Hi Everybody,
I am new to this site. I am so impressed with the info. I love it.
In letting you know a little bit about myself, I never thought I would be a cat lover to be quite honest.
I had asthma as a child and everyone related my attacks to being allergic to cats. Every time I went to someone's home that had a cat, I had a severe reaction with intense sneezing, wheezing, itchy and extremely red eyes and if a cat broke the skin in any way, it would immediately swell and have intense itching. I have been hospitalized a couple of times for asthma stemming from this.
It was not until I was in a feed store when I was in my late 30's that the owner of the feed store was trying to get customers to take kittens from a litter born in the store. I told him that I thought they were adorable but, I could not because I was allergic to cats. He was the first person that ever truly diagnosed the culprit in my severe allergic reactions. He said, "You know, you may be allergic to the cat litter and not the kittens." From that point forward, I have had cats and cats and cats. :-)
I am allergic to clumping litters. I use natural litters perfectly fine and love on my cats all the time without issue.
It is ironic but, my mother is the one that is actually allergic to cat dander and she thought I was allergic to the same.
I have a total of eleven cats at this time, all rescues. Seven of the eleven are truly mine, the others have just had quite the time being adopted. I still care for them until they are.
They have all been to the vet, been spayed/neutered and have their vaccines. I am an avid advocate for spaying/neutering as early as possible (except I am not convinced about males being neutered too early in relation to what I believe may cause blockages (not sure, though)). I know from doing this and trying to get them adopted that it is really difficult to find homes for these cats that really need love, attention and medical care. I have even had people return them after they thought they would adopt them when they just decided they did not want to own a cat anymore or life changed. It is a problem.
I am excited to meet everyone and to absorb any information I can that will help cats in the future.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!
Cindi
I am new to this site. I am so impressed with the info. I love it.
In letting you know a little bit about myself, I never thought I would be a cat lover to be quite honest.
I had asthma as a child and everyone related my attacks to being allergic to cats. Every time I went to someone's home that had a cat, I had a severe reaction with intense sneezing, wheezing, itchy and extremely red eyes and if a cat broke the skin in any way, it would immediately swell and have intense itching. I have been hospitalized a couple of times for asthma stemming from this.
It was not until I was in a feed store when I was in my late 30's that the owner of the feed store was trying to get customers to take kittens from a litter born in the store. I told him that I thought they were adorable but, I could not because I was allergic to cats. He was the first person that ever truly diagnosed the culprit in my severe allergic reactions. He said, "You know, you may be allergic to the cat litter and not the kittens." From that point forward, I have had cats and cats and cats. :-)
I am allergic to clumping litters. I use natural litters perfectly fine and love on my cats all the time without issue.
It is ironic but, my mother is the one that is actually allergic to cat dander and she thought I was allergic to the same.
I have a total of eleven cats at this time, all rescues. Seven of the eleven are truly mine, the others have just had quite the time being adopted. I still care for them until they are.
They have all been to the vet, been spayed/neutered and have their vaccines. I am an avid advocate for spaying/neutering as early as possible (except I am not convinced about males being neutered too early in relation to what I believe may cause blockages (not sure, though)). I know from doing this and trying to get them adopted that it is really difficult to find homes for these cats that really need love, attention and medical care. I have even had people return them after they thought they would adopt them when they just decided they did not want to own a cat anymore or life changed. It is a problem.
I am excited to meet everyone and to absorb any information I can that will help cats in the future.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!
Cindi
