Need Advice

[Cantus03]

I have a situation that I despartly need help on. My wife and adopted a young cat, Scooby, over 8 years ago, and all was well until she developed allergies to him during her second pregnancy. It’s been 16 months and her allergies have been steadily getting worse and worse. Without getting into too much detail, we’ve explored many options pertaining to cutting down allgergens which includes medications for my wife. My children are both in love with our cat, and my wife and I are devoted to him. However, I can tell she’s absolutely miserable. I’m afraid of the last possible option-having to give him up.

Scooby has health problems that require him to be on prescription food amongst other things. I’m just so worried to think about what I, as a husband, father, and owner, need to do. I’m quite frustrated at the situation. It’s not Scooby or my wife’s fault that these allergies developed, but what do we do? She can’t keep feeling this way in her own house and what will happen to Scooby if we give him up? Any advice would be welcome. Please and thank you!

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

What has your wife done so far? Has she been prescribed any allergy medicines by a doctor? Do you restrict the cat from your bedroom? Are there any carpets in the house? I understand what you are dealing with. When we added second cat to our family many years ago, my husband then developed allergies. We tried frequent vacuuming, allergy meds and nose sprays for him, room purifiers, no cats in the bed room. Nothing worked. We had to move our cats outside to the back yard. We already had a chain link fence. We bought "The Cat Fence in System" and confined them to that space in the yard. Over the years we have had more cats and that is the way we were able to do it. Where we live now, we have a screened in porch next to the kitchen. Our cat spends the nights there and the days outside in the fenced in area with that same system. In extreme weather, we have a large cat cage in our garage and a heat/AC unit on the wall there to keep him warm or cool. It is not ideal but it works for us.

 

[KarenKat]

I saw an episode of Jackson Galaxy where the owners would give the cat weekly baths to try and remove as much sander as possible. Might be worth a shot? (I agree it doesn’t sound easy. I hope you survive)

 

[furmonster mom]

I have a friend who has been allergic to cats all her life, but she continues to keep them. She used to get a monthly shot, but I seem to recall her mentioning that she does something different now. Allergy medications have advanced quite a bit over the years, I think you can literally get them customized to the individuals sensitivities.