How do you know if you have allergies to cats?

Hi all,

I recently went to my optamologist with my family to get all of our annual eye exams done. Basically our eye doctor told us that we have 'severe' allergies that are caused by our cat and are bad enough that we might need needles if they aren't cleared up by these eye drops he prescribed.

However this makes no sense to me because we have had our cat for 2 years now and no one in my family has any symptoms related to allergies (red eyes, itchiness, sneezing etc.)

Is this even possible? Does anyone have allergies that can confirm?

I'm confused; what symptoms does the ophthalmologist see that pinpoint an allergy?  

Your best bet is to see an actual allergist; IMHO.  From the information you have given; I would say a 2nd (outside) opinion is needed.

Thats what I'm confused about, he said we had swollen capillaries. Shouldn't that make my eyes red at least 

When I was a child I was highly allergic to cats. I's go out and play with the neighborhood cat and come back with hives all over my body!  My Mother had to draw a bath with cornstarch and then dab me with that pink stuff (maybe liquid Benadryl, I'm dating myself here...) and them put me in PJ's for the rest of the day.  However I LOVED CATS and the next day the same thing would happen, I must have drove my Mother crazy!  At 7 years old I got my first cat and my breakouts started to lessen, so I built up immunity form the allergies from exposure.  I don't remember my eyes tearing and nose stuffed up.  This was back in the late 60's and they didn't know squat about allergies back then, but I'm sure they've made leaps and bounds in medicine and testing since then.  IMO see the allergist and get the skin tests. It may not be your cat, but something your cat's been exposed to.  Good luck in in finding a solution.

That doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I supposed anything is possible and allergies can be weird sometimes. I agree about a second opinion.

Our son and our grandson are allergic to cats, but not severely. They can spend the day here with us, but they don't touch their face, esp their eyes, after they've touched one of the kids. Usually after petting a cat or holding a cat, they will wash their hands and face thoroughly, even if they have to do so several times during their visit. And then right before they go home, they wash up well. Our son has asthma; it's not as bad as when he was a child, but he can still get some bad attacks sometimes. Our grandson isn't as bad as our son, but he does get the runny and red eyes if he doesn't wash his hands after petting.

If it is an allergy ! Could be dust mites and nothing to do with kitty. Go get a second opinion.
What did he mean needles?