fur babies and allergies

mschristie123

So I know that many of you on here are wonderful mommies your fur babies. Recently, DH and I got to talking about possibly getting a kitten, which has been a hard decision to come to! I'm a dog person, DH is a cat person. He doesn't want a dog (doesn't like the work that goes into it), but I've always wanted one. DH is a cat person, and I've never wanted a cat due to allergies. However, my childhood dog (a toy poodle) is 16 years old and in very poor health. It breaks my heart to know that my family will have to put him down soon. I haven't lived at home in quite a while, but it's obviously a very strong bond.

Thinking about our old dog, makes DH and I both really want a pet...something to take care of and love, just like my family loved Scooter. I'm willing to consider getting a cat, since DH is dead set on not having a dog. Unfortunately, I have pretty bad cat allergies. I'm sure they could be managed with medication, etc, but to what extent? How does that work- do I just take OTC allergy meds forever? I was doing some research and they suggested not having rugs, carpets, drapery, or upholstered furniture to avoid accumulating dander..?

The other chink in this whole thing is that my mom is even more allergic to cats than I am. Granted, some of it hypochondriasis and anxiety, but still. She has severe allergies and asthma and takes allergy shots 2x/month. It wouldn't be far off to say that if we got a cat (ever) my mom would never step foot in our house because of her allergies. She threw a stink at even spend the night in an old apartment I used to have with roommates because there was a cat. Even though the cat only lived in my roommates bedroom and nowhere else. Now, we live about 4 hours from my parents and aren't planning on moving back to my hometown anytime soon, if ever. My parents come into town to visit about 2-3x a year, but usually stay at a hotel. Would it be worth it to not get a cat, just to make my mom happy a couple times a year? Do people have pets and allergies and manage both wonderfully??

Maggie0829

I get that your H wants a cat, but if you are so allergic that you have to take medicine to counter act your allergies and that your Mom will pretty much never be able to visit your house without having a reaction I don't think getting a cat is a good idea.

I just don't think getting an animal that you are allergic to and hoping that medicine will prevent a reaction and then getting rid of any fabric decoration in your house is all that smart.

I mean, medicine can only do so much.  Are you really willing to possibly have a stuffy nose and itchy eyes for the next 16 years?  Are you willing to not have your Mom come into your house for the next 16+ years?

Maggie0829

@scribe95 - if you didn't already have cats (completely understand not wanting to get rid of your kitties) and then found out that you had a cat allergy, would you willing get another cat or two even though you were allergic? I am just wondering.

mschristie123

Maggie- it's a good point that you bring up about willingness to just live off allergy meds for years and years. I honestly haven't been around cats that much lately, and I really don't have any idea of how I'd react. I'm assuming that I've grown out of some of allergies (or at least the acuity of my symptoms). If I went to a shelter or something and tried to play with a kitten and had a huge reaction that would require shots/meds etc, I don't think that I would want a cat if that's how my body responded. However, if it just itchy eyes or something, maybe I could live with that.

pinkcow13

My friends ex fiance found out he was allergic to cats after they adopted theirs. I know he managed by taking meds daily, he may have had some shots, and the cat was not allowed on their bed or in their bedroom much. It seemed to work out fine, but I'm not too sure how he really felt. Are there some breeds that maybe you are not allergic to? And this is just a suggestion - what about a hairless cat? Like Maggie stated above though, at the end of the day, it may not be worth it to go through all the trouble. That will be like 16 years of popping medicine and taking shots in order to control your allergies. Edit: my atrocious grammar lol

WinstonsGirl

I wouldn't do it.  I have mild cat allergies, and lived with a roommate who had 2 cats.  Granted she didn't keep them very well (brushing, sweeping up hair), but my allergies eventually got worse to the point that I asked her to move out.  I wouldn't want to have to take meds every day to keep a pet.  

Also, half of the pets in our local SPCA are there because people developed allergies and had to give them up.  As PP's have said, are you willing to live with taking drugs every day??  Are you willing/wanting to give up the cats to a good home if you can't handle the allergies??

Maggie0829

scribe95 said:

Maggie0829 said:

@scribe95 - if you didn't already have cats (completely understand not wanting to get rid of your kitties) and then found out that you had a cat allergy, would you willing get another cat or two even though you were allergic? I am just wondering.

Yep, and we did. We lost one of our cats that I had when I realized I was allergic to them. Brought a kitten home about a year ago. Love her to death. But I am a major cat person. They bring such joy to me that it's worth it. Doesn't sound like the OP is in that camp.

Also, I am allergic to like 74 other things (not exaggerating) so I would have to take medication and have bad allergy days no matter what for the rest of my life.

Okay that makes sense.  I would probably do what you did but with dogs since I am a huge dog person.  Having a dog would out weigh having to take some meds on a daily basis.

OP, I like your idea of checking out how bad your allergies are.  If they aren't too bad and can be managed easily with meds and you are okay with taking meds for years then get a cat.  But if they are really bad I wouldn't get a cat.

Also, I wouldn't get a cat just because your H doesn't want a dog and only wants a cat.  It isn't fair that he gets what he wants and you just go along with it and could potentially be miserable for years to come.

ShellD13

I am fairly allergic to animals and most other environmental allergens (dust, pollen, trees, grass). I adopted a cat about 8 years ago and didn't realize the extent of my allergy to her until I moved from sharing a rented 3 bdrm townhouse to owning a 1 bdrm condo. Much smaller space and MORE carpet. Oh and did I mention I had also adopted another cat to keep her company during the day because my commute from my new place was such that I was away from home about 12 - 16 hours a day. I loved them both so much by that time that I refused to consider re-homing either of them. I ended up dealing as follows: 1) careful when playing with them, washed my hands before touching my face/eyes, etc. 2) I also pulled about half of the carpet out and replaced it with laminate flooring. I had undertaken the project for decorative purposes so the benefits to my allergies were secondary but it did make a noticeable difference. 3) I bought 2 HEPA quality air purifiers and set them up in the rooms that retained carpet (my bedroom and the living room). 4) When I cleaned my condo I wore a lightweight style painters mask. Sounds goofy but it helped keep me from breathing in all of the allergens that I stirred up dusting and vacuuming. Otherwise I could look forward to a solid day or two of stuffiness and congestion. I did the same when I was scooping their litterbox. 5) The allergist that I started seeing for injections recommended that when I was ready to change/upgrade my furniture I consider leather (as it doesn't absorb/hold dander like fabric will. He also recommended that I shouldn't allow the cats in my bedroom - due to all of the bedding, pillows etc that hold dander it generally is a huge hotspot for people with allergies. But since I wasn't willing to do that he recommended that I put allergy block cases on my mattress and pillows and wash all my other bedding frequently. In the intervening 8 years, I've moved to a house that had all hardwood flooring (that was awesome :-) ) then again into our forever home where we had to rip out most of the carpet and replace with laminate. I've had (2) cats most of that time (we just had to put our eldest to sleep :-( ) and we just added a puppy to the mix. Still haven't upgraded to leather furniture but we'll probably wait until the puppy is past the teething/gnawing stage for that. In the end, I just love the fur babies too much to let my allergies get to me. I had to stop seeing the original allergist because my health insurance was going to start charging me $50 for each injection but I'm on a new plan now so I'll probably look around and see if I can start back with that. I will say you probably won't have the same reaction to every cat or dog. because they are all different so before bringing a pet into the house forever see if you can spend a good deal of time with the animal you are considering and really bury your face into its fur, let it lick you (if you will allow that in general), and see what happens if its claws scratch your skin. I got to spend a couple of hours with our new pup at an adoption event so I knew my reaction to him was manageable but there were other puppies that we looked at that my eyes started welling up with tears and my nose started running almost immediately so I would highly recommend fostering an animal first as a trial. Good Luck - the joy and amusement my cats and the new puppy bring to our house are more than worth it in my mind. ETA Paragraphs - Hopefully they stick.

climbingsingle

I'm allergic to cats and OTC meds don't work at all for those allergies for me. They help with seasonal allergies, but not pet dander. And I've tried everything. My parents have two cats and I can barely stand to be in their house for more than 24 hours. 

ShellD13

Where did my paragraphs go????

hellosweetie1015

My roommate a few years back was allergic to cats, had a Maine Coon, and played with both her cat and mine all the time. She took an Allegra each morning.

Then she got another cat, and she couldn't keep him. She struggled keeping him and the Coon together, because the dander combo outdid the Allegra's effectiveness - but only in her bedroom. So she gave the kitten to me. Po liked the kitten better than Kitty did anyway... haha. 

simcal18

I'm a ball of hyperallergic mess in general.  I am also a cat lover.  Even if you do have allergies, cats can bring tremendous joy to your life--something like 30% of people who are allergic to pets have one anyway because the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.  There are some things you should definitely consider though:

(1)  Different cats can have different types and levels of dander.  Some cats will trigger worse reactions than others.  Some people say males are worse than females, some people say spaying/neutering helps, some say that kittens are worse than cats--it's all theory, but I have had wildly different reactions to different cats, so you may be able to find one that doesn't bother you too badly.

(2)  I take Zyrtec on a regular basis to control my base histamine level--I have terrible seasonal allergies anyway so it's not too much of an imposition.

(3)  Cat stays out of bedroom and off bed.

(4)  If you have carpet/upholstered furniture, instead of wood floors and leather, consider ADS allergy spray.  It's a miracle worker for me.

(5)  HEPA Filters.

(5)  bioAllers animal hair and dander.  I took this in the beginning when I was adjusting to having my new kitten around, who is a total dander bomb.  I normally don't go in for homeopathic voodoo but I genuinely believe that this stuff works.

Good luck!

mrsmorales2be

Definitely foster before adopting if at all possible, and ditto all the above advice! Good luck, and have fun with the new furbaby!