Cat Allergies - Spanaway,WA

S.,

Allergies run in my family. My brothers and sisters would get allergy tests on their back when they were little. They basically take a whole bunch of different things you could be allergic to, inject them under the skin and if they swell, you are allergic. I never had the tests done because my allergies are milder than the rest of my families. I am allergic to cats, dust, wool, and mold. However, I have 2 cats. I have grown immune to my own cats. The only times I have issues is when I am cleaning out something with a lot of cat hair or when I am away from the cats for a long time. However, the rest of my family only has outside animals. I would just get her tested to see if it is a cat problem. A lot of people are allergic to cats, but not dogs. My family had a cockapoo. Terriers are usually pretty good for alergies. Claritin and Benadryl (but makes me sleepy) work for me. My dad sometimes uses Allegra, but I don't think it is for kids. Hope that helps.

My daughter has been tested twice and first they did a scratch test. On her back they pricked under the skin with 50 different allergens. She has mutiple food allergies.
The 2nd time they did the scratch test then the blood test. She was 3 the first time and 7 the 2nd.
THey also just recently scratch tested my husband.
THere is a cat, the Siberian something or other that is supposed to be more hypoallergenic than others. If you get one you will have to brush it a little more often and maybe give it a bath every month or so( now there;s a fun family activity haha)
I know some dogs are good for allergic kids, poodle comes to mind and some terriers.
My hubby uses Claritin, my son is on Singulair and Claritin.

based on the symptoms your daughter is exhibiting, i would strongly recommend taking her to see an allergist to see what she is allergic to and how severe it is. once you know what her condition is you can make informed decisions.

two things to keep in mind, avoidance is the least invasive option to reduce reactions to allergens. having a pet will increase both the pet's allergens and exterior ones (unless it is an inside pet). second item- allergies change, sometimes drastically, over the course of your life and vary by where you live (geographically).

my perspective is based on having had mostly untreated allergies as a child and teenager, which got worse in adulthood and in my 30's they got so bad i began immunotherapy (allergy shots). For me, the shots have been life changing and i now take almost no medication and have very few symptoms. i would not recommend shots for someone with less severe allergies tho.
i did try going to natural products, organics, and a whole host of other things prior to taking that step. unfortunately none of those worked for me (many natural products actually made things worse b/c i am allergic to so many plants).

regarding being healthy: altho allergies are related to your immune system, having them does not mean your daughter will be unhealthy or sickly. i have always had a very good immune system and was a very healthy child and adult.

medicines to try: i tried a lot of different products. There is no 'best' product out there for everyone, different ones work better for different people with different combinations of allergies and it is likely you will need some trial and error to find the best one. i personally liked zyrtec best. keep in mind that finding the best thing can take a while b/c some of the drugs need to build up to work, and the allergy conditions are constantly changing. i now use a prescription eyedrop and nasal medicine which i rarely need but are very effective (better than OTC)

if your daughters allergies turn out to be seasonal: you can track seasonal ones online and have a good idea when to take medication.

types of pets: each animal allergy is specific to the species. each animal is a different allergy- dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, sheep (wool), birds (feathers)etc. having one does not mean you will have another, or that it will be as severe. some breeds and types are better/worse than others, but unless your allergy to that animal is very minor, it is likely almost any animal of that kind will bother you.

If you want to go to a specialist: Northwest Asthma and Allergy Center has offices in Seattle and around the state. I go to Dr Virant (in sandpoint, near Children's Hospital) and i would recommend him. i feel he offers choices without trying to push things on you. (i dont know how he is w/ kids- so far my son doesn't show signs of allergies. there are a ton of kids that go there and they have a toy drawer in each office :)

Good luck to you both!

Speak to your child's pediatrician and get her tested. Don't get a pet until you had this done or you will just end up going through the heartbreak (for all parties involved) of returning it.
If your daughter is indeed allergic do her the favor of going through desensitization. My husband is highly allergic to cats (and other things) and while he got the shots for dust and pollen, his mom didn't include cats - he wishes she had. There are so many people who have cats, he won't visit some of our friends because of this and we were unable to rent apartments where cats have lived... it's a pain in the B...

BTW, there is no such thing as a non-allergenic cat. Most allergies are caused by a protein in the cat's saliva, that is spread on the fur and dander. Even hairless cats trigger allergies.
Some dog breeds are said to be more tolerable, because they have hair rather than fur (poodles for example) and shed less - but even that is no guarantee.

As someone with allergies, please do not get an animal if your daughter is allergic to them. Even thought my symptoms are not that bad, being constantly exposed to an allergen can be exhausting because you feel at least a little bit sick all. the. time. I lived with a cat for a while as an adult and did my best to avoid it and keep things clean, but it was impossible to feel completely normal while I lived there. Some medications work, but not always that well, and they can have side effects. It is way better to avoid the allergen altogether. For me, even if medications "work" I still have less energy than if I am not around the allergen at all.

There is an increase in tree pollens right now as well, it may hard to tell if the cats are the cause or the fact that spring is upon us. Your pediatrician can do the scratch test for various allergies on your daughter's back. This isn't pleasant, but it will give you a very good idea as to what all her allergies are. If she hasn't had a problem with the cats before this, I doubt if the cats are the problem. Cats and dogs are different allergens. What causes most allergic reactions to cats is their saliva, they lick their fur to clean themselves, it dries, flakes off and there you have it... My son is allergic to cats and my Mom has one. We wipe the cat down with a wet washcloth, aleviates a considerable amount of allergen. Claritin is an antihistamine and it should work if it's allergies. Go see your pediatrician, you don't want to overmedicate with the wrong stuff because of a guess. Claritin has always worked for my kids as well as Rhinocort, which is a nose spray. Best of luck!

If it is determined that she is allergic to cats and dogs, don't look for a hypoallergenic one to get for your home. They really don't exist. Some people have different reactions to different kinds of dogs and cats, but each person is different in how they react. You really can't predict.

I have has allergies most of my life. When I was a child I was tested (little needle pricks in the arm to show what reacted most) and was found to have a severe reaction to cats among lots of other things. It was not fun having to take medications as a child nor fun getting weekly shots to help immunity, or having asthma.
The shots made it so I could be around cats and we had cats (mostly outdoors although I'd pet them) however as an adult when I went for a period of 5 years without cats, my allergy came back even worse.
My advice is not to get a pet. At least get your child tested first. You don't want your child living on medicine just so the family can have a cat. I suffered a lot during my childhood with allergies and now as an adult, being away from things that I'm allergic to and building my immune system up my allergies are less severe, although I'm still allergic to cats and depending on the conditions (indoor cat with wall to wall carpeting and never let out) can last about 1/2 hour until I start to feel a reaction.
P.S. I'm allergic to fur from cats, bunnies & dogs, growing up in Walnut Creek Ca. I was allergic to walnut trees, and certain grass weeds too.

I had those same symptoms, and was allergic to any pet/animal.
We had cats and dogs and horses.
I just learned not to put my hands on my face/eyes after I pet an animal, and washed my hands after. BUT, fur gets everywhere and that will cause a problem too, for the allergic. ANd it is impossible to be vacuuming every single day and to get rid of every single speck of fur in a home. My allergies was not severe...but it is not pleasant.

it really depends how bad your child's allergy is... then that should determine whether a pet is gotten or not.

As for dogs, Airedale, poodles, Bedlington Terriers, Portuguese water dogs are less allergenic. Because of their "fur" type and they do not shed.

You REALLY, need to go according to what her doctor recommends. Pet allergies can be really uncomfortable for the ailed and its really miserable. And, if she can take something for her allergies, it would likely be shots... and if a child really can handle that.
But ultimately... it is about how miserable your daughter would be/is around animals... and if it can be avoided or not.

All the best,
Susan

My son had the skin scratch test and he tested positive to cat allergy (plus few more) and I had my cat long time before he was even planned. Well, may be because he was razed with that cat or as the doctor sad some cats don't produce that much dandruff, he is not allergic to our cat. In fact our cat is his lovie, he sleeps with his face on the cat, he just likes the feeling of the cat on his face. My cat is a short haired king Siamese. What I did about that? I stopped bathing the cat at all. That was advice from a friend who spent his life studding cats and dogs skins. As much as you bath the cat or the dog they will produce more dandruff because this is the natural way for them to “rescue” theirs skin from the soap damage. Theirs skin has theirs own self-cleaning system designed by the nature. And our cat is “in door” only so I don’t feel bad about it. Second, I worked on boosting his immune system with probiotics, good vitamins, healthy nutritions and habits, I use some homeopathic supplements and etc. I’m trying to avoid the allergy medications because they do affect his behavior in quite unpleasant way but in the worst cases I would use Benadryl even Zyrtec. Let me know if you have more questions. Hope I was helpful.

I believe the most common allergy test is a skin test where they inject you with a bunch of different allergens and see which ones cause a reaction. If your daughter does have an allergy, you should definitely talk to her doctor about what sort of medications to give her. I believe that Zyrtec is a common one for cats, though.

Poodles are a hypoallergenic breed of dog - they have fur, not hair, which is what most people are allergic to.

My husband is allergic to cats and I brought several to our marriage 5 years ago. He does get shots.
BUT, there is a pretty decent product that "wipes" the allergens off of the animals. They look and feel like baby wipes and I would wipe down the cats a couple times each week and my husband could tell it was working.

They used to do the scratch test with my sister when she was a kid so I avoided it for a long time with my allergy ridden son because I didn't want him to go through all of that. But my pediatrican finally told me what they actually do now-- sure, I suppose they may still do some scratch tests, but for my son, all they did was a finger prick for blood, then tested it for common allergins like cats, dogs, and dust mites and they were able to tell me HOW allergic he is. For example, yes he is allergic to dogs, but the cat allergy was off the charts high. We have found from friend's cats that he is ridiculously highly allergic to calico cats (a friend who has 3 of them came over and must have had some hair on him, though it wasn't noticably visable-- he sat next to my son for a couple of hours while they played video games and my son had a 3 day allergy attack!!) Yet my sister has a long haired Persian cat and my son had no problems whatsoever when we stayed at her house for a long weekend. I'm sure every child is different, but that's how it is with him. As for medication, Zyrtec is the miracle drug of choice for us. He takes it before going to a friend's house who has a cat and he is either fine or in the case of the calicos he can last longer before the attack begins. And if he is already having an attack, Zyrtec works pretty good to stop it if it isn't full blow. For full blown attacks when he is miserable and sneezing, Benadryl is great, but it makes him sleepy.

As a child with allergies myself, I beg you please DO NOT look for the breed that causes the least amount of allergies and buy one for your home. If your child is allergic, a lifetime of having even minor allergy attacks in your own home over something that can be prevented is unfair.

Usually babies and kids with allergies have compromised immune systems. Nothing to worry about - just get their immune system in balance again. A good nutrition supplement - be careful because there are lots out there with lead - is essential. Shaklee has a very good program for baby and kids and they check for lead and other impurities that you know that Shaklee is safe. If interested I will give you a website and some other information so you can be informed and make a good decision.

N.
Health and Wellness Coach

I think Ina's and MJ K's advice is pretty thorough. I disagree with posters who suggest the immune system is weak, though. A true allergy means the immune system is actually overreacting to the allergen.

I have a good, strong immune system, and I've had cat allergies (and many others) all my life. I have also had cats as pets, although they stay strictly outside, and I wash my hands ASAP after I pet them. I'm careful to keep them off my clothing. If I have to pick up a cat, I wear an old shirt that I can carefully bundle and throw in the wash.

But I have to stay out of people's homes if they have cats. The allergens from saliva turn into dust and can fluff into the air off any surface; rugs, upholstery, other people's clothing. The itchy eyes, sneezing and hives would be misery enough, but I also develop asthma, and it quickly gets very serious if I stay. This has gotten worse as I've gotten older, and I can no longer tolerate rescue inhalers.

I am also allergic to dogs and other animals, but cats are by far the worst of my allergies. I could conceivably end up in the hospital from a really bad exposure.

I hope you'll consider getting your daughter into a cat-free preschool. If that's out of the question, do check with her ped to find out what medications would be best. And start teaching her about keeping her hands and face clean after she touches the cat. It will help some.

If she doesn't wheeze (a much more serious problem than hay fever), you might want to try a homeopathic remedy. There are several possibilities, but the one that works best for me is called Histaminum hydrochloride. One tiny pellet under the tongue clears up red, swollen, runny symptoms within 20 minutes for me, with no side effects. It can't really be used to prevent symptoms, though.

Good luck. I'm glad you're seeking to educate yourself about this problem. I hope you find a solution that allows your daughter to enjoy a pet, though it might be a good idea to wait until she's old enough to take some precautions herself.

Allergies are different for every person. First consider how uncomfortable your daughter is and go from there. Since I was a child I had been allergic to dogs and cats and it would cause wheezing. I use an inhalor and am fine with that. I currently have 3 cats and 2 dogs! Some people are so bothered by itchy eyes that they refuse to be around the pets, and some are just so allergic that they really can not be around the pets.
The allergy test is an under the skin test. An allergist usually has a preset # of things to test for when you say " I think she is allergic to cats" . They call is a scratch test I believe. After the scratches they wait a certain amount of time and then look at the amount of skin reaction to each of the things they have tested for. It's a bit uncomfortable and itchy, but isn't like a vaccine type injection. They can create "allergy shots" using the things she is allergic to to try and lessen her reaction to those things.
I believe someone mentioned Zyrtec might be better for the " indoor" allergens. Also, benadryl is a good thing to try if nothing else is helping. Benadryl seems to kick the butt of every allery inducing thing out there! It also may make her sleepy or hyper. Those side effects do tend to lessen over time though.
As for a less allergenic breed of cat or dog. There really aren't any. Because contrary to popular belief that the " fur" or " hair" causes the allergic reaction, it is the DANDER. Which is a combination of skin and usually saliva ( because they lick and chew themselves.) Although there are breeds that do proclaim to be less allergenic. You can google search that but most vets will say that there isn't a hypoallergenic dog or cat.
Good Luck. I hope you find a pet you can all be happy with!