If you’re worried that keeping your cat around will cause allergy or asthma problems for your baby or toddler, fear not. It’s fine for fluffy to stay in your home, according to a study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. In fact, your feline friend may actually protect your child against asthma researchers at the Columbia center for children’s environmental health in New York City found that young children who lived with cats were more likely to develop allergy related antibodies to them. Further, kids in the study who had cats in their home were less likely to have asthma symptoms by age 5 than those without feline housemates. The researchers haven’t recommended getting a cat specifically for protective purposes, but they conclude that keeping your child away from cats to protect against asthma may not be necessary.