Allergies can develop at anytime. With every year we learn that cats are more dangerous than we had anticipated. Toxoplasmosis and it's link to mental health issues was considered to be somewhat controversial to scientists and obviously very controversial to cat lovers. The biggest problem is that owning a cat means having at least one box of feces/urine in your house/apt. Humans are naturally averse to living near shit but the ones who are not are at a higher risk of contracting cat diseases. With the increase in Cat AIDS (FIV) leads to more cat shit which leads to higher transmission rates of all kinds of stuff and the especially nasty Toxoplasmosis.
Bottom line is folks with or in regular contact with people who have mental health issues (especially depression, Bipolar I/II), compromised immune systems (HIV, those receiving cancer treatment) and women of child bearing age should never interact with cats. Eventually I wouldn't be surprised if in the US having a cat in the home leads to children being removed by CPS in the future.
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It might be the food that the cat is eating that is giving you allergies, since cats groom with their tongues.
I visited a friend's house and after playing with his two cats for the first time for fifteen minutes I started sneezing and my nose started running! I cut the trip short, and a few days later I visited another friend's place and despite playing with his cats, I didn't have any symptoms. I also never was allergic before since I've been in close contact with cats since I was a kid.
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So, I'm a very allergic kid. I have heavy allergics towards lactose, flowers and also cats. Still, I had several cats in my lifetime and have managed to work with the allergic reactions just as you seem to do. The danger of getting asthma of your allergic reactions is there, this is certain. The question that remains is: How likely is it? Not very much, I can tall you that. Different allergies are differently prone to get you asthma and my experience tells me that no one I knows got it by having a cat despite their allergies. Neither did I. Pollen is way more serious in this situation. But keep in mind that I am no doctor.
I would say that you should keep him and watch as everything develops. When coughing as an allergic reaction starts to get more frequent you have to take steps against it but until then there is nothign to be worried about. You will not wake up one day and suddenly have asthma. This sin't how it works so you have enough time to take action against it if it comes to the worst.
What would help in inhibiting all alergic risks is making him to be an outdoor cat. The advantage in this is that outdoor cats leave most of their hairs outside of your house and the less hair in your house the less alergic reactions will occur thus minimalizing the risk of getting asthma.
Frequently brush your cat or let him be brushed by someone else who isn't allergic. This way many and many more of his hair will be gone plus most cats love being brushed.
A third idea would be to prohibitz him from staying in your frequented places like your bed or something like that.
Also I made the experence that alleric reactions and how often they occur can vary with the furr-colour of your animal. Just for the future. For instance: I have the biggest problems wih red cats while black cats do absolutly nothing to me.
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Nope.
Prolonged exposure to something youre allergic to can be really dangerous.
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That's not how alergies work. He might have built up a tolerance. He was already immune towards cat fur or whatever, that's what caused the allergic reaction.
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I'm personally against outdoor cats since they have a shorter lifespan due to more contact with disease and fighting with other animals. They also kill birds :(
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Animals kill other animals for living. You can't change that.
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Just because we can't save every species doesn't mean we should stop trying to minimize our impact on the environment.
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We should. But by domesticating species and breeding some kinds that would have difficults adapting to the real world. We already have done way too much.
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Allergy shots may help, but as long as it's not heavy allergies you shouldn't be too bad
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I think its probably the cat being dirty and need a bath more than you began to be allergic to cats if you werent... you should bath him, give him his vaccines... :), and i know a lot of people with animals and they are kinda allergic its not a problem
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You know you're a cat person if you go to bed, find a cat sleeping in the spot in your bed where you like to sleep, and decide to find someplace else to sleep tonight.
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nope it just show who is the big cat sniffing the catnip in the house
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Magnificent sphynxes! But it's not the fur most are allergic to; it's actually a protein most cats have in their saliva and spread on themselves as they groom. Some of the Asian breeds of cat reportedly have far less in their saliva which can make things tolerable.
OP: No, it won't "turn into asthma" or anything. Pretty much depends on if you're willing to deal with the nuisance factor you have now, nothing more.
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This.
People say it's the fur, but it's actually the saliva ON the fur because they lick themselves clean.
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Personally I've found that you eventually get used to the pets you have, I've had cats my entire life while being allergic.
The longer the fur, the worse your allergies will be as the most common allergen in cats is actually released through it's saliva. As such, the more fur for it to clean and the more it sheds, the worse your allergies will be. Assuming it's not a long haired cat and that you don't slack on sweeping up it's fur, it should be bearable. As others have said, there are many medications you can take to prevent or alleviate your allergies.
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The question is whether you're allergic to cats or not. Just because you're allergic it doesn't mean you're allergic to everything with a fur.
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Well you can take an allergy pill everyday - an OTC like Claritin or a cheaper version of that - and see if that helps. But everyone's allergic response is different so it really depends on whether or not you're willing to put up with the symptoms or not. Also, it is the dander that triggers the allergy response so bathing your cat frequently will really help as will vacuuming floors and furniture and washing your bedding.
Frankly I love cats but my hubby is allergic - highly allergic - so we won't be adopting one. But I do suggest that you try out all my suggestions for a week and see how you are doing. If everything works and your symptoms are bearable, the rewards of pet ownership is very, very high!
however, if you find that your symptoms are too much to handle, please find a shelter that promises to keep the cat until they can find a good home for him/her. Or if you can;t find one of those, then place an ad on Petfinder.org and adopt him/her that way. ;-)
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My mother is allergic and we have a cat. No one has died yet. She just has to wash her hands after petting ze beast.
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I'm alleric but I have 2 cats. It often happens that you get use to your own cat so you are allergic to all other cats but not yours. I'd recommend you to bath that cat.
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I'm no expert, but I think it all depends on your allergy. I suggest keeping the cat (if you can, like you said, live with it) and if your allergy gets worst, then you can think about finding someone to keep it instead of throwing it out. If it turns out good, then you can keep it. The only bad side of it is the price for tissues. XD
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So,
My mum found a cat at the place she works at. That is in the middle of no-where. She took him home, we are going to make some flyers, in case the cat belongs to someone.
She only took him home for me. If I wouldn't want it, she wouldn't have taken him. I love cats and had one a long time ago.
But apparently, now I'm allergic. If the cat really shouldn't have a home, I couldn't just throw him out, or give him to the animal shelter.
Could I possibly keep him? I don't care that I'm allergic, I can live with it. I don't have asthma, but that's something that could come after a while, right?
What should I do?
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