Starting to have serious allergy and shedding issues - help please

I've had my Siberian kitten since last August 2014. I've always had allergies to cats and hoped it wouldn't be the case with her fur. I was wrong but mostly ignored it - I lived alone and just sort of put up with the red eyes, sneezing and waking up with water in my eyes. I trained her to sleep next to me despite all this to show you how clueless I was.

Fast forward to today, 1.5 years later. I moved and am spending more time at a significant other's home. The amount of hair that is on my couch, bed and floor is starting to become apparent. Spend nights at their home and even the allergies that I have been hiding are apparent. Worse yet my significant other's allergies are worse than mine.

I've tried daily furmirator grooming, washing with shampoo and I just don't think anything can stop the hair. She is a long haired cat and that's that. I vacuum my couch and in 2 days it's bad again to where I can't even lay down on it without resting my head on a pillow that has hair. Lately since it's the winter, I get hives from time to time on my hands or ears because of this.

I don't know what to do at this point. The groomer recommends shaving the cat's body for $100 every 6 weeks. I don't think it will do anything, it will just be smaller hairs that get shed and I think it's cruel to do this to her. I am considering having the cat stay with my parents but it just breaks my heart to even consider it. She loves me a lot and no one will treat her as well as I would. Please, any advice is appreciated.

Oh that is difficult.  

Do  you take a daily allergy medication?  My DH is allergic.  He takes Claritin daily.  Zyrtec works better for the kids and I (for seasonal allergies) but Claritin is non-drowsy.  I also use Flonase along with the zyrtec.  Our girls aren't allowed to sleep in our room. We used to keep them out altogether; but over time they bother DH less.  Other people's cats do still bother him though.  We also vacuum the floors and couches.  Hard flooring is generally better for allergy sufferers.

We used to keep towels on the back of the couch where the cats like to lay.  I was able to find nice towels in the same color as our old couch.  Those are easily washed.  My MIL kept a large throw over their family room couch when she had her old indoor cat.  They would just take that off when they used the family room. 

Grooming is a good part of it.  I know some people wear masks when doing house cleaning to help avoid breathing in the dander/dust/pollen they are allergic to.  DH has to be careful about falling asleep on the couch.  Also not wearing the clothing he laid on the couch in to bed.  We change pillow cases more often than we change the sheets since they are by his head.  

Hopefully something in there will help!

I've read here that using a damp paper towel (plain water) to wipe off the cats fur every day is helpful. Don't forget around the rear end. Lots of licking going on there lol.

There is also a product, Allerpet C, that supposedly helps remove dander from fur. I've used it and to me, it did seem to help. You can dampen a paper towel with it or pour a little in your hands and rub all over your cat, then comb through. It's a liquid and it comes in a bottle, and it leaves my cats hair feeling and smelling nice.

Hello! Another allergy sufferer here.

You've gotten a lot of good advice so far. I take zyrtec, but was always told to take it at night before I go to bed because of the drowsiness issue. :nod: I also get allergy shots for cats. Have you tried an air purifier? I always were a mask while cleaning. :nod:

We have an article here on the site with more tips -

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/living-with-cat-allergy

There's good advice here, thank you.

It comes down to finding ways to live with the allergy. I'm not sure I can convince my partner to do this and I'm not sure I can do it. It is my fault for bringing her into a home that had allergic people in it. I fell for the hypoallergenic pitch. Siberians are better with this but the colorpoint ones are not as good with allergies, to my understanding. I failed again when I didn't just bring up the issue with the breeder after getting her but driving 6 hours to get the cat then seeing how cute she was, what choice did I have? And how could I have know it would be as bad as it is today? My partner loves the cat and is very sweet to her, I don't think it's an anti-cat issue that exists. She has a little dog and there is no shedding and I don't have allergy issues. I definitely feel like people in my life think it's my partner that is making me do something and maybe that's a part of it but really I just am feeling less and less comfortable in my home over it. Some days I don't care other days I get upset and that's not fair to anyone.

Right now my plan is to put off this decision as long as possible and hope for some for of enlightenment over the issue, but that's not exactly the best strategy. I'm responsible for my pet and I let her down when I got her and I am letting her down again now that I am considering re-homing her. She eats an all raw diet which took me probably a hundred hours+ of fussing to get her use to. My parents won't do that. They have a tendency to let cats outside and I fear they will do that, although they swear they will not.

My mom had serious pet dander allergies when I was growing up and we had a Himalayan cat. Long gorgeous silky hair, but she definitely shed. We found out about Mom's allergies after we got the cat when we both got tested for them. But apparently it's really hard to take a cat away from a 6 year old (thanks Mom!) so she managed it with medication. I can't remember what she was on at the time, both a pill and nasal spray every morning. I remember it was very expensive at the time, but I believe whatever it was is available OTC now. 

I've also heard you can get a series of shots that make you immune to that allergy after the series. I think they do them over the course of a year. 

I think a lot of cleaning really helps also. I have 2 long hair cats, and my mom comes to my house all the time and has no issues. I just vacuum weekly, and lint roll the furniture. I also throw a tea towel over the cushion of the chair that one of the cats likes to lounge in.