sad day in our home

The cat that we adopted from the shelter Phantom will have to go back today . My husband whom has never before had an alllergic reaction to a cat  woke up with eyes swelled together and a rash all over his body. The doctor says it so sevier that he can not just take medication for it . Nothing happens when he is around our other cat but this one is different 

I am so sorry !! I cannot imagine what you must be going through right now.
I just looked at your cats pictures. Gorgeous boys !!

Are you 100% sure that the new cat is the cause of this allergy ???

I might be completely wrong here but I have heard of people being allergic to longhaired cats but fine with short haired cats and vice versa. But both your cats are short haired, no different to each other so why would he be allergic to one but not the other ???

I don't really know much about this sort of thing so I'm just curious

I'm so sorry you have to do this, can you get on a radio 'swap shop' and advertise this to maybe find him a new home? A lot of people listen to these and I have found several homes for cats this way rather then taking them back to the pound. Have you tried giving him a bath first? He might be full of allergens from other animals and might be better if you wash them off. I can understand though if your husband is so allergic, I'll pray that you find a happy solution.

Well Chu the one we have had the longest doesnt shead and has very short hair.. and Phantom sheds all the time and has a little longer hair. That is what the doctor said and its the only thing we can think of because we havent been around another animal or brought anything new into our home. We are really sad that we have to take him back but my husbands reaction was so sever we have no choice 

The shelter that we adopted him from is a no kill shelter . He will be in good hands . I would love to keep him and find him a home but the dr will not even let my husband come back to the house until he is gone so my friend is meeting me here in a little while to take him back with me. 

Ok I understand now

I really really feel for you. This must be so hard.

Don't forget that we are all here for you

Did he actually have an allergy to test if he has a cat allergy?

I have never had cat allergies (and really don't have any allergies). I have spent a lot of time (~20 years) living around cats and otherwise spending time around other people's cats. But the first week I had my new cat I would get really itchy, red and painful eyes by the end of the night. No other symptoms except that and it took me a while to figure out it only happened after sitting and petting the cat on my lap for hours. It may be as I have not had a cat in the home for a while, or because I am not used to HER in particular (she is medium haired, and my previous cats were all shorthaired, plus she had come from another home home and she had still not had a bath), or because she is such a snuggle monster that after several hours of cuddles it is just too much and something I never noticed before as my other cats were all a lot more independent whilst Jackie just loves being all over me all the time when I am home! I started taking a Benadryl 1-2x a day and being very careful about not rubbing my eyes and washing my hands immediately after petting or playing with her and this seems to be working fine as I have had no issues since that first week. She also stays out of the bedroom. Since I have got her I am also in process of converting her diet, so I expect that to lead to less shedding (I know it is not the cat hair itself that causes the issue, but still less cat hairs around the house between vaccuming and sweeping, the better!).  It was very perplexing to me though initially as I have never had this issue before. 

I am not bothering to get tested, so I still don't know if it is actually an allergy to my cat, but I cannot imagine what else it would be. It is still dead of winter here so certainly not pollen or anything of that kind!

Of course, I also did not wake up with my eyes swelled shut and an all over body rash!  If I had, the above steps might not work so well. 

I hope Phantom finds a wonderful new home quickly.

I did end up having to take him back to that shelter. The doctor did actually do an allergy test and they determined that it was the cat in particular. The doctor said that every cat has a different smell and different dander that work in different ways. He said that it is not uncommon at all that he is allergic to one cat and not the other. They said it all depends on the dander and how much they shed and just the way the cats skin is. I am confident though that the shelter will be able to find him a home. We have a wonderful no kill shelter that we adopted him from and they work very hard to find each animal a home. I will still be able to go visit him while he is in there and we donate there often. We are just going to continue to be a one cat household for now and if/when we decide to try again and look for another cat I will make Bo spend a lot of time with it at the shelter before we bring it home so we will not have another mishap like this again. 

I am very very sad that we had to take my precious baby back but I know that he is in a wonderful environment even though he is in a shelter.

Thank you everyone so much for the kind words.

I am so sorry for you, that's really hard and I know how concerned you have been with your boys settling in together and Phantom relaxing, and that you did not want him to be distressed at all.  He is a gorgeous cat, I really do hope someone else sees him and falls in love the way you did at the shelter.  

Allergies can happen like this although my experience has been that it happens sooner after the introduction: a couple who are friends of mine came to stay a few years ago when I had 2 tabbies and the husband was at the doctors 2 days later and needed an inhaler. He couldn't be in my apartment for more than a few minutes without getting wheezy and sick after that. It was totally unexpected as they had a black cat and never had any issues before: he has had asthma ever since his first meeting with my girls!

I am really just thankful that the shelter was so nice about it. I really do not know what we would have done had they not been so kind as to take him back in. We fully intend on sponsering him though meaning that the money we paid to the shelter we told them to keep ot so when someone does come to get him they will not have to pay the fee. I am very sad that it happened but some things can not be helped.

Thinking of you all.  Hoping Chu is settled in his space again, and that your husband's allergic reaction is settling.

Hopefully your gesture for someone else to home Phantom without payment will help others pay him that little bit of attention that gives him the chance to capture their hearts like he did yours.

 

Im sure they will. The shelter has already told me that there were several people looking at him . I think he is going to have a furever home before long !i appriciate all the kind words. I told my husband today i have never felt so accepted so quickly in a group of people !