• @AdmiralShat@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      1610 months ago

      Grown cats can suffocate a baby, but small kittens most likely won’t.

      It’s not that you should “keep them away” it’s that they shouldn’t be left unsupervised.

      I think this image is setting a dangerous precedent. These cats will grow rather quickly and believe it’s okay to hop onto this child’s head and take a nap

          • @fiah@discuss.tchncs.de
            link
            fedilink
            310 months ago

            a severe, possibly life threatening allergic reaction. Not that I heard of this being a risk with babies and cats tho

        • Echo Dot
          link
          fedilink
          110 months ago

          At least with peanuts you’re supposed to feed children peanuts because not eating peanuts as babies is what tends to lead to peanut allergies in later life.

          Perhaps the same is true of cats.

          Although I don’t know of anyone who was allergy to cats is potentially fatal. Presumably because you’re not actually eating cat fur

      • RBG
        link
        fedilink
        710 months ago

        A møøse once bit my sister…

        • @Something_Complex@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          -210 months ago

          Aha you are officially my grandmother, LOL.

          “The notion that your cat will smell the milk on your baby’s breath and suffocate it is an old wive’s tale – one that was even published in medical journals in the early 1900s. “There is a real danger of a fatal termination by suffocation,” a 1905 pediatric journal reads.”

          • Skua
            link
            fedilink
            910 months ago

            To be fair I have absolutely woken up because my cat was asleep on my face and was making breathing difficult. Little dude just likes to cuddle up and get cosy. I have no idea if kids are actually ever accidentally suffocated by cats, but I can totally see how the concern would get started

          • @Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            4
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            Babies that can’t move their head shouldn’t sleep with plushies with “long fur” when they’re too young because of the risk of them breathing in the “fur”, so until they’re old enough to do something about it, they shouldn’t be left to sleep unattended with at cat in the room either, especially a long haired cat.

            There’s also a big difference in strength between a newborn and a baby even just a child of months old, it wouldn’t be surprising that a newborn could get suffocated by a car sleeping on their chest or face…

            In the end the question is… Do you really want to take a chance with a baby?

            • Redjard
              link
              fedilink
              410 months ago

              I wouldn’t hold it against newborns and babies, I think if I got really sick or was otherwise weakened I too might get suffocated by a car sleeping on my chest