i am SO allergic to my grandkitty!! help!

i am catsitting my grandkitty Sheldon, and it is clear that i am allergic to him- he likes to lay right near my face and anytime he does my eyes get bright red and itchy.

i ordered some stuff to treat carpets and bedding, and some stuff to wipe him down with, but does this stuff really work???

my daughter would take him home but her roommate does not like him, so i am trying to make it bearable to have him here

he is such a snugglebug, i don't want him to go anyway

i have two cats and they are very low allergen cats (i am allergic to a protein the the cats saliva, and some cats have more than others, well Sheldon apparently had a LOT!! plus he is constantly licking himself)


it is not possible to keep the cats out of the bedroom.

would wiping him down with a damp rag every day help?

i have an RX antihistamine and an inhaler for asthma, a nasal spray and allergy eye drops, but none of those are completely effective (well the nasal spray gives me nose bleeds) the allergy eye drops dont seem to work at all, and those are a prescription too

oh i also ordered a waterless hand santizer so that i can wash off my hands after i touch him- and i touch him a LOT!! he is just the sweetest boy!!


any suggestions from fellow allergy sufferers greatly appreciated

try getting allerpet ... it is something you wipe on the cat to help with dander ... if you are allerigic to salivia like me try not to get to many kisses....

Antihistamines help but you might want someone to brush him ALOT each day a- even with a wet cloth so they get much of the hair. It's prob best if he does not sleep with you but maybe he can at least be in the bedroom (poor guy and poor you!). I know a family with 2 golden labs whose twin daughters were very allergic and they almost surrendered the dogs but just could not do it and we all cxame up with things they could do. One was removing all the carpeting in their home and of course the dogs did not sleep with the girls. The dogs got LOTS of baths and brushing outside (which would be a good place for someone to groom Sheldon.

Good luck!!!

Definitely keep him out of the bedroom and away from your face. Make sure you wash your hands after touching him and don't touch your face in the interim! That should help a lot.

For people with allergies, I always recommend Petal Cleanse/C

It works really well - we use it when I'm going to stay at my parents' and my sister will be there (she has allergies to cats and dogs and has asthma)

If this kitty is going to live forever with you, you may want to talk to an allergist about getting shots to build up your immunity. It helps some people cope with their allergies quite well....but not all. (My Mom was so allergic to cats that she could not take the shots at all....she can NEVER come into any of the familys homes with cats...and we all have to be every careful to bathe and put on clean clothes and NOT touch our cats before going to see her.)
Linda

hi
well i got some stuff called "dustroy" - its a spray that you use on carpets and bedding etc, even laundry- it neutralizes the allergens from cats and dust mites. seems to have made a big difference
i also got some allerpet like stuff, just a different name and i wipe him down about twice a week with that.

so far, so good!! he now sleeps on a bed next to mine, instead of on my pillow, that helps too!

i would love to get the allergy shots but my insurance wont cover them

Sounds like you've found something that is working. I've used allerpet in the past and that worked well. I also bathe my cats occassionally and that helps a lot. But bathing is not for everyone! It maybe wasn't so much that the new kitty has an over abundance of the allergen but more that your body reached its limit and was on overload with the new addition! Anyway, glad you found something that works.

I have a good idea of what you've been going through. I knew I was allergic to Red Cat and Purdy, but I could live with it. But after I got Sheba, I discovered that she must have far more allergens than the other two put together. Whenever she got near my face, I could just feel the difference in my lungs. The other two don't cause that reaction, so I know it is not just the total amount of allergens in the house.

Though my eyelids are still somewhat inflamed, they are much improved and I no longer feel it in my lungs after I started taking Sheba to a professional groomer to be bathed once a month. To keep the total amount of allergens down in the house, I take Purdy every two months. (Red Cat requires a tranquilizer to be bathed, so he gets out of the ordeal. The last groomer who tried bathing him without a tranquilizer told me never to bring him back.) Since I do allow them to sleep with me, I wash the bedspread every week or two. Vacuuming and dusting regularly helps. I still have allergies, but it is at a level I can live with.

"Dustroy," you say. I'll have to look into that.

Wiping them down with distilled water has worked for people with allergies. However, unless your bedroom has no door, you HAVE to keep the cats out. That is a must for anyone allergic to animals. You should have one room that is free from any pet hair.

Those that are allergic cannot let the animal sleep in bed with them or get right up to their face. It's not worth getting sick. As long as you wipe them down every day and wash you hands after petting and KEEP THEM AWAY FROM YOUR FACE, you should be ok.

A little bit of a hijack, but...if the nasal spray gives you nosebleeds, definitely talk to your doctor about discontinuing it. I ended up with a huge hole in my septum from using a steroid nasal spray and had to have surgery to fix it. The first symptom was nosebleeds, which progressed until the tissue was basically dissolved. That stuff works great for some people, but can be really bad news for others.

(Not to panic you - it happened when steroid nasal sprays were relatively new, and after I had been having nosebleeds for a few weeks, but continued using the spray per my %#$% doctor's orders, who hadn't bothered to read up on the medicine enough to realize that I was having a negative reaction and should have stopped using the spray immediately.)