Help Needed! Friend With Allergies Wants A Kitty!

I have a friend who really loves cats and wants a companion....however...she's allergic to the cat dander. A dog really isn't the best option since she does not want to leave it neither inside or outside all day while at work.

Anyone that can offer advice or recommend products to minimize cat dander so that she can enjoy a new companion....please please help. We've been doing some research on the internet, but have only found pitches for products rather than reviews or advice.

Thank you all for your continued help!!! And Happy New Year!

Well, the most effective thing on the "market" is a prescription from a doctor. Zyrtek is wonderful for pet allergies.
If medication is not an option, She can look into a breed that doesn't seem to effect people with allergies such as the Cornish Rex, or possibly a Sphynx.
It's very difficult to keep the dander down in a house. We are talking bathing the cat once a week, Hepa filters including vacuums designed to trap the hair, vacuuming the furniture every day.

There is some nice research that shows thatpeople have fewer allergy problems with cats depending ont he color of their fur. I can't remember whether it is dark cats or light cats that are better. I'll try to find the info and post again.

Here is an article by the Humane Society of the United States:

Allergies to Pets

Being a pet owner is never easy. While pets bring us joy and companionship on a daily basis, they also require training, veterinary care, time, love, attention, and even tolerance. Tolerance is especially necessary when a pet owner is allergic to his or her companion animal.

Studies show that approximately 15% of the population is allergic to dogs or cats. An estimated one-third of Americans who are allergic to cats (about two million people) live with at least one cat in their household anyway. In a study of 341 adults who were allergic to cats or dogs and had been advised by their physicians to give up their pets, only one out of five did. What's more, 122 of them obtained another pet after a previous one had died. It's clear the benefits of pet companionship outweigh the drawbacks of pet allergies for many owners. Living comfortably with a companion animal despite being allergic to him requires a good understanding of the allergic condition and an adherence to a few rules.

All cats and dogs are allergenic (allergy-causing) to people who are allergic to animals. Cats tend to be more allergenic than dogs for allergic people, although some people are more sensitive to dogs than cats. Contrary to popular belief, there are no "non-allergenic" breeds of dogs or cats; even hairless breeds may be highly allergenic.

Dogs with soft, constantly-growing hair—the Poodle or the Bichon Frise, for example—may be less irritating to some individuals, although this may be because they are bathed and groomed more frequently. One dog or cat of a particular breed may be more irritating to an individual allergy sufferer than another animal of that same breed.

The source of irritation to pet-allergic humans? Glands in the animal's skin secrete tiny allergy-triggering proteins, called allergens, that linger in the animal's fur but also float easily in the air. Allergens are present in the animal's saliva and urine, too, and may become airborne when saliva dries on the fur. The severity of reaction to these allergens varies from one person to the next, ranging from mild sniffling and sneezing to life-threatening asthma, and can be complicated by simultaneous allergies to other irritants in the environment.

If your or a family member's allergies are simply miserable, but not life-threatening, take these steps to reduce the symptoms:


Create an "allergy free" zone in the home—preferably the bedroom—and strictly prohibit the pet's access to it. Use a high-efficiency HEPA air cleaner (available at almost any home and garden store or discount department store) in the bedroom. Consider using impermeable covers for the mattress and pillows because allergen particles brought into the room on clothes and other objects can accumulate in them.

Use HEPA air cleaners throughout the rest of the home, and avoid dust-and-dander-catching furnishings such as cloth curtains and blinds and carpeted floors. Clean frequently and thoroughly to remove dust and dander, washing articles such as couch covers and pillows, curtains, and pet beds. Use a "microfilter" bag in the vacuum cleaner to effectively catch all the allergens.

Bathing your pet on a weekly basis can reduce the level of allergens on fur by as much as 84%. Although products are available that claim to reduce pet allergens when sprayed on the animal's fur, studies show they are less effective than a weekly bath. Even cats can become accustomed to being bathed; check with your veterinarian's staff or a good book on pet care for directions about how to do this properly, and use whatever shampoo your veterinarian recommends.

Don't be quick to blame the family pet for allergies. Ask your allergist to specifically test for allergies to pet dander, rather than making an assumption. And understand that allergies are cumulative. Many allergy sufferers are sensitive to more than one allergen. So if you're allergic to dust, insecticides, pollen, cigarette smoke, and cat dander, you'll need to reduce the overall allergen level in your environment by concentrating on all of the causes, not just the pet allergy. For example, you may need to step up measures to remove cat dander from your home and carefully avoid cigarette smoke during spring, when it is difficult to avoid exposure to pollen.

Immunotherapy (allergy shots) can improve symptoms but cannot eliminate them entirely. They work by gradually desensitizing a person's immune system to the pet allergens. Allergy-causing proteins are injected under the person's skin, triggering the body to produce antibodies (protective proteins) which block the pet allergen from causing a reaction. Patients are usually given one dose per week for a few weeks to months (depending on the severity of the allergy) and then can often manage with one injection per month.

Additional treatments for allergies to pets are symptomatic, including steroidal and antihistamine nose sprays and antihistamine pills. For asthma, there are multiple medications, sprays, and inhalers available. It is important to find an allergist who understands your commitment to living with your pet. A combination of approaches—medical control of symptoms, good housecleaning methods, and immunotherapy—is most likely to succeed in allowing an allergic person to live with pets.
Of course, if you do not currently have a pet and are considering one, and know you are pet-allergic, be sure to consider carefully whether you can live with the allergy before you bring a new pet home. Except in the case of children, who sometimes outgrow allergies, few allergy sufferers become accustomed to pets to whom they are allergic. Too many allergic owners obtain pets without thinking through the difficulties of living with them. And too often, they end up relinquishing pets, a decision that is difficult for the owner and can be life-threatening for the pet.

Copyright Â[emoji]169[/emoji] 2004 The Humane Society of the United States. All rights reserved.

Oh piddle! I can't for the life of me find where I read about the color of the cat and allergies. Darn! I'll keep looking. You might want to do a google on this, perhaps you will find it before I do. Sorry!

I got a Sphynx b/c my roommate is allergic to cats and everything else. EVERYTHING. I mean EVERYTHING! So I got a Sphynx knowing that it is still possible that it could irritate his allergies, but the weird thing is that he's not allergic to him AT ALL, but I'M allergic to him! I am allergic to cats (and dogs if they're dirty, but that's probably b/c they bring in allergens from outside) and I'm a lot less allergic to Cupid than coated cats, but my roommate who is allergic to EVERYTHING (everything) isn't.

I just suggest you visit someone who only has a particular breed before getting it thinking she won't be allergic to it. When I was looking for a cattery, I found that most will let you visit. The breeder I chose even let us meet her at someone else's house b/c she had other animals as well that would bother his allergies.

There are some good products on www.sneeze.com for allergies too.

Black cats may be unlucky for the allergic

by Barbara Loecher


Cats with dark coats may provoke more sneezing, congestion, and itchier eyes and throats than lighter-hued felines (The Jour. of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Jan 2000).

Researchers at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn studied 60 cat owners: 29 with moderate allergy symptoms, 14 with mild symptoms, and 17 who had no symptoms at all. Those with moderate symptoms were more likely to own dark-colored cats than those with mild or no symptoms. In fact, the odds of having moderate symptoms were six times higher with a dark kitty.

Dark cats might have higher concentrations of antigens, the proteins that prompt allergic reactions, in their fur, says lead researcher Sumera Hussain, MD, a fellow in the hospital's allergy department. Or their antigens may simply be more potent. Dr. Hussain says it's too soon to advise allergy sufferers to maximize their comfort by choosing light-colored cats over dark ones. But whatever the color of your cat, you can lessen allergic symptoms this way:


Keep kitty out of your bedroom. "You need an antigen-free environment for sleeping," says Dr. Hussain.


Install air-filtering machines with high-efficiency air (HEPA) filters in rooms frequented by your cats. You can find these units (they're roughly the size of toaster ovens) at most department and hardware stores.

Here is where I found the article http://www.prevention.com/cda/featur...1-1115,00.html

Originally posted by Sandie
Well, the most effective thing on the "market" is a prescription from a doctor. Zyrtek is wonderful for pet allergies.

Click to expand...

I have also heard that Zyrtec is great for pet allergies. When I first got Dori, I started waking up with a sore throat and itchy nose. I automatically thought I was allergic to her since she slept on top of my head. When I went to the doctor he gave me like 3 months of sample zyrtec pills (he is a cat owner himself and told me his cat is better than most of his friends and family members!). Come to find out though, I had strep throat and wasn't allergic to her afterall