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Allergies and intolerances

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Original poster

can you suddenly become allergic to cats ?

12 replies

gardeningmum05 · 04/04/2009 16:59

we have had a cat now for 5 years, not a problem, and now since last september i have suffered with really itchy eyes. the other day i had him on my lap, a rare occurance as he is normally out. after, my eyes were particularly bad , really itchy, can you become allergic to cats at 39?
any answers greatly appreciated.
or maybe i have become allergic to kids

OP posts:

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 04/04/2009 17:15

I laughed when my MIL told me there were foods she could eat before having children that she can no longer tolerate. Till it happened to me, too. It's not a true allergy in our case, just intolerance, but when you're pregnant your immune system changes (otherwise you'd reject the baby as "foreign") and allergies are to do with the malfunctioning of the immune system, so I guess you could develop problems with cats.

Marne · 04/04/2009 17:19

We had rabbits when i was a child (aged 0-9) then when i was a teen i begged my mum for a rabbit, i couldn't look after it as my throat would swell, my eyes would steam and my hands would itch. but a few years before i could be around them and was fine. So i would say yes .

DesperateHousewifeToo · 05/04/2009 21:53

My sister did!

glucose · 05/04/2009 22:03

I had never suffered from allergies until a couple of years ago a neighbours cat used to come round to ours when they were out, and I look a liking to him and would make a real fuss of him. I developed the allergic symptoms you describe, and was really surprised because I had never had a problem before.

Guadalupe · 05/04/2009 22:05

Yes, I developed an allergy to all fur when I was about fourteen. I had been doing work experience in a vets but that was the end of that career path.

differentEggD · 05/04/2009 22:06

unless you have developed hay fever and he's bringing the pollen in to the house on his fur?

glucose · 05/04/2009 22:20

guadalupe -what career path did you choose? Just wondering as I am always sneezing in one particular place at work and now wondering if i am allergic to work?

Servalan · 05/04/2009 22:47

I suddenly became allergic to cats in my mid twenties. No particular life-change brought it on (didn't have a child until my 30s).

I've always had hayfever, but I was fine with cats until then

Hassled · 05/04/2009 22:50

Ex-DH is allergic, but loves cats and has found he quite quickly builds up immunity/resistance to specific cats - so he's fine with his and mine. But strange cats make him sneeze, have itchy eyes etc.

You can ask your GP to refer you for allergy tests (the pinprick things) where they'll identify whether it's definately the cat.

Guadalupe · 06/04/2009 10:15

Well I thought being a vet wasn't the best idea, Glucose, didn't want to be being sneezing over the scalpel!

Original poster

gardeningmum05 · 07/04/2009 09:19

thanks for your advise
think i will take an allergy test at the doctors .

OP posts:

Tiredycat · 07/04/2009 19:11

When Boris (rip) was run over in front of me aged 12 my family brought home a new kitten - alas it was not to be, I developed an allergy to cats plus horses, hayfever, feather, dust etc etc and have not shaken any of them 27 years on despite hypnotherapy, acupuncture, counsseling, ummunisation programme you name it. Still love cats but my friend has a Korat which has hardly any fur and with cetirizine I can see her cat and not get too itchy / wheezy.

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