allerpet/ anyone with allergy induced asthma?

My roomate and I got two kittens two Sundays ago. The first week i was fine and then we went away for the weekend. When we came back Sunday, my allergies exploded.

My doctor told me in the past I have allergy induced asthma. I had a very severe allergic reaction to one cat in my past. I would start wheezing within minutes of being in contact with the cat. Give it enough time and my throat would close up.

We spent an hour with the kittens before buying them and I was perfectly fine. Last week I got a stuffy nose and a cough, but I figured I was just getting a cold. Well when we came back Sunday night, my stuffy nose became really bad and i started wheezing badly.

Monday we went out and I bought clariton D 24 hour (as recommended on this site) and an asthma inhaler. This week I got sick and my wheezing hasn't been so so.

We're getting ready to get rid of the kittens. Are there any other options? Does allerpet work? We'd love to keep them, but if i don't get better it won't be an option.

You need to see an allergist to see if he recommends you NOT have the cats...or to tell you if you can possibly have allergy shots to build up your immunity to them. (That , if it can be done, should have been started, probably months BEFORE actually getting the kittens.)
If it ends up that you can`t keep the kittens then I hope that you will be able to find them a really good home.
Linda

I had a roommate once that was allergic to cats and since she moved in with me and my cat she had to get allergy shots every month.

I would start with your family dr ... I shouldnt have cats but I manage ... allerpet I have heard helps as does brushing and high quality food less in less out less shedd

I have allergy induced asthma. I think once the allergic reaction starts it's pretty hard to get under control.
I developed it when I was preganant. At that time I had 2 cats and I had a sort of "joint custody" of them with a friend who was my roommate before I got married. We lived near each other and we'd each keep the cats for 1 month and trade off. Anyhow, when my daughter was born my friend kept the kitties for 2 months and when the kitties came backhome I developed the severe reaction you seem to be having. My m.d. said you can develop allergy induced asthma at any time. I had to let my friend keep the cats and i'd use my inhalers to visit with them.

Now, I have 3 cats but they are a breed that are supposed to be hypoallergenic, Siberians. I still bathe them once a week,(just with water), and use Allerpet. Most of the time I am fine, but if my asthma starts acting up I end up using inhalers and sometimes prednisone.

This is a long way of saying I think you might be best finding a new home for your kittens. It's really hard to stop an asthmatic allergic reaction if you're constantly exposed to the irritant(kitties).
Believe me, I don't say that lightly.

i reread my post and I don't know if I was clear. I think once the asthmatic reaction starts it is hard to get under control if you are still living with the cats, although keeping them out of the bedroom helps.
Maybe you could ask a friend to keep them for a while until you get the asthmatic reaction under control.
Once that happens, if you are really commited to having the cats, it might work if you bathe them in water weekly, they do okay with that if you start when they are young, and use allerpet. Also use hepa filters.
Allerpet works pretty well in preventing allergic responses, but I don't think it does much good once the allergic response (asthma) starts.

If you have any other questions I'll try to help.

thanks a lot for all of the replies.

sarha- your info was expecially helpful. a lot of people don't quite understand that allergy induced asthma is a bit different than a normal allergy.

this is really bad news though. we've really grown attached to these little guys and hate the idea of giving them away. hopefully we can find a friend who can take them that way we can still see them once in a while.

I'm sorry this happened. But you do have to think of your safety first and foremost - asthma is much more serious than a simple allergic reaction. I hope you can find someone you know to take them.

I posted in the other thread you started. I, too, am somewhat allergic to cats, but usually manage, though at present I'm having a flare-up. I might raise the ire of some members here, but I'd advise you to not take any chances and to rehome the kittens, as much as that hurts. My older brother (37) died of acute respiratory distress (aka a severe asthma attack) just a few days after the owner of 3 Persians moved into the apartment next to him. As they had forced air heat in the building, it only took from Saturday till Wednesday evening for enough allergens to kill him to build up in his apartment. Cat allergies can be fatal.

I am allergic to cats, but my allergies seem to have been suppressed since I got three of them. LOL This makes no sense, either, because up until I started getting my own, whenever I visited people who had cats, I usually had to leave after a couple of hours with watery eyes, stuffy nose, etc.

While I agree that allergies are nothing to fool with, I would take any drug necessary to allow me to keep my cats. Your questions need to be addressed to your allergist, and soon.

We are having an asthma problem also. My husband has asthma and has had no problems keeping it under control until we rescued our new little girl approx. 3 weeks ago. He has been fine with our resident cat of 5 years. His Doctor said adding a second cat may be too much. Don't know what we are going to do. Is it just her? Will he build up an immunity as he has to our boy? We can't imagine having to give her up. Any information on this would be helpful. Thanks.
Joanne

Jozmonte, I do think it's possible to build up an immunity but it might take a few weeks. When we got our third cat my asthma really flared up. I always use my Advair disc, but I was using my qvent inhaler (prednisone) almost constantly and I was afraid I'd have to use oral steroids and I hate that. We almost gave Caleb back.
W/in about 2 weeks I felt much better and cut back on the inhalers but I still get flareups.
I do believe you can build up immunity in some cases but I also think it depends on how badly your husband is compromised. As I posted earlier in this thread, I think once a really strong reaction starts it is hard to control. Asthma can be deadly.