Interesting link..thanks!
I love cats, but I'll never have another one since I read an article in a cat magazine that all cats-both genders, even when neutered, mark their territory by spraying urine, which can catch the house on fire if they hit an outlet. It said that a large percentage of house fires are probably caused by indoor cats. Also, we used to have an indoor cat but right after my son was born, I came into the bedroom to find the cat on the baby's face, sucking his breath. I'd read that, but didn't believe it. Cat lovers routinely deny all this, but I noticed that in cat magazines, breeders had shifted their indoor cats into wire kennels.

The same with parrots; I used to keep a bird collection in the living room until I read in a cage parrot magazine that even having a parakeet in your home reduces your lifespan by 15 yrs, the same as if you are a smoker. Parrot owners who read the magazine squawked about it, but most hastened to build separate rooms for their birds with filtered air.

Haven't heard that breath-sucking thing in years. Don't think cats can suck, certainly not forcefully enough to hurt a baby. My cats don't spray but when the male gets annoyed with me he poops on the carpet, right next to the bed if he thinks I'm sleeping too late. Have you been reading about the cat who knows when people are dying?

Cats are attracted to the milk smell of a baby's breath. They are unable to suckle anything, even when nursing from their mother. They express the milk by kneading the mother's teets and lap it up with their tongues.

Some cats mark, some don't. I had a neutered male whom I caught marking, but he was the only one of five cats who did it, and I suspect because I waited until he was more mature to neuter him, and also because he was an inside/outside barn cat who was accustomed to marking over feral cats outside and also who felt he had to establish dominance with the inside hoard on occasion. Cats have pecking orders, and territories, and well-adjusted inside cats work it out amicably until a new cat invades their personal space. Much like humans. Some diseases harboured by cats, like toxoplasmosis, can be dangerous in home situations under certain circumstances, like for pregnant women. That's why they should not handle litter pans if possible.

Exotic birds garnered from the wild certainly did/do have the potential to spread some diseases humans can catch. Since laws have been instituted banning it for many species, it's not as big a problem as it used to be. But, some birds have life spans longer than humans, so there are many wild born exotic birds still in households as pets.

Yes, animals can pass some diseases back and forth with humans, but like the article suggests, humans can infect them too. But with proper maintenance of pets, and a little knowledge before the fact and good hygiene, it isn't usually an issue. I suspect, since humans are such good germ pools for each other, we come into contact, daily, with more potentially dangerous germs just shopping, going to school and day care and shaking hands.

Rachel, do you really believe this stuff??? I hope you are just joking...

kinda silly, isn't it?

It's not 'silly'.......and it's hard to convince someone who's seen a cat up in their baby's face, and remember that old saying not to believe it.

I have a baby and three cats. Still, I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read what Rachel had written :) Not just about baby, but also about fire. If she's not joking and seriously afraid of keeping a cat because of these reasons, I could let her know a trip to the baby safety section to buy outlet plugs will solve this problem :)

cjc45 -
I fail to see how keeping cats at home would have helped that cat. It got the flu from its owners, not a local pig farm.

LG, I wasn't referring to a particular cat. A cat can catch things from other humans and from other cats which it can then pass on to its "family." I do admit that there are far stronger reasons to keep your cat at home, ie cars and coyotes.