Can you have a cat in the house if you are allergic?
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Can you have a cat in the house if you are allergic?
| Mon, 09-17-2012 - 12:32pm |
Can you have a cat live in the house if you are allergic to cats? My husband is allergic but our son needs a place for his cat to live (divorce) so we are thinking of taking it in for a while but not sure how it can be done.
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How bad are you husband's reactions? If they are slight reactions, maybe benedryl would help for a short amount of time. If his reactions are severe, I'd definitely have him check with his doctor beforehand.
I have a friend who didn't know she was allergic to dogs until her husband gave her one as a surprise. In a few days, she started having reactions, not too severe but enough to make her uncomfortable. She want to the doctor and they finally surmised she was allergic to pet hair and dog dander but she was so in love with the pup by then, she opted to try a series of allergy shots. That helped a lot and she was able to keep the pooch. But since this is a temporary visit, your hubby may not want to go that route.
Good luck and hope it all turns out well for your son, his cat and the two of you!
I do --- and I'm seriously allergic. Oddly enough, not to MY cats! I think it's a matter of acclimation.
When we had to put our cats in quarantine when moving to London, we were away from them for six months, except for weekend evisits, adn my eyes were running adn my nose was running adn I was sneezing after every visit. Once they moved in with us, after about six week, no more allergic reactions!
BUT, we had a freind with cats and dogs and I couldn't NOT go into thier house without puffing up like a baloon!
I think constant exposure to my cats resulted in a reduction of allergic reaction to THOSE SPECIFIC cats... but not to all cats.
CL for "
Some of the advice you have been give is absolutely correct and I would like to build upon it. So here are some additional thoughts.
1) Do not let the cat sleep with either of you. Cats groom at all hours of the night and their slava often is what triggers allergies. So kitty sleeps in his/her own bed.
2) If the cat will let you, bathe it to free it from all the extra fur shedding. Then comb it out to remove the extra fur that flies around your home. This will stop the itchy eyes that goes with the clouds of cat fur. Bathing a cat can be an exciting experience and yes you do need your 10 fingers when this is done, so do be careful with these critters.
Here is a link that may give you some help with this issue, but the bottom line is that this is not a great idea for your husband's best interests unfortunately.
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/cat-allergies
Hope this helps
Harriette
Thebuglady2