Cat in the classroom?!

[acer]

My ds has asthma and I have noticed that he is a little wheezy since going back to school, after half term, his class teacher lets a cat in each morning for a drink of milk etc.., and they are allowed to stroke it, I do not think this is well known throughout the school, I do not want to upset his teacher (Idon't get on terribly well with her) and I don't want to spoil anything for the kids, would you tell? By the way I do not know for sure that the cat is causing the wheeze. Also its a private school at which the teacher has been there 30 yrs and everybody likes!!!

[jampot]

Completely inappropriate I know but I am just sat here singing "ders a cat in me classroom, what am I gonna do" a la There's a Rat in me Kitchen"

[beachyhead]

mention to the office that you forgot to let them know that he is allergic to cats and its really wierd that he keeps saying that a cat comes into the classroom that you know obviously can't be right, but you just thought you would check with them.......then follow it up a week later, with 'Oh so he was right then - well I'm glad I mentioned his allergy then' Hopefully it will sort itself out!

[acer]

Thing is I mentioned it to his teacher about a month ago, I saw it in the class when I took my ds in, and when I asked what a cat was doing there she swung round and ask "why, don't you like cats?" when I said yes but I think my ds maybe allergic, she ignored it and told me it comes in every morning for it's milk and turned around and walked off. Old Bag, the thing is if I say something she is going to know it came from me.
Thanks for the bump up jampot

[acer]

thanks for the reply, locket does that mean pets and animals are not allowed in school? (state), my other concern is that it may scratch or bite a child. I find it difficult to think of myself as a client, as I have always looked up to teachers, but this is bugging me.

[acer]

Yes I asked my ds if he washed his hands after and he said no, only if he goes to the loo, can't be sure though, I have spoken to a few mums(one mum with a son who has a mild allergy to cats) and they just didn't seem bothered, think I will speak to a few others though.

[acer]

This cat doesn't even belong to the school or the teacher, it just hangs around from one of the houses by the school.

[Gobbledigook]

Acer - I wouldn't like this even if my child didn't have an allergy (afraid I'm not a big pet lover!) for some of the reasons Lockets has pointed out.

If I were you and it was affecting your ds's asthma, I wouldn't give a monkey's about the teacher - I'd tell someone because your ds comes first.

There is no way I'd let it go.

[acer]

Your right I gave her a chance to explain and she ignored me, just wondered if I was overreacting as I really am not a big pet lover myself, would you go and see the head of her dept or try again with her? I just don't want her taking it out on my ds.

[Pidge]

acer - definitely not ok in my view. Asthma and pet allergies are really common amongst kids. There should be a check by the school before the kids have contact with animals.

[Gobbledigook]

Acer - I can see that dilemma. On the one hand you don't want to just ignore it but on the other hand, you don't want it to cause problems for ds if she is a bit of an old bag!

Hmmm, is there a parents evening or something coming up where you could just raise it again? If you've said it before to her and she acknowledged you'd said it (albeit ignoring your request), maybe it's better to talk to someone else and say that it is affecting his asthma and making his wheezing worse. It's not as if you are objecting to the cat per se (even though I wouldn't like it!) but the fact that such frequent exposure is really having an impact on ds. Perfectly reasonable to me.

Def. see if you can get support from other mums then it's not just from you, but if it is, then go ahead anyway for ds's sake. His health comes first.

I think the teacher is totally out of order to ignore an allergy - how stupid.

[acer]

Thanks, she is quite old (50), I have nothing against older teachers, it's just that she seems set in her ways and I get the impression she thinks its all abit of a fuss, the thing is I think she may not understand what asthma actually is and basically I do not think she really cares that much either.

[acer]

I get the impression that she has been there so long that she isn't worried about anything, as long as her class do reasonably well academicly (sp?), there is a classroom assistant so yes, that is a good idea, I will mention that he has been a little wheezy lately, but would you mention the cat to her?

[Gobbledigook]

Personally I would acer, particularly if you know that exposure to cats makes ds worse. Bring up his increase in wheeze first and then say you've heard that a cat comes into the classroom sometimes and you are not particularly comfortable with this from a hygiene point of view (going back to your concerns about washing hands) or from a health point of view (ds's asthma).

[acer]

Thnks for all advice, I am dreading home time already and he doesn't finish until 3:30.

[SofiaAmes]

Wow, I would have gone ballistic in your position. I am asthmatic AND allergic to cats and stroking a cat could set off a deadly allergy. I think it's fairly well known that if there is a mild allergy it can be made worse by constant exposore to the allergen. In addition, it is just plain unsanitary and dangerous to allow a strange cat into a classroom full of children. How does she know whether the cat has had its shots or whether it is carrying diseases, or fleas. I think you have already done the step of approaching the teacher and if it were me, I would have a conversation with the head at this point. You could also make a specific request that you remain anonymous as the complainer so that it doesn't affect your ds. I think that since it's a private school that you pay money for, they should be more receptive to your opinion.

[Weatherwax]

The head of the school I send dd to would be horified to find people were worried about raising this sort of problem with her or her staff. I admit that I would be nervous but look at the bill, look at it again and remember that your son's health it being affected by the current situation. You are paying for an education which he is not getting the full benefit of as the cat may be making him ill. If he is fighting the allergy he cant be giving the class his full attention.

You can say that your sorry but...

If she has been there 30 years I doubt you are the first to have this problem with her! I went through the first year of my daughters schooling thinking I was the only one with a minor problem with the teacher. The following year I found everyone had some sort of problem with her but as none of us told the school the problems we have wont get fixed.

She may miss the cat but she is supposed to be teaching and caring for your child and the only lesson she could be teaching here is be kind to animals. If its not her cat she may be doing something the owners do not really want in giving it milk as many cats have problems with cows milk, so she might in fact be teaching the lesson badly. Sorry another pet hate of mine as I had a cat who reacted badly to most of the things most people gave him to "treat" him.

[SoupDragon]

I wouldn't have a problem with the cat from a hygiene point of view but from the allergy side, it's completely unacceptable.

You could try the "being reasonable" approach and ask to the teacher to ensure that your DS is not allowed to touch the cat or go near it because of his wheezing. Then say that if this doesn't stop the wheezing that you'll have to ask that the cat not be allowed in the classroom because of your son's health. You could play up the possibility of a major asthma attack/allergic reaction.

Just a thought of a slightly different approach. If she ignores your request then go to the head.