Kittys and allergies

[Mayberry]

Hi Everyone,

Both myself and my boyfriend and huge cat lovers- but here's the problem- my boyfriend is asthmatic and very allergic to cats.

Now, you may think that I would stop there and give up the dream of cat ownership- but no! It was a bit of a slog- but I thought i'd share everything we learned and hopefully a possible solution for others!

1. Contrary to popular belief- it's not acutally cat hair that people are allegic to, so please don't rule out lovely long hairs or run out to buy a sphynx! People are allergic to one or many protiens contained in cat saliva. They lick their skin, then the dead skin cells with a layer of dried drool falls off- this is cat dander and it is public enemy number one!

If you've only got a mild allergy- you can probably ward it off with a regular kitty bath and an awsome hoover. There's also a thing called petal cleanse which you can spray onto mr kitty to keep his dander count down!

2. If your allergies are more severe- then we move on! The protien you're most likely to be allergic to is called FelD1 and it's assosiated with the mating cycle. Nursing queens have the highest proportion in thier saliva. This means that neutered kittys are best for you! And neutered as young as possible.

Another protien is associated with colouring- black kittys to be presise. Try looking for a ginger or white kitty as these won't have the offending protien.

3. Ah- I see your allergies are very bad. In this case moggies are generally a no-no. Moggies have such mixed genetics that they're likely to carry all the possible allergic protiens- so you're best bet is to look at some specific pedigree breeds.

-Siberian
-abyssinian
-any variety of rex
-russian blue

But you simply must check first- if you explain that you're testing for allergies, most good breeders won't mind you comming for a visit. Be sure to see and handle a breeding queen if possible, as if anything with set you off, she will! and bare in mind that one line may have very different genetics to another- be sure you've visited that breeder before you buy!

That's everything! good luck everyone! Hopefully this should work for most people! It certainly did for us! We visited lots and lots of cats, and it turned out russian blues from a european imported line were for us. Don't give up!

[Donna]

Both my kids and myself have problems with the cats - and I have two cats that are mainly black so we have done that wrong!! Also they are moggies so thats bad too!!

Will just put up with the itchy eyes and runny noses!

[Mayberry]

Do not dispair There are still lots of things you can do if you already have a kitty!

Check out petal cleanse: http://www.bio-life.co.uk/

A great hoover- my breeder swears by her anti-allergy dyson.

And a HEPA air filter, you can get some insanely expensive ones- but we got this one from amazon. It's recommended that you keep this one in your bedroom and don't have the kittys in there- they say that having a compleately allergy-free space to sleep in can really help, as your body can calm down over night.

[Phoenix]

I couldn't live with a longhair cat because when I'm stroking or grooming them they make me sneeze and give me an itchy nose. Shorthairs I am absolutely fine with, don't understand why it suddenly started because we had a longhair cat when I was a child.

[angieh]

I am a lifelong asthmatic but love cats. As a child I wasn't allowed a cat or dog but as an adult I wasn't going to keep on saying I can't have a cat. I know that my main allergies are house dust mite and grass pollen - the two major allergens. I have actually not found cat allergy much of a problem, but after losing Merlin after over 23 years and being only three weeks without a cat in the house I found that I began to suffer a little more when I bought Kizzy home. However, I am glad to say I've settled down again.

It is very interesting what you've said about black cats and ginger & white cats, Mayberry. I find I am not affected at all by cuddling my little Pip who is ginger and white and really very short furred.

I've never heard of petal cleanse!

[kado]

I once had a realy bad reaction too my friends kitten. My eyes swelled up and closed and i itched for about a wk. I had massive marks all over my self. Initaly it put me off having a cat but i am not affected by it at all now. All mine are black /black and white and torties. I also stroke most days all the cats i look after. I must have become ammune too it.

[yola]

Very interesting information there. Thankfully I'm OK with cats, but react very strongly to dogs. But not poodles

[angieh]

My parents were told the only dog I could have was a poodle, Yola. Their "hair" is more akin to wool it seems.

[dandysmom]

Thanks for that very informative thread!!