Cat Allergy

[mom2boyz]

I have cat allergies. They seem to be getting worse as time goes on. Generally I just stay away from cats and everything is fine. Last Christmas I was at my SIL’s. I had premedicated starting a few days before going there. She has seven cats. I wasn’t there more than 30 minutes and I started loosing my voice, coughing, sneezing, etc. I took some benedryl and still had problems. Now I know she didn’t vacuum because there was cat hair everywhere. I felt miserable, but stayed because my husband wanted to visit with his family.

Now he wants me to go visit his brother’s family. They have two cats. Last time we visited there, I didn’t loose my voice until near the end of the visit. And just experienced some itching while there.

I feel nervous about going there. What if I feel bad while I am there? They live over an hour away so it isn’t like I can just get up and leave without everyone coming too. My husband isn’t sympathetic to my situation and will expect that I just endure. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this situation? I am not asking medical advice.

 

[Em_in_FL]

UGH… I’m so sorry. I’ve been through horrific allergy attacks and it would make me so sad because I love animals. The allergy attacks would get so bad - so I completely sympathize to your situation… makes life really miserable.

I’m not giving medical advice… just sharing my experience.
I’ve tried all the medications… and some helped, but none were perfect. I started seeing an allergist several years ago and began receiving weekly shots for a year, then tapered it down to every 2 weeks, and now I go in just once a month. Just my experience - it’s made my life SO MUCH BETTER! Yes, I still have to take allergy medication if I’m exposed to my major triggers (cats, dogs, dust), but the symptoms are MUCH less severe and the medication makes the experience livable.

So… take what you will from that. I know I never wanted to spend extended amounts of time with relatives that had pets, but it’s a tough spot to be in. Wash your hands as much as possible and just be prepared with your medications. Tell your husband how bad it is for you and maybe he can help make suggestions for visiting the family somewhere other than in their home… maybe at a restaurant or a park???
Good luck…

 

[Lil_M]

I can’t stay very long at my dad’s, inlaws or 2 of my siblings because of this. It is a big pain! I’ll be okay for a few hours but especially overnight I’ll be really wheezy, even with air from the open window blowing on me. And once I’m exposed I’ll feel it for 24-48 hours of sneezing. I try to avoid long visits if possible, and before I was pregnant a benadryl would help some. But they all know that I’m bothered by animals so when I tell them/DH, I have to go now, sorry. I’m not really a fun guest at that point anyway.

 

[kage_ar]

Have you asked your allergist?

You could wear an allergy mask when you visit.

 

[samcarter14]

Speaking from experience (I am highly allergic to cats, dust, and mold), bad environmental allergies can lead to anaphylactic shock. It happened to me at a friend’s house; she had cats, as well as very old dusty farmhouse.

I would try to limit exposure as much as possible. My ILs live in a very old farmhouse that is very dusty (mostly because MIL is a hoarder and it’s hard for her to clean, plus they do not have filters on their furnace). If I were to try to sleep at their house, I would have an allergy attack, even with my medication. I recently got retested to see if my allergies had stayed the same or worsened; dust was a very high response on the skin prick, and I was able to tell her that my doctor advised I limit exposure as much as possible.

I can visit with them in their house (taking breaks outside often) for about 6- 8 hours, tops. That’s with faithfully medicating for weeks beforehand. Any longer and my throat is on fire and I can’t sleep that night. DH finally explained to them that my not wanting to spend the night, as he and the boys have, was NOT because I didn’t love them! It’s for health reasons. He told them about my anaphylactic episode, and how I could have died, and finally it sunk in for MIL. We also found a new hotel 1/2 an hour away from their house (they’re way out in the country), where DH, I and the boys can sleep, and then during the day go visit them. We did this on Christmas Day and it was a hit with everyone. I still had to take Benadryl at night, and I am considering asking my dr for an epi-pen prescription. But it was MUCH better than I had expected.

Nobody who doesn’t have allergies should expect those with allergies to suffer. We’re not making it up, we have actual physical symptoms! And remember, the more you are exposed to an allergen, the worse your allergies can get (I’m not referring to the shots that people can get, i’m talking uncontrolled exposure, like having the cat curl up in your lap!)

Please ask your DH to ask your ILs to vacuum well before you visit. If the cats go outside at all, maybe they can be outside during your visit.

Above all, you can tell your DH for me that allergies are not just about suffering. They’re about the body attacking itself after being exposed to an allergen. It really, really irks me when people act as though allergic people are just trying to be difficult. Ask him if he’d like to be driving you to the ER to get a shot of epinephrine before your throat closes up. It can happen.

 

[SMHW]

I’ve never used one so I don’t know if they do any good. Have you ever tried one of those “personal air filters”?

Unfortunately people who do not have allergies just don’t understand those who do. And sometimes they take your reluctance to be around the source of the allergen as a personal rejection. Even if they do understand in theory they often still *feel *rejected.

I’m sorry to hear that your husband is less than sympathetic. It’s easy for us here to say that he needs to support you but short of you having a major attack and needing to call 911, I’m not sure what you can do do about his lack of sensitivity.

My suggestion is to be pro-active with both your husband and his family. First, make it clear to your husband and his family that you are anxious to visit them. See if you can arrange to meet everyone at a restaurant if it’s a day visit. If it is to be an overnight visit you need to ask your husband if you should make the hotel reservations or if he will be the one doing so. If your husband protests due to expense and says you need to visit in the homes of his family members then you need to express your disappointment because you now realize that you will not be able to accompany him.

My son is extremely allergic to cats and for years he would never want to visit my husband’s mother. I know she has always taken it a bit personally, (especially since she and my son have often butted heads from the time he was about four years old.) My husband has always made a point of saying that the cat allergy is why he only comes with us when we will be staying someplace other than her home and we have told my son that he ought to be especially gracious to her. My son has tried to do so.

I think that when there is a problem with allergies that you ought to be firm about doing what it takes to avoid being in the situation. But it does mean you need to go the extra mile to make sure that those whose home you are avoiding don’t take it personally.

 

[os_justi]

Too many people don’t want to be around cats because the cat owners don’t do two simple things: bathe and brush your cats! Cat dander and loose hair floating around in the air are problems that are sooo easily rectified with just those tasks. My roommate and I are both allergic to cats (him highly so), and I have two of them. I brush them both several times a week, I bathe them once a month, and neither of us have any problems.

 

[MarieVeronica]

Aw, sorry to hear your distress. Most likely, it’s the dander.

But we have a weird situation. My mother and I, are both allergic to shell fish (shrimp, etc.). After reading about this, I learned NOT to feed our kitty any food that contains shrimp or shellfish. Because what a cat eats… can often cause allergic reactions in the humans. Weird, but true. But it makes sense… especially since most of us cuddle our cats, and let them climb on the furniture.

If you have ANY food allergies (wheat, peanuts, soy, etc.), I would suggest checking the ingredients on the cat’s food. Hope you find the cause!

 

[gardenswithkids]

…My husband isn’t sympathetic to my situation and will expect that I just endure. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this situation? …

Apart from trying to deal with your allergies, can you somehow deal with your husband? Honestly, I think it is unreasonable for him to just expect you to suffer with your allergies. Does he know much about allergies? Repeated exposure can make increasingly allergies worse. I understand his desire to visit his family. Maybe he can get together with them without you or arrange meet them someplace other than a house with cats.