To think that my mum should get rid of her cats as DS is allergic to them and can't visit her

[numsmetter]

DS (3) is allergic to cats, he can't be in a house where one lives without his face & eyes swelling up. My mum has 2 cats so we can't visit her and I don't like the idea of giving him antihistamine medication so we can visit (DH takes them for hayfever and they make him quite drowsy).

DD goes to stay at her Grandma's house but DS will never get the chance unless she gets rid of her cats. I've asked her whether she would be prepared to and she says perhaps but that she wouldn't be able to find anyone to have them, I get the feeling she doesn't really want to as she is quite happy with things the way they are.

I respect her wishes but can't help feeling sad that DS is going to have no memories of going to visit his Grandma, AIBU?

[Kvetch]

Knitted, is there really a definite correlation between pet allergy and asthma? Any conclusive proof that the allergy WILL lead to asthma?

[Kvetch]

Andrew - Animals are murdered.

[DooinMeCleanin]

People are animals. Homosapien to be exact. I don't see difference personally. Murder is murder. Deliberately killing a cat in it's prime would be murder, why dress it up as something less?

[hester]

Well, these threads always end up with some people going, "You cold-hearted murderer!" and others going, "FGS, it's only a frigging cat". And never the twain shall meet.

I don't suppose Baron was being entirely serious. She made me laugh, anyway.

[KristineKochanski]

Zukiecat you said it yourself, not me. 'I wouldn't rehome my cats even if my children were allergic.' So you've basically said 'long as I've got the cats, stuff the kids wellbeing.'
You've either got no idea what an allergy to cats actually consist of or the cats come first over your own children.
Different cats can trigger different reactions. With me and ds some cats we are fine with, others trigger really bad reactions.
One made my throat close up and could barely breathe, Very scary. The one at Grandma's house made ds eyes turn into little slits and he couldn't see through them.
Feel sad for your children if you'd put them through that just because you wanted to keep your cats.

[FatPat]

We are in a very similar position here op but I do think yababitu.My ds has several allergies the one to cats being the more serious.
We tried all the preventative stuff, medication, hoovering etc with no effect to how he reacted.
I decided that it would be better for ds to not visit their house any more and his health has improved as a consequence of this.
Their cat passed away and we thought that he would be able to visit again - not so they just got a new cat.
Ds will notbe visiting their house in the forseeable future :(

[DarlingDuck]

zukiecat and Kvetch I find you both very odd to be honest....

[Rockerchic]

YABU they are your DM companions.

[Kvetch]

Duck, that's fine by me.

[chocolatehobnobs]

Poor OP, I think you have been given an unnecessarily hard time when essentially you are worried about your child having a severe and very unpleasant reaction. Not surprised you told someone to Fuck Off as the poster was very aggressive and subsequently vitriolic IMO
I would appreciate the OP's mum's right to have pets however sad it is that DC can't visit his grandma but OP is right to raise the issue and discuss it with her mum.

[ilovesooty]

YABU.

If your daughter goes to stay overnight, why can't your son have days out with your mum to redress the balance?

[Lorenz]

Kids before pets. It's a no-brainer really.

I remember a woman I knew once was going on about how she loved her dog - the same dog that could NOT be trusted around children and had attacked people many times before. She was pregnant and her attitude was

"the dog was here first, the dog will be staying"

WTF?? to put a dog/cat before the well-being of your kids? absolute madness.

Ok I know the cats in the OP are hardly likely to kill (or is it murder ) the little lad in question but jesus, where are people's priorities?

[ilovesooty]

I think there's a hell of a lot of difference between an unpredictable dog who might attack a child and a cat who's just being...a cat.

[Kvetch]

hobnobs, you make me laugh. It's "aggressive" to say to the OP that if they told me to get rid of my pets I wouldn't welcome them into my home but it's perfectly OK for the OP to tell me to fuck off for saying it?

Sorry, you won't get me taking the bait, I'm laughing at you.

[NoHunIntended]

Oh the hypocrisy! What do all you cat-lovers feed your precious cats, if not murdered/killed animals?

OP, YANBU, and I am appalled that anyone would put a pet before a darling grandchild. Why should you dose up your child? Craziness!

[NoHunIntended]

So by choosing to keep a cat alive, you are condemning thousands of others to the slaughterhouse?
My comment is in relation to all the outrage at the thought of killing a cat, when what is done to those other animals seems not to matter to you.

[Lorenz]

I did say there was a difference but the point remains the same - kids before pets!!

I say this as an animal lover myself. I once had a gorgeous German Shepherd dog. I rescued him from an RSPCA centre and he had been horribly abused/starved and beaten. Naturally he was weary of people but he grew to trust me. That said though, he'd still bite me when he didn't get his own way and would think nothing of growling at me if he thought he was about to be shouted at/hit (I never hit him).

I was ok with it though, I can take a dog bite! however when I got pregnant - the dog went.

No matter how much you love your pets, your kids should come first.

[hiddenhome]

Just give him an antihistamine

My ds1 suffers from hayfever and he regularly takes antihistamines. They're not crack cocaine you know

[pranma]

If she is only 10 minutes away she can have lots of visits to you.We have a dgs who is allergic to cats[we have 2] but he lives over 100 miles away and only visits rarely so we put cats in cattery in advance,go over soft furnishing with vac and damp cloth-put a clean sheet over one chair which he uses and have a stowaway bed for dgs which is never opened when cats are at home.People love their pets and its not as if keeping them means she'd never see him.

[QuietTiger]

Kvetch - you have said, so eloquently, what I want to say to the OP only I don't have your finesse.

But then, I can't really be accused of being objective, because I've made an cat-allergic house guest sleep in a tent in the garden before now. As far as I'm concerned, it's my cats home (8 of them, actually) and I'm not going to turf them out for the sake of an allergic guest... Anti-histamines work. Use them OP, because YAB totally U.

[chocolatehobnobs]

kvetch - just thought your post was shouty and rude , not surprised you got that reply