Help with possible cat allergy !!!

[sylvev]

We have recently given into child-pressure and obtained 2 cats. Unfortunately after 20 minutes of playing with them, my ds began sneezing, eyes running and his 1 eye finally swelling up. The symptoms reduced after a while. We previously had a dog, who died 2 years ago, and ds was fine with her. Could this be an allergy and are their alternatives to, gulp, giving the cats away? Anyone any advice, similar experiences?

Good news for you and the cats

I seem to have caught onto this thread a bit late - Mt DH suffers from cat allergies - we had a rescue cat about 2 years ago who died from cancer and it took us a while to get to the point that we could consider finding another cat. We picked up our new rescue cat and DH started with his allergies straight away, cat allergies are common but it is not cat hair that is the allergen it is "Dander" which is a mix of cat skin and saliver which is airbourne in tiny sticky particles that get EVERYWHERE!! We found the best way to prevent DH from suffocating (as it makes him very wheezy) was to treat the house and cat and not DH - Get rid of any carpets and soft furnishings you can do without and get wooden flooring, hoover regularly but not too often as this can create more of a problem - you can get wipes for cats which reduce the dander and you can use them daily and bathe your cats once a month. We stuck to this religously and now DH can relax in his own house - without the need for any medication. Hope this helps