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
I can sympathize with you. Bijou starts out suckling my neck then moving up onto the pillow with his face inches from mine. Then he moves closer and puts his cheek against my cheek and often has his paw across my nose and mouth completely cutting off my air.

I gently move him down and put my arm around him and he settles in to sleep.
 

tourmaline

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
172
Purraise
2
Location
Ontario, Canada
My kitten does the exact same thing, multiple times through the night. He wipes his mouth, nose and face all over mine, licks my ears and neck for a LONG TIME and then finally settles down on my face! I also live in a bachelor so I can't lock him out! I finally started putting bitter apple on my neck and ears so he won't lick me so much. But the mouth and nose wiping is still driving me crazy. Somestimes I try and sleep with my face hanging over the side of the bed but then he goes nuts in my hair and meows. He is only 14 weeks old so I'm really hoping that he grows out of it. I need to sleep!
 
Top