Am I Really Allergic to Cats?

Are these actually symptoms of a cat allergy or just a coincidence?

Hello everybody! I'm a cat lover and I've been waiting to get one since I was very young. Fortunately, my parents agreed to get me one last week!!!  But then, the big 'problem' came.

One day, when I was going to my piano teacher's house for a lesson, my face started to itch right after I had a good snuggle with one of her beautiful Siamese cats. At first, I passed it off as just an itch but as the weeks went by, I started to notice that something was wrong. The itching wasn't painful but it was extremely irritating. One time, I even found that I had a red bump on my face!

We immediately guessed that I was allergic and my heart fell to pieces.

However,  I did some research on my symptoms and came back quite puzzled. According to my research, cat allergy symptoms include sneezing, wheezing, runny eyes and nose and bad rashes/hives.

My symptoms that I noticed I had over the past few weeks were:

-An itchy face, but no pain

-A few red spots, but nothing too severe

-Slightly itchy eyes, but not watery eyes

-This week, I wheezed and coughed a little bit (I have asthma)

Finally, yes, I'm supposed to get an allergy test soon too. If anybody who had experiences with allergy tests and cat allergies give me some tips on how the test will work and how to deal with allergies, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!

have you tried taking anything? Zyrtec? 

No, I've actually never heard of that too....

I think I'll give it a try!

P.S. My mom doesn't really like the idea of me being on medications all the time...is this medicine that I have to take daily?

i take generic Zyrtec every morning as a prevention. but if you want to wait until you have an allergic reaction, then better to take diphenhydramine (Benadryl). 

I see...thanks a lot for the advice!

Just because you are allergic to one cat doesn't mean you will be allergic to all cats.  My daughter had very bad reactions to her friend's cat when she stayed with them.  We adopted a kitten last June and she just planned to take Clarentin every day, but has had no reaction to Eclipse.  Our 2nd cat may be another story but the pollen count has been really high this year, so we are waiting for summer.

Yes, you could be allergic to one cat but not another. A cat at my local pet store was finally  adopted, only to be given back because the owner, a long time cat owner, was allergic to him. It's very sad, but it happens.

I have two friends who are allergic to cats. They start to get red and itchy within the hour and have a burning feeling on their skin. But again, not all reactions to an allergen are the same. 

One thing I would do in your shoes, is go visit the cat/kitten you plan to own. Snuggle and pet and see if you get the same reaction as you did with your piano teachers. But only AFTER you get your results from your allergy test and if the result is that you're not allergic to cats in general.

I was actually very surprised to hear that you can be allergic to one cat in particular! Thank you so much! I was thinking of getting a Birman...but I've also heard of hypoallergenic cats...I'm not sure those breeds are fully hypoaergenic but does anybody know any cat breeds that don't trigger allergies?

I was allergic to Banshee; out of all the cats we've ever had, to my knowledge, she was the only one I ever developed an allergy to. In my case, my doctor told me to try Claritin D and that seemed to help (actually, my doctor first told me to get rid of that cat....like that was going to happen). I took it for about 4 years before whatever it was seemed to go away. Doctor thought it was some kind of allergy and she seemed to think it was to the Queen B because it came on literally within days of her coming into the house.

Oh wow...
Well, I'm happy to hear that the allergy has faded! I'm hoping the same will happen to me

When I was younger they did test and told me I was allergic to cats, dogs, and almost any animal that shed  But as I grew up around those animals I think my body grew a natural resistance to it. I still get stuffy nose every day but that is it compared to the itchy eyes, sneezing, and headaches I would get. Neither of my 2 cats are hairless in fact they both have long fluffy fur lol