Medical facts: baby ear piercing & outside sleeping

[Idefix]

Not long ago a baby sleeping outside was killed by a cat that had jumped up and laid himself on the baby's face (this happened in Sweden somewhere).

[AldenG]

Not long ago a baby sleeping outside was killed by a cat that had jumped up and laid himself on the baby's face (this happened in Sweden somewhere).

It would be good if you could find the actual newspaper story.

This is such a persistent old-wive's tale through the centuries about cats killing babies by lying on them or by stuffing their noses into the baby's mouth that all such reports are extra suspect. I suppose there's nothing to say it couldn't actually happen, other than the circumstance that most reports turn out to be unverifiable. But for a report in this category to be believed, it really needs hard evidence.

[Idefix]

Not long ago a baby sleeping outside was killed by a cat that had jumped up and laid himself on the baby's face (this happened in Sweden somewhere).

It would be good if you could find the actual newspaper story.

This is such a persistent old-wive's tale through the centuries about cats killing babies by lying on them or by stuffing their noses into the baby's mouth that all such reports are extra suspect. I suppose there's nothing to say it couldn't actually happen, other than the circumstance that most reports turn out to be unverifiable. But for a report in this category to be believed, it really needs hard evidence.

http://www.smp.se/nyheter/tt_inrikes/sp ... Nyheter%29
http://www.nyhetsverket.se/readNews.html?id=3379

I have never heard of such a thing before.

[AldenG]

Thanks for taking the trouble to dig up the links. What a sad thing to happen, and from a sociable animal just doing what comes naturally.

This is the first substantiated case I've ever seen, though I've come across the rumors a lot.

In our house, it's the cats who are in danger. They always want to sleep on the bed and they move their places around fairly often. I've knocked one off the bed several times and once almost dropped a whole leg on top of one.

Here's a link for you to one version of the rumor; this one is about cats deliberately killing babies:

Snopes on Cat Rumor

[Idefix]

Thanks for taking the trouble to dig up the links. What a sad thing to happen, and from a sociable animal just doing what comes naturally.

This is the first substantiated case I've ever seen, though I've come across the rumors a lot.

In our house, it's the cats who are in danger. They always want to sleep on the bed and they move their places around fairly often. I've knocked one off the bed several times and once almost dropped a whole leg on top of one.

Here's a link for you to one version of the rumor; this one is about cats deliberately killing babies:

Snopes on Cat Rumor

Thanks for that link. Wow, never heard about someone thinking cats deliberately kill before. It mentions a case where they thought a cat suffocated a baby in 2000, but it was later determined not true, the baby died of sudden infant death syndrome. They were speculating if that was the case with the baby in Sundsvall in 2008 too, but I have seen no definite answer to that question. Maybe an autopsy was performed and could really determine the cause, but you seldom see the results of those in the papers.

[Henry-Finland]

This is the man that thought the Finnish mothers to put the children out for sleep:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvo_Ylpp%C3%B6
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Arvo_Ylpp%C3%B6

He gave still lectures at the age of 102 years old, if I remember right.

Henry