Asthma and cat allergy

[Ladygooga]

Are most asthmatics affected by cats? and dogs?

My 6.5yr dd is asthmatic and is going through quite a bad patch at the moment and eveyone is telling me its the cat. She doesn't seem to be affected when she's playing with him but she does spend a lot of time playing and fussing him.

Am I making her asthma worse by keeping the cat and could my dog (yorkie) also be part of the problem?

I will be heartbroken to lose my pets but I'm reluctantly thinking that they have a role to play in dd1's asthma.

My asthma is irritated by cats. An allergy test showed that I am allergic to them. I own a cat and I am not bothered by him , as I seem to have built up a resistance to him iyswim?

My allergies are shown more by red, watery eyes/itchy skin and eyes/runny nose, swollen face, than they are by asthma.

She does have a reaction with red, puffy watery eyes when her asthma is bad. The past couple of days she has looked like she has 2 black eyes!

I start wheezing if I'm sitting next to people who own cats.

Request an allergy test. My mum was told by our very old fashioned GP that she MUST get rid of her pair of love birds, that she adored, when I was a child, as they were making me ill.

When I was older allergy tests showed that I was allergic to cats/dust/grass but not at all allergic to feathers.

Sorry, but I think pet hair is a very common cause. Cat hair is worse than dog in my experience. Horse hair worst of all, if you have any contact with them!

Could you try keeping the pets out of her bedroom and asking her not to play with cat to start with and see if anything improves?

the cat doesn't go in her room but both dd's adore him as do I, we'll all be heartbroken if she is allergic.

Will look into getting her tested

Dh is asthmatic. We have 2 cats. He is fine with them aslong as they dont sleep on our bed, or any of his clothes, and he doesn't pat them for long (not an issue as he's not a cat person and at most gives them a very occasional pat on the head)

Ds2 has just been diagnosed with asthma. Seems to be very mild and is under control. He's been fine with the cats.

I think some people are a little paranoid with cats and asthma. Dh was very ill last year, and his asthma has been worse since. If I tell work collegues or friends this half the time the first thing they say is 'So are you getting rid of your cats' (everyone knows I love my wee moggies).

If she's fine while she's playing with them I wouldn't think it could be a trigger. Dh's is pretty much immediate. He pats the cat and 2 mins later is reaching for his inhaler.

When we get a new cat, I wheeze for about 3 weeks before I get used to it, then I'm fine.
Could you try your dd with piriton or loratadine to see if it makes a difference?
I find that when it comes to asthma, most people will immediately blame a pet, when it is possible that it is being caused by something else.
Stress has always been my biggest trigger, is there something happening in your dd's life that could be making her stressed?

I've always said no its not the cat as there is no immediate effect from playing with him but everyone keeps blaming the cat, my mum, friends, everyone you talk to blames the cat.

I have another cat but she very rarely comes inside. We have had my other cat for about 6 months from a kitten and he is adorable, even dh loves him and he is not a cat person at all.

But I will get her tested to make sure

Another way to test if the pets are making dd's asthma worse would be to take them out of the house temporarily and see if her asthma symptoms improve. Could you get a friend or relative to take them for a couple of weeks 'holiday'?

If her asthma symptoms are just the same with the pets out of the house, there is your answer. If her asthma improves, you could then work out whether it is the cat or the dog by bringing them back one at a time and seeing what happens.

Just as an extra thought- Ds's Dr told me last time I took him that there can be certain additives which can aggrivate asthma.

He did tell me which ones at the time, but I can't remember sorry. Ds has a preventer he takes every morning and he's fine, so I never looked any further into it.

Was it sulfites InvisibleMan? Dsis has been looking into these as she's recently developed asthma.

Really can't remember Wastingaway.

He asked if Ds drank alot of diluting juice as there's additives in it which can make asthma worse. He said they're also present in alot foods you wouldn't think of.

He was going to look out some information for me for next time we're in.

Have organised a test, so that we know for sure.
She has a preventer too morning and night and she'll be fine for months at a time bt since Oct shes had 3 or 4 bad bouts of asthma and red, puffy eyes.

Hope she's ok Lafygooga.

This may be totally irrelevant- she's got worse since Oct? When did you start using your heating more?

Dh gets worse when we use ours, but we have storage heaters which give out a very dry heat. As I said, may be irrelevant to your dd

Yes have been using the heating more and I put a bowl of water in her room by the radiator to try and compensate for that.

There are just so many things to factor in with asthma, its driving me mad!

Hello...I have developed asthma as an adult in the last twelve months. When I took a bad turn and ended up on oxygen the asthma nurse tried to persuade me that I should get rid of my dog which was five years old. We always had dogs growing up so I was not convinced that the dog was to blame.

Another nurse asked if I used those plug-in air freshner...whih I did. Turns out that switching on the airfreshner in the evening just as I was closing the windows was trapping a lot of irritants that were going for my chest.

I have done away with the plug-ins in my house and certainly notice the difference. Might be worth a try.

I think Oct/ Nov is generally a bad time for asthma - damp weather.

I also agree that air fresheners and scented cleaning products are irritating. Have you recently changed anything like this that might make a difference? I had to change to unscented washing powder too - might help?

Sent her back to school today but she's come home so much worse. High temp, wheezing constantly, unable to finish some sentances from breathlessness.

Feel so guilty for sending her but she seemed so much brighter

my dd1 is allergic to cats - apparently it is the saliva on the fur in the carpet - if the house is laminated floor she is ine - but carpet that holds the saliva fur is bad.

Dysons for pet hairs make it better - but it has to be everyday

miele hoover best ever as you can get hepa filter.

We got new cats a week ago and I'm really suffering with my allergies (I am very allergic to cats) I'm hoping that I adapt to it okay - not had a cat for 18 months.

Guess I'll give it a few months or so I don't have asthma though but at the moment it's affecting my breathing.

From me, it'd be the cat triggering the asthma. I very rarely get wheezy around any other animals, just cats. It's pretty immediate and, unfortunately, for me it makes no difference whether the cat goes in to a particular room or not. Someone told me it was to do with the dander (I don't know what that is, though!). I'm not at all allergic to ILs dog, though.

Urgh - for me.

DS1 had asthma for the first 3.5 years of his life. Everyone said it was the cats......I was not convinced. However, eventually I was persuaded to re-home the cats and he never suffered with asthma since

Despite being a true animal lover if I had a child with asthma I would NOT have a pet, I would perhaps try a breed out a breed such as Rex as they don't have fur or a poodle but I just wouldn't take the risk. After all asthma kills.