So, a thread for the cat owners and friends... it was inevitable. Our poor thing hasn't only been sick for the last few weeks (and is being treated of course), it also turned out our only child is highly allergic to her beloved cat... or rather, against cats in general. The doctor's okay with us keeping the cat for now, and testing wether her youngest can opener is really reacting against this particular cat - we also have a few other things we can try out. But this is not good news... So, in the end, we'd have to give in into the inevitable...(find a new home for a sort of family member.) But we're still working out how inevitable it is. Any tips on this? Or anyone interested in taking care of a small black cat for about 18 months, so we can try a desensibilisation therapy in the meantime?
Hi Hsing. I am allergic to cats and had two cats for many years. They even slept on my pillow next to me. Before I had cats, I used to break out in hives all over my body if I touched a cat. I have allergic asthma so had to take a medicine to inhibit the allergic reaction in my lungs (a luekotrine receptor antagonist that is called Singulair in the US) but otherwise I was fine. I developed an immunity to my cats over time. I stil would get hives from them occasionally, but nothing that I couldn't live with. I would have much rather had a few hives than got rid of my cats. One important thing is that the cats were bathed regularly. It's usually the cat's saliva that people are allergic to, not the cat's fur, so when the cat licks its fur clean it actually makes the allergies worse. I found that my allergies could get really bad around other people's cats, because people don't often bathe their cats because the cats clean themselves. Another thing that I noticed is that when my cats weren't feeling well, my allergies would get worse. I had a cat with diabetes and I could often tell when it was time to change the insulin dose just because my allergies would flare up. So it's possible that when your cat gets better your child's allergies will get better. How bad are the allergies - are they of the life threatening variety? Maybe you could just keep the cat in another room and slowly densitise her - like give her a short amount of petting time a day and increase the amount of time she gets to be with the cat every day. Of course you don't want to put your daughter's life in danger, but if it is only a few hives or sniffles the longterm health benefits of having a pet might outweigh the disadvantages of the allergy.
Hi Marcia, Thanks a lot for answering - that's some input. I was looking at a special cat shampoo that is meant to severely reduce the allergens on the cat's fur, moreso than usual pet shampoos. It's called Allerpet, I think. Do you happen to know wether that's bogus? Our Doctor and we agreed to keep the cat around for now - she thinks that during the winter months, my daughter's problems with it might get worse, though. She only had critical asthma attacks so far when she was otherwise ill, or shortly after having been ill when under extreme stress (for example, during a bronchitis, or a week after getting better when she got stuck with her head under a handrail and panicked. Kids... :smile In between, she had a few free months - so I was full of hope that the test wouldn't say "cat allergy", even though the first test did. After all, the cat was around all this time, and the symptoms she kept having - skin etc- were those she had since she was two years old, from before we even had the cat. (We took an allergy test for my daughter before we got the cat, just in case, and back then it was negative.) I have a good friend who is highly allergic against cats, too, but never reacts around ours - maybe our cat isn't that allergy inducing at all... a small hope, I know. But we're getting that tested, which I find very cooperative of our Doctor. The kid has a really, really severe allergy against dust mites, and we're currently working on that - those after all are pets no one misses. It tops everything else by far. I hope she is a bit like me in that regard - I have hayfever and numerous allergies that flare up only when I am having the hayfever at its worst. I have, so to say, several rucksack allergies that only flare up from May to August, even though they -food allergies for the most part- are actually classical all-the-year-allergies. I hope when we fight the main antagonist, with encasings, a strict cleaning regime, and a dust free environment _(as far as that is possible) the rest settles down a bit. But in every case, I as well as her would be absolutely devastated to have to find a new home for our cat. Also, being highly allergic against animals when you have grandparents who keep dogs, birds, horses, and live inbetween two small farms, and back at home, your favourite place in the neighbourhood is an inner city kid's farm - that truly sucks. I have this idea that treating her so she can lead a normal life without being too much aware of her problem is better for her health in the long run. But if she is having trouble again, we will know where to look for the cause - I would have seriously preferred if she was just allergic against onions, like me. By the way, the Doc said cat ellergens are so airborne and resistant that it didn't even matter if the cat stayed in another room or continued sleeping in my daughter's bed. I still take her out of my daughter's room. Again, thanks for any input!
We have a friend who is extremely allergic to cats. The unfortunate thing is most of her friends own them which makes visiting a problem. She visited us one day and within minutes was showing the classic symptoms of swollen glands, puffy eyes, sneezing and coughing. She went outside and took a couple of antihistamine tablets. The 'cure' worked equally as fast. Within another four or five minutes she was back inside, enjoying a cup of tea and stroking 'public enemies #1 and #2'. I remember her saying the effects of the antihistamines only lasted a few hours, but she did claim she was slowly building up a tolerance to cats in general. I'm not saying this may help, but maybe a chat with your own doctor may be helpful. I've included this link about antihistamines that may offer some ideas. Sorry, I have no comparisons between the UK and German health services,, but I hope it may provide some useful information.
Well, as long as it's for my daughter, our health service pays for everything within reasonable limits. I'm just not sure wether they'll describe antihistamins for a six year old girl... Me, I get mine over the counter. I guess they're nothing you'd give a small child...
So I haven't been on these boards in awhile but I have moved from Michigan to South Dakota and my boyfriend got a job at PetCo and someone left a kitten in a box outside in their cart corral. We adopted him even though only certain buildings in out apartment complex are designated as pet buildings and we aren't in one, but we're hiding him anyway. He's just to cute to send to the Humane Society.
He is! Lucky him! (From tomorrow on I'll occasionally help out in a kitten shelter. It's a replacement activity for not being able to become a crazy cat lady due to my family, their overall allergies and responsibility! :wink
Doggy corner? I couldn't find any thread for doggies so I'll post my doggy-baby here, pictures can be found in my album. I know it's somehow a tradition of fantasy fans to own cats (Why this is?). I've owned cats before myself, the last one went to my parents for it needed to run free in the wilderness (in other words it was making a total devastation in my apartment). But now for my doggy, he's almost like a cat (probably due to my bad or non-existing training methods). He's a mix breed and one of the breeds is said to be a mix between dog and cat. Doggy is also one of the most stubborn beings that I've come across, only thing that sometimes works are treats. I probably treat my doggy too nicely, I just can't say no to him or be demanding (like military style). Maybe he's my little baby substitute. He's small like me but all fire inside, once he tried to chew a head off from a doberman... I should be embarrased of him and sometimes it's hard to go for a walk (there are many other dogs out there he doesn't like). There is gladly a fair bit of loving in a little package of my dog, he likes people (and not just for chewtoys). The dog in the cover of the Making Money novel reminds me of him I wouldn't change him for any perfect-behaving-golden retreiver.
