Help! Allergic to cat suddenly

[kittysaysmeow]

I'm really hoping for some good news here.

I had a cat for 18 years. No allergic reaction at all. Ever. He died last year.

I've just adopted a kitten and had her a couple of days and I'm really suffering with constant sneezing, itchy face and eyes. I do have mild hay fever but this isn't it as this reaction is well beyond what I experience with hay fever.

I'm taking anti allergy pills I found in my medicine tin for hay fever and it isn't doing much.

Can anyone recommend anything that might help? Could this just be a phase and I'll adapt and get over it? Anyone have experience with similar?

Thanks so much.

Oh dear. I do react a bit to strange cats but my own don't affect me.
A few things to try.
Daily antihistamine for a couple of weeks.
Wash hands after touching the kitten.
No kitten on your bed or in bedroom.
Keep house vacuumed and dust free (dander can be an allergen)
There is a food you can get for the cat, but not sure if there's a kitten version. Purina liveclear

I'm finding my usually mild to non existent hay fever is worse this year too

Sometimes you can be allergic to individual cats rather than cats as a whole. Luckily DP is not so allergic to my cats as he had been to others (or our relationship would not have progressed) but the things we use are:

Antihistamines
Eye drops
Sinus medication
Handwashing
Petalcleanse to “neutralise” (?? - can’t think of a better word) their saliva on their fur
Air purifier
No cats in the bedrooms

I also think that you can sometimes just get used to a new cat - I was a bit snuffly with one new cat but got over it in a short time.

I hope you manage to get it under control to enjoy your new addition 🐈

Thanks so much everyone for the swift replies. I will put all advice into action immediately. Maybe it is hay fever and I'm panicking - but it feels a bit different. Nonetheless I have some things to try