Cat Chat (please go to cat chat 2)

[purinz]

I want a kitty so bad but my parents are allergic to them. ;c

I kind of had a cat before, I named it Callie and she was really friendly. But it's a long story how I never saw her again.

My grandma says that once my pug dies, she may get a cat. But I don't want my pug to die, so it's kind of confusing. (He's 11 years old T_T)

[blazesong]

safari - that never stoped me XD people in my house are allergic but i still own 4

[Saracirce]

Animerider - It does depend on HOW allergic a person is. I knew someone once who could not touch his face after touching a cat because then his face would swell up and he'd have trouble breathing.

[blazesong]

hmm like my house mate they just wash there hands

[Jazi]

Yup, I'm allergic to cats and dogs and I have owned both and plan to own both and currently have a cat. Allergies to pets and dander are doable if you're willing to live with certain symptoms and make changes to your daily environment, it's not the end all that people make it out to be. Unless you're so affected that it sends you into shock/you need an epi pen (as in, face swollen, trouble breathing), most people can make adjustments like taking allergy meds, brushing the animal more often, restricting access to certain rooms, hypoallergenic bedding, anti-dander shampoo, etc. I vaccuum daily, wash Saff with anti-dander shampoo when she gets a bath, brush her often, and have a hypoallergenic cover for my matress as well as a hypoallergenic pillow.

Also as you continue to be exposed to that cat, your symptoms lessen. I get swollen face/tight throat if I'm in a room with 7 cats in a house with no allergies to cats (so they don't take the steps I take) or after too much interaction with a cat owned by a friend I don't see often, but I haven't for Saff since I first got her.



Animerider, have you tried just sticking the collar on your cat and seeing how he reacts? Saff is unimpressed with her collar but tolerates it.

[Saracirce]

Well, yeah, but if the cat is allowed free roam of the house and the person touches something the cat touched without them realizing, it could be bad. My friend wouldn't even come into our house because our cats are allowed to go just about anywhere (except the kitchen counters and dining table) and he didn't want to risk it. And I don't take the steps with our cats that Jazi takes.

I'm slightly allergic to cats, like I get the sniffles if they rub up against my face but I've never been too bad.

[Jazi]

Saff used to think it was funny that I started sneezing when she flicked her tail under my nose. I swear she did it on purpose just to get a silly reaction. Makes it worse that she's a very face/chest oriented cat so she looooooves sitting on my chest and rubbing against my nose/cheeks/chin when she catches me sitting down. Otherwise she's on my shoulders rubbing against my cheeks and ears. Makes you get used to a cat allergy real fast! I recently started taking allergy meds too for my hay fever which is especially bad this year due to the mild winter, so my cat symptoms have been next to none since.

I wonder what kind of allergy your friend has. I have (mild!) allergy-induced asthma and I'm allergic to dander, but not hair or saliva, so the mere presense of cats doesn't bother me as much as the actual stuff flying around in the air... which can be cut down with regular vaccuuming and air filters/purifiers. For my kind of allergy, it's actually longhairs that are reccommended because their fur is heavy and traps the dander down cose to them instead of letting it fly around everywhere.

[Floboe]

I have a clowder of cats. 9 of them, we used to have ten but my Favorite Soxy died...

I miss Soxy....

(Stalks sis here)

[Saracirce]

:| Saff used to think it was funny that I started sneezing when she flicked her tail under my nose. I swear she did it on purpose just to get a silly reaction. Makes it worse that she's a very face/chest oriented cat so she looooooves sitting on my chest and rubbing against my nose/cheeks/chin when she catches me sitting down. Otherwise she's on my shoulders rubbing against my cheeks and ears. Makes you get used to a cat allergy real fast! I recently started taking allergy meds too for my hay fever which is especially bad this year due to the mild winter, so my cat symptoms have been next to none since.

I wonder what kind of allergy your friend has. I have (mild!) allergy-induced asthma and I'm allergic to dander, but not hair or saliva, so the mere presense of cats doesn't bother me as much as the actual stuff flying around in the air... which can be cut down with regular vaccuuming and air filters/purifiers. For my kind of allergy, it's actually longhairs that are reccommended because their fur is heavy and traps the dander down cose to them instead of letting it fly around everywhere.

I'm not sure but he wouldn't even touch our cats. The first time he came over, we didn't know he was allergic so didn't think to warn him about the cats. Reese, who just LOVES men, jumped onto his lap to sniff him and he pulled back all of a sudden like he was scared so I quickly pushed her off his lap for him. That's when he told us and I promptly locked up the cats so they wouldn't bother him. He's never been in our house since. It's a shame too. I thought he was super cute I'm not gonna give up my babies for just any boy though.

[purinz]

My mom is allergic to cats but she HELD one before. Right after her eyes were watery and itchy, that's all. Same with my dad.

My mom even fed my friend's cats (she has 4) one time, so she isn't that allergic.