New baby w/asthma, cats now need re-homing.

I have a co-worker with a 9-month old baby who has been diagnosed with asthma and who now has to re-home her two cats. She has had them since they were kittens (they are indoor-only cats, healthy and up-to-date on their shots) but they are making her daughter ill and she can no longer keep them. Here is their info:

Ty, male, fixed, long-haired black & white, 4 years old, very, very affectionate (will lick you while you are petting him).


and...

Tasha, female, fixed, long-haired orange tabby, 5 years old, shy and reserved.


I live in Central Massachusetts - if you are interested and able to give these guys a good permanent home (or know someone else who might be), please pm me.

In any case, please keep the family in your thoughts. They are having a tough time with this issue.

Thank you very much, everyone!

*Edited same day to add pics.*

Also try CraigsList and Petfinders.com

how sad this must be for the family - sorry I cant help, but I wish them all the best of luck in finding the perfect home for their kitties

I have a daughter with asthma but we never considered giving up our feline babies - we made many many adjustments in our life after consulting with a local environmental health center (Helen Ellis Hospital in Pinellas, Fla) but our pediatrician told us to "get rid" of the cats - after many changes and mild meds, my daughter is doing well - and she is adjusting and even getting better. I wonder if your co-worker's situation is worse - I do realize and understand every situation is uniuqe but in the rescue ctre I work in that us the number one reason people give for surrendering their cats and I am always skeptical (except when you can tell someone is so distressed about it - we had one woman come in with her Siamese and she cried and cried (she had severe COPD) - and I ended up taking the little meezer myself since the kitty cried so much after her owner who she was VERY bonded to - left. The former owner keeps in touch and I do not know if that's wise - at the office (she does not know my home no.) but I let her know how Ming is doing - she was not yet a year old and now she is 1 1/2 and all is well. She seems better for my asthmatic daughter as well with the short hair. I never had a Siamese before and LOVE the breed - Ming had registration papers too (my 1st purebred) and was going to be a show cat but our family will not be into that - as interesting as it all sounds. She was not spayed but we had her spayed so I guess that means she is disqaulifued?I am sorry I am going on - but can someone inform me about that fersure?).

Anyway - My advice as a mom to yourco worker is to seek other alternatives before doing what she does not want to. She might be pleasntly surprsied and if not, she will at least have given it her all.

Please give her good luck from me and my family.

Has your co-worker tried other solutions to help with the situation, such as a mold and dust inspection of her home? I know it sounds crazy, but if the heating/cooling systems are cleaned and new filters are installed where necessary it could cut down on asthma episodes. Since your in Mass you may have seen it on the news last week. There was a family who did that and their son came down from several heavy-duty meds to one or two a day. (Check the Fox25 website - the story may still be posted.) So it may not be just the cats!

yea...asthma & allergies over here, which is another reason we moved to the mountians.
Our doctor perscribed allergy meds twice a day for me and told us to get rid of all the cats (as if that would ever happen). If we had a child who ended up with the same condition, the cats would have to go to another sanctuary, no doubt about that.
It must have been hard for that lady to give up her cats but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Have you been able to place them yet?
Petfinders helped us find homes for many of our strays when we were still doing adoptions, we recommend them too.

GL!

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. To answer your questions: I have posted on Goosemoose.com, Pets-For-Life.com and Petfinder.com (I missed the Craigslist suggestion, but will get right on that), the cats have not yet (unfortunately) been re-homed, and Carol called me yet again today - her baby has become sick again (after they thought they might be bringing the situation under some sort of control) and alternative solutions are not an option at this point.

Carol loves her cats, but her daughter's health must come first.

Please, if you are unable to adopt the kitties yourself, but know of a site that might reach someone who can, your suggestion(s) would be most welcome.

Thanks again for all your thoughts, everyone!

Are there any no kill rescues near where Carol lives that would do a courtesy listing for her on their Petfinder or own web sites? That would ive the cats much more exposure. Poor babies! It does sound like they were trying - I know it is tough - we went through he** for awhile but there was no way I could part with my feline babies - they mean as much to me as my human babies do. It cost us more than we could really afford and many of our friends thought we were crazy - pulling out carpets, cleaning and checking the home for mold and everything else you can name. And finding the best meds for our daughter - ones that would help her but had few side effects.

I wish her well and good luck. Hugs.

Try Sterling Shelter:

http://www.sterlingshelter.org/services/givingup.html

They can at least give you other ideas of what to do.

Katie

I have to agree with the others that maybe, even if the cats are rehomed, your friend can find another pediatric allergist. My sis & her daughter put up with so much meds, etc., had the carpet removed, etc., and she had even had a small apt. built over the exterior garage for her cats, but the new allergist in TN kept up his detective work & a key problem was the central A/C!! It was expensive to get all the work done for my sis, but once those triggers were removed, the cats came back inside the house & everyone is doing fine so far. People that are allergic to cats are usu. also allergic to rabbits, horses, feathers, etc., in addition to air pollution. Fortunately, my sis's ped.allergist is a cat-lover & agrees with her that the family cat is often too-quickly blamed (not that I think that that is your friend's case).
I will pray that the cats find compassionate homes that will allow your friend Carol to continue to be part of their lives!! And I pray that Carol's little daughter find treatment & is able to outgrow her asthma. I had asthma when I was little & I outgrew it! I only get attacks from cigarette smoke & certain common irritants, such as heavy perfumes (incl. scented cat litter, laundry detergent & fabric softeners, shampoo & conditioners). In fact, I know that perfumed products, incl. air fresheners & those common household products are often overlooked as causing a basic sensitivity that makes a child much more prone to more frequent attacks.

I have allergies so bad all year, I also have 8 inside cats, I am constantly cleaning basically for there health, I will just live with the allergies because I would be broken hearted and if I had to give them away now that would kill me, 6 of the 8 are ones I rescued, I'm always stuffed up, sneezing and everything else, I had them before the cats they have just gotten worse, it would be hard for anyone to have to give them up for those reasons, but sometimes there is no choice. There beautiful cats I wish I didn't have so many, I have 3 tuxies and a big orange boy .

Does she know for sure that the cats are the cause of the asthma? In an infant, food allergies are a more likely cause of asthma. Has she been evaluated for food allergies, particularly a dairy allergy? Environmental allergies are rare in infants but food allergies are very, very common.

If she is truly allergic to the cats then rehoming them may be the best option but unless she is tested, there is no way of knowing that the cats are the cause of the asthma. So the baby's health situation would be the same and the cats would have lost their home - a bad situation for all involved!

One of my friends daughter (she is now 13) was very sickly as a newborn-they thought allergies too. They had older home but when they sold and moved a yr or two later-the "allergy/asthma" disappeared. It was the wool carpeting in the house!!

http://www.adoptapet.com/CATS/US/--/ZIP/18 may help with finding a shelter in your area.

I understand your friends concerns and rightly so that the Childs health is a priority, however i hope that they consider that the cats are not the source of the allergen illnesses with the child.

Human children, like animal babies, systems are to young and still developing to diagnose something as specific as a "cat allergy" as the root cause of the baby being sick. The pediatrician may have jumped to the first assumption when he/she hear that there were animals in the house.

It may be as GailC suggested, something as innocuous as the carpet, the bedding the baby sleeps on, the air inside the house, or some other illness the baby has had since birth. It may even be something transferred by the mother during nursing. Too many variables to single out just one reason so quickly without doing any testing, as a most doctors will not skin test an infant. The most common allergies infants have are Milk and Soy which comprises most of their diet in some form.

I hope that the child recovers quickly. I hope and pray that the cats find a good home. I really hope that if the cats are surrendered that indeed it was the cats causing the baby to feel sick.

Please accept my post as an effort to help and not a criticism for your friend. Emotions run high when children and pets are concerned and I would imagine that she has not come to this decision lightly.
But almost every other day I goto the shelter to find another cat surrendered for the same reason, “I have allergies” or “my child has allergies”
It becomes so very heartbreaking and discouraging to see another loving animal in a cage.
I cannot count how many people have returned looking for their cats, realizing that it was not the cats at all as they still suffer from allergies. Unfortunately for them the cats have either been re-homed or worse.

My brother, dad, and I have had asthma since before we could crawl and we had a cat, I now have two cats. My dad has one cat. I just wish there were some way for them to get a handle on the asthma, as we have been able to.

Does anyone know how common it is for a child or newborn to develop allergies due to having a cat? I have 5 cats and definately want kids but now I am scared to death at the thought of my future child developing asthma. I could never ever give up my cats.....I really dont know what I would do if put in that position.....my heart goes out to the people who are in that situation. If anyone knows if this is very common or not so common I would appreciate any feedback....

Danielle

well, i'm 13 now, but I got asthma when i was eight. and I have 2 cats, but I'm fine our docter said that asthma never starts becuz of something in the house (including cats) I just use a nebulizer and I'm fine!

maybe there is a no kill near you that can get a foster home for these guys, check it out

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

I have a co-worker with a 9-month old baby who has been diagnosed with asthma and who now has to re-home her two cats. She has had them since they were kittens (they are indoor-only cats, healthy and up-to-date on their shots) but they are making her daughter ill and she can no longer keep them. Here is their info:

Ty, male, fixed, long-haired black & white, 4 years old, very, very affectionate (will lick you while you are petting him).


and...

Tasha, female, fixed, long-haired orange tabby, 5 years old, shy and reserved.


I live in Central Massachusetts - if you are interested and able to give these guys a good permanent home (or know someone else who might be), please pm me.

In any case, please keep the family in your thoughts. They are having a tough time with this issue.

Thank you very much, everyone!

*Edited same day to add pics.*

Click to expand...

I have to wonder how all of a sudden this baby has asthma after 9 months and the first thing it points to is the cats. Cats do not cause asthma and to be honest the earlier a child is exposed to cats the less chance they are allergic to cat dander when they become adults.

Has this person even tried to have the kid treated or is this going to be another episode of "the cat is the cause so let's get rid of him or her."

With cat and kitten season here I think it is completely unfair to dump these cats that have probably grown to love their human. You ask to keep the family in our thoughts when it really should be the cats we send our thoughts to. The cats deserve better than these humans who just dump them off on someone else because they can't handle the responsibility. If you can't handle having a cat and are planning to just get rid of them later, you shouldn't adopt them in the first place.

I don't mean to cause a flame war here because I am trying to be calm here but it really does burn me up as a cat lover to see people just dispose of the cats in the name of a human baby. If you became ill because of your human child would you send them away to someone else or a shelter somewhere? Cats are living, breathing creatures not beer cans to be tossed away later.

Originally Posted by Dulcie Riley

I have a daughter with asthma but we never considered giving up our feline babies - we made many many adjustments in our life after consulting with a local environmental health center (Helen Ellis Hospital in Pinellas, Fla) but our pediatrician told us to "get rid" of the cats - after many changes and mild meds, my daughter is doing well - and she is adjusting and even getting better. I wonder if your co-worker's situation is worse - I do realize and understand every situation is uniuqe but in the rescue ctre I work in that us the number one reason people give for surrendering their cats and I am always skeptical (except when you can tell someone is so distressed about it - we had one woman come in with her Siamese and she cried and cried (she had severe COPD) - and I ended up taking the little meezer myself since the kitty cried so much after her owner who she was VERY bonded to - left. The former owner keeps in touch and I do not know if that's wise - at the office (she does not know my home no.) but I let her know how Ming is doing - she was not yet a year old and now she is 1 1/2 and all is well. She seems better for my asthmatic daughter as well with the short hair. I never had a Siamese before and LOVE the breed - Ming had registration papers too (my 1st purebred) and was going to be a show cat but our family will not be into that - as interesting as it all sounds. She was not spayed but we had her spayed so I guess that means she is disqaulifued?I am sorry I am going on - but can someone inform me about that fersure?).

Anyway - My advice as a mom to yourco worker is to seek other alternatives before doing what she does not want to. She might be pleasntly surprsied and if not, she will at least have given it her all.

Please give her good luck from me and my family.

Click to expand...

I think it is wonderful you are keeping your cats as well as helping those felines that needed. It is shocking that so many people see cats as disposable instead of working through the problem. It is sad to see the cat getting the short end of the stick. Too many end up in shelters because of the excuse "my baby is suddenly allergic or has asthma." You also see too much of the old "I am moving and unable to take the cat with me" excuse as well. Cats are not throwaway objects here and if you can't take care of them, you shouldn't adopt. Too many people are dumping cats because they are irresponsible so they come up with all these excuses to make themselves feel better. The cat is the one who ends up suffering which is really sad.