Cat allergy induced asthma

[Ironfloor269]

Those of you who have cat allergy induced asthma, please could you enlighten me as to how it happens?

We adopted a cat 3 weeks ago. First couple of days I was ok. Next few days I got a cold after which I had a bit of a wheeze. Following two days or so I was ok. Then again, I got a gradually increasing wheeze which could only be managed with a ventolin inhaler. It was worse at night. Eventually, it got better and now I've been ok for about a week.

Is this cat allergy of just a random asthma, do you think? I've been allergic to short haired cats before but it's hayfever symptoms not asthma. Our cat is a domestic long haired cat.

We were even considering rehoming him but I now take extra precautions i.e. don't allow him in the bedroom, avoid stroking, use PetAl Cleanse on him once a week, get someone else to clean litter tray, vacuum every other day.

[Wolfiefan]

Are you sure it’s the cat? My asthma is awful right now. Maybe the weather for me? If you’re allergic to cats though then what made you take on this one?

[Ironfloor269]

See, that's the thing. I'm not sure it's the cat. I didn't take this one without testing. I spent some time with it before adopting and I was ok. Also, I've heard that long haired cats are less allergenic than short haired ones which I've had when I was younger.

I was just wondering how cat allergy induced asthma happens. Is it one, long constant wheeze every day or does it come and go in bouts?

[Wolfiefan]

I’m allergic but it’s my skin that flairs. Not my asthma. I am allergic to one of our cats but wasn’t to our semi long haired. Unfortunately there’s no such thing as a cat you won’t be allergic to. It can be the dander and not the fur that you react to.
Honestly? I’d rather medicate myself than give up my pets.

[PixieDustt]

My DP has really bad asthma.
Turns out he's allergic to cats/dust and pretty much everything else.
We didn't realise at that time it was mainly because of the cats but he got hospitalised for his asthma 😳. Luckily they were my mums cats and we were moving out.
He's fine around them now as long as they don't touch him/ leave hair where he is.

[bloodywhitecat]

DD has cat allergy and asthma, she spent every 6th week in hospital as a child before she was diagnosed with the allergy, I had no choice but to re-home the cats. No amount of cleaning removed the dander and no amount of medication controlled her symptoms, it took a good few months after the cats went for the dander to leave the house.

[chocolatespiders]

You could try a hepa air purifier. Immunotherapy for cat allergy is being exposed to small amounts of the allergy so I guess resistance may be built up over time.

[HundredMilesAnHour]

I've been allergic to cats since I was a small child but when I was 22, my stupid flatmate brought home a cat without checking it with me. Within days it triggered an asthma attack (I didn't know what it was at the time) and since then, they've never stopped. It bothered me to the extent that if I was in a house where a cat lived, within 15 mins I'd be wheezing and I'd have breathing problems for up to 2 weeks afterwards. I've tried all sorts of things but nothing helped. Now I take daily steroids for my asthma. Unfortunately the asthma is now permanently present with or without cats. My GP told me that cats are a common trigger for asthma.