Help Someone

I think I might have a major problem on my hands. Is it possible to be alergic to a specific breed of cat? Or are cats just cats? I have a persian baby at home, this is the first time i have ever had a persian cat with me. I've had about 4 cats in the past, at different times and all of them had some kind of siamese in them, and have never had this problem in the past.
So here's the problem, i've had Ash for almost 2 months (on the 25th) and for the past month, i've had a real bad alergy to something. I've been to the doctors and got to do some blood work on thursday. I get these raises on the skin, like a mosquito bite, but much smaller, they are usually in groups of 3-4 or as many as 8-9. They swell up, get sooooooooooooooo itchy, i end up with bruises the next day from scratching so much. They last about 15-20 minutes, then as soon as they come there gone, and it's like i didn´t have anything at all. I've never had anything like this before, and i'm so afraid it's my baby, I really don´t want to have to give my kitty away, but i also can't live like this.
Has anyone had anything like this? Some history, my detergent and bath soap is the same, and i didn't eat anything funny. What's making me crazy is the fact that i've had this for a month now.
Thanx i would really apreciate any feed back.

Lulu

It may be the shampoo the kitten was last washed with. Have you changed your laundry or dish soap. Write a diary of when you break out and what you were doing just before it breaks. Get an anti-itch spray for the breakouts. Cover them with band-aides to keep from scratching them. Maybe it was something that was on someones clothes that was transfered to the furniture.
You may want to rend a steam cleaner and shampoo the floors and furniture. This will get rid of any insect or residue there may be that is causing you to break out.
Please let me know if this helps!

Here's my 2 cents...
Have you been under a lot of stress lately or maybe more stress than usual? I work in a Pharmacy and I see a lot of stuff like this. When you first described it I thought it was shingles, but then you said it disappears...where shingles don't go away instantly like that. I've heard people talking about how they break out in a strange rash when they get really stressed or just emotionally strained (family member ill, fight with boyfriend/husband and etc). I know that when I get really nervous I break out in bright red blotches all over my chest. It doesn't hurt or itch, it just looks like a have a severe sunburn for 30 minutes or so. It just something weird that happens to me.
If you truly are allergic to your kitty, there are some great prescriptions that will help relieve the itchiness. Some great ones are Zyrtec, Allegra, Atarax (this one will make you really drowsy though), Claritin (which is getting released from a prescription to over-the-counter tomorrow), Clarinex and some other ones that I just can't think of at this moment. You might even ask your Doctor for some free samples of these drugs and see if it would help you. If prescriptions are not an option, the best thing to take for the itchiness is Benadryl...but it will make you tired. You could try some Benadryl cream, gel or spray to help for a temporary fix...or even some Hydrocortisone cream will help too. What part of your body does it usually affect or is it all over? It also could be just extremely dry skin. My brother gets red and massively itchy bumps all over him during the winter months & a good moisturizing lotion or cream helps him a lot. The one that we found that works the best is Aveeno since it has Oatmeal in it which is good for the itchiness.
I really hope this helps you...keep me posted if this works for you.
Jeez...I think I just gave more than 2 cents...more like a quarter! LOL!
-Shell

Yes, it could be stress - I used to get small, raised, itchy bumps on my forearms during times of emotional stress.



Naomi

With me, if I've been playing with my furbabies and they've scratched me a little, I get a very itchy raised lump around the scratch. After about 20 minutes, it subsides and all is okay. This also happens if we're playing feral games and they play-bite me. Could it be happening when you are playing with your baby?

I have had this and thought it was poison ivy but when I went to the doctor, for the horrible itching, he said it wasn't poison ivy and he didn't know what it was. I found out 2 weeks later that it was my shampoo. The rash wasn't always in the same place or the same itchiness depending on how well the shampoo and conditioner was rinsed (5 minutes instead of 2). It did take 3 weeks for the reaction to even show up so it could be a delayed reaction. Good luck.

If it turns out that you are allergic to cats, if you can afford medication, it is possible to keep your baby and successfully live with the allergy.

I am terribly allergic to cats, but happily live with three. I do take Zyrtec (a prescription drug). I take Zyrtec-D (the one with decongestant). I also break out in hives sometimes. For this my Doctor prescribed a steroid cream, which works effectively and rapidly. I also have a nasal spray that has steroids in it (very low dosage). I use Nasocort (again, a prescription medication).

We've had two cats for almost five months now, and we rescued a third last month. I think I'm becoming less allergic, as I haven't had to use the steroid cream on my arms for about two months. Even when I get scratched during play, it no longer turns into a huge raised red welt, although the steroid cream worked wonders with that too.

Just wanted to say Good Luck - and though I hope you're NOT allergic to your furbaby, there are solutions if you are.

I just wanna thank everyone for your help, Your all totally awesome Well, I'm going tomarrow to do the blood work, so I'll just have to wait and see what they say. About the med's some of you mentioned, living in Portugal we don't have those med's, maybe with a different name. I'm taking something right now, but it doesn't seem to be helping very much.
Like I said before, my bath soap and detergent are all the same. And about the flees, well Ash came straight from the breeders house to mine, and hasn't been outside(other then to go to the vet) since he's been here. I've tryed several times looking for something and I can´t see anything, he has long fur and it's almost impossible to see anything, other then fur
Yesterday I was sitting on the PC and he came to sit on my lap, as usual, he was there for a short time, maybe 30 minutes, when he got up, my leggs and one of my arms (he was lying on it) had those red, itchy blotches, I guess there hives. So I really think it's from him, if he doesn´t sit on me to long I'm usually ok, he sleeps with me at night and I'm ok in the morning, some itchyness but nothing major, like when he's right on me.
Well I guess, i'll just see what the results say, then probably go and see a dermatologist just to make sure.
I'll keep u all posted and again thanx for giving me your input.


Lulu