Can cats really steal a baby's breath?

This was made into a film called Cat's Eye based on some short stories by Stephen King. Can't can't steal a baby's breath; the tales dates back to the Salem Witch Trials where people were warned that witches could turn into cats and sneak into their houses to avoid being caught and charged.

I know there are some people that swear this is true. And when I had my daughter I had to cats and some family members and friends swore my cats were going to try to kill my baby. My cats never once bothered my baby and the only reason I gave them away is because before my daughter they were my children and very spoiled. After having my daughter I just simply did not have the time to spend with them that I normally did and felt really bad. I found a really sweet woman with 2 older children that were a perfect match for my cats so I gave them away. So anyways, back to the taking the breath thing. One thing I've heard as to why this might happen is because of milk that gets left on the babys breath. I've heard that cats will smell the milk and try to lick it off the babys face in turn hurting the baby. Now I'm not sure how true this twist is on the story but it's just one I've heard.

I have a long haired Himalayan who shed's like there is no tomorrow. We joke that when she gets on you and walks away you have been "Furred". Her fur gets in your mouth and nose and makes it hard to breath. No matter how much she has been brushed. Also, as a kitten she would sleep on face if she could. So I imagine the tale was because of cats sleeping too close to the babies face and suffocating them. Either from free flying fur or from sleeping near their face.

I don't believe in it at all. Our home has cats when I was little until now. Cats doesn't do any harmful things for me. I like them. It's my favorite animal. I think the one who created such a lie might be a dog lover:)

I've always heard that this came from the fact that cats like warm places and babies are warm. Therefore it's thought that your cat would curl up on your baby and end up killing it. This is not something that has ever been proven that a cat killed a baby... it's kind of like the whole "The Dingo Ate My Baby!" thing in Australia...

This is not true. This is a myth, derived from fear of parents that a cat could kill a newborn baby, but scratching it, smothering it, etc. because cats are hunters and do not like to be annoyed. But a cat cannot actually steal a baby's breath.

I have never heard of that before but it probably stems from cats sleeping on babies faces. I have heard many tragedies about this, but it the cat just trying to seek out warmth.

Personally, I think that it was sarted because the cats would lick at the babies faces after nursing....attempting to lap up a thin line of milk....I do not truly believe this....in that I do not think they can "take their breathe away...but it would be easy for them to suffocate a baby if they lounged on top of a small babies face/head area....

That's stupid! The babies die on their own with that common disease that the baby stops breathing. No cat have such power, they're just animals.