Help! DD allergic to our cats and need advice

[NotquitewhatImeant]

We adopted two 1yr old cats about three weeks ago. They’ve had a rubbish life so far but have really come out of their shells and we all love them. However, over the past 5 days DD (10) has been developed allergy symptoms. It started with an itchy rash behind her legs which I put down to the cold and being eczema prone. However, since Thursday the rash has gotten steadily worse, she can’t stop sneezing and her eyes and inside of her nose are sore and itchy. She said she noticed it was worse after snuggling the cats or sitting on something they sleep on and I’ve noticed she sneezes the second she enters a room the cats are in.

We had a cat when she was a little but haven’t for about 6 yrs and she has never shown cat allergy symptoms before. The GP has prescribed anti-histamine and we’ve hoovered her room out, set up an air purifier in there etc but I’m privately worrying that her symptoms might not settle and we end up having to re home that cats - which is my nightmare scenario. Please can anyone give me some advice or experiences? Is it possible she might get desensitised to them? She absolutely adores them.

My dd shares her bed with our 2 dcats.. She takes an antihistamine every night...

I think you're being a little unfair. Rehoming the cats isn't a nightmare scenario - introducing and then keeping something in your home that makes your child ill is, though.

Respiratory allergies are utterly miserable, and she shouldn't have to take antihistamines to live in her own home.

Be sure that it IS the cats and not something else new in the home (even their litter?), but if is, they have to go. It's sad, absolutely, but you weren't to know.

I am quite allergic to longer haired cats but am fine with my own, have got used to him!

@DarkAcademia I’m very aware of the misery of allergies (we’ve got several severe ones in the house)

@Ilovemyshed this is what I’m wondering about. My friend described similar so I’m perhaps naively hoping this might happen. It’s actually what Dd announced would happen but I’m anxious about it getting worse

Both myself and DD are allergic to cats and dogs but different cats can provoke different reactions in us. A friend has a Siamese which sets me off instantly but with antihistamine she can happily stay. At a party I was fine but she ended up at the doctors her reaction was that severe.

I did live with a cat and I did with daily antihistamine (and it is fine to take daily) get used to it but I was on a strong dose and weaned it down and if I forgot it got worse. But I never had the strongest reaction to him

check though as well it is car fur, we have rabbits (not allergic to them) but a particular hay I am.

but yes rehoming may well have to happen

You can get wipes that are meant to help, no idea if they work or not but might be worth a try.

www.allergybestbuys.co.uk/products/petalcleanse-for-cat-and-small-animal-allergy

Thanks @Quartz2208 , that’s really interesting. We’re surprised because she’s never had any reaction before when we had a cat or to visiting cats etc so I will be careful to check it is the cats and not some weird eczema flare plus a cold etc. I’m a bit worried her immune system has just decided she’s allergic all of a sudden.

@swooshes ive just been looking at those. Having spent the morning hoovering and washing everything, I was wondering about trying those and one of the surface sprays. If I use them I will report back!

You need to get rid of the cat, she won't become immune or get used to it, if anything she could develop a long term auto immune disease.
Daily use of anti-histamines is not a good thing unless you have unavoidable allergies.

Me and my brother never outgrew our allergies to our cat. I can’t be around them at all now

We have 4 ddogs and 2 dcats. I wash hands after interactions.. Less and less affected as the years go on..

I'm really allergic to cats, but find I've grown immune to my own cats. After a few weeks they didn't effect me anymore, but if I go to a friend's house who has cats, they'll set me off, it's weird.

So you may find they settle down, in the meantime an antihistamine should sort things out.

Its absolutely possible to get desensitised to your own cats. We adopted 2 kittens 3 years ago. The moment they entered the house my DD and I couldnt stop sneezing. I knew i have a bit of an allergy, but ive always had cats and just lived with it, because while the sneezing is annoying, its not bad enough to make me wanna live without cats 😄
It took a few months, but both DD and I have gotten used to the cats and dont react to them at all anymore.
I think it really comes down to luck though and maybe also how severe the allergy is.

I've had 6 of the same animal (not cat), in pairs, and am generally allergic to pet hair and pet things like hay. I got desensitised to the first pair and was fine with them for years. The second pair were somewhere in between where I could cope by not having too much contact with them and taking antihistamines, but it was difficult. The ones I have got now we've had for 4 years and I have never built up a desensitisation to them. I'm back on steroid inhalers and have had 3 sleepless nights due to breathing difficulties because I had to have contact with one of them on Friday.

Some pets you can build up a resistance to, others you can't. I don't know why or how.

DH, the DC and I all seem to have a mild allergic reaction; sneezing, itchy eyes, wheeziness and so on to new cats in the house, but become desensitised in a few weeks.

While we’re adjusting we resort to a lot of hand washing and vacuuming, the odd antihistamine tablet and occasional puff on our inhalers. It always settles down with time. We have four cats. The last pair came in October and we are all fine with them now.

Fingers crossed for you, OP.

Pet allergies start in mid to late childhood. I remember being scratched by a cat age 6. The scratch swelled up. By the time l was 9 or 10, they were making me wheeze and itch.

All these people here who’ve found them lessen as they’ve got older is the opposite of me.

Mines really severe.

This is the same with my sister her eyes used to be itchy and to water but after antihistamines she seemed to get used to the cats and dogs and no more itchy eyes.

She could become desensitised but there's no guarantee. The unfortunate reality is that she could end up becoming really quite unwell.

I would set a time limit - if she's not improving by (date) then you need to really consider finding the cats a new home. I personally don't agree with putting children in a situation where they need to take daily medication for something that's completely optional.

Thanks all, lots to think about and genuinely helpful to hear others’ experiences good or bad. It felt so out of the blue that I was completely panicked. I guess we will just have to see how the next few weeks go and try a few things in the meantime. It will give me time to think about how to handle it with her if we did have to rehome too.

Yes, mine have got worse with age too. There was a time in early adulthood when I thought I'd maybe grown out of them, but they came back with a vengeance and have only got worse. Been really bad since the second time I had Covid, in 2021. I hadn't needed an asthma inhaler since I was a child 30 years ago, now I'm back on them.

It seems odd that the allergy has only started in the last 5 days but you have had the cats 3 weeks. Also the rash doesn't really sound usual.

I was allergic to my cat - sneezing and eyes running within a day or so of her being in the house. I did think I might have to give her up as the headaches etc were so horrible. It subsided after about 5 weeks though, two years on she sleeps in my bedroom with me and I have no symptoms at all.

It could well be the cat litter as well, it can produce a lot of dust (depending no the type).

We always thought we couldn’t have cats because DH is allergic to them. Then we discovered through a friend that Purina do a dry cat food that slightly alters the protein in cats’ saliva (it’s not the actual hair that people are allergic to, but a particular protein in the saliva that is transferred to the hair when the cat grooms). DH went round to my friend’s house to hang out with their three cats, all of whom eat the anti-allergy food, and he was fine.

We have since got two rescue cats from the RSPCA. They eat a mix of ordinary wet food and Purina ProPlan LiveClear and DH has no problems at all - even with them sleeping on our bed at night. It’s certainly worth a try.

I am allergic to cats. (I get itchy small hives, runny nose, itchy jelly eyes etc) I have 2 cats currently but have had many. Each time I've taken an antihistamine every day for a few months, and then when I finish a pack, I will trial myself and see how I cope without. Every time, I have gradually gotten used to my own cats. I don't take any antihistamines now.
Other people's cats set me off though !

Few weeks to see what happens? I wouldn't risk it. In just a few weeks my son got enough inflammation/damage in his lungs to be diagnosed with asthma.
It started with itchy, watery, progressively swelling eyes and then the wheeze came. He was in an awful state by the time my ex rehomed his cats.

I thought I’d post an update in case it’s useful for anyone in the future. Turns out both DD and I have contact allergy to only one of the cats if we stroke him after he washes himself. I’ve never reacted to cats before so a bit strange but do get the same dermatitis rash from various plants in the garden or cleaning products . DD makes sure to either stroke the other cat or wash her hands well after contact. The sniffing appears to have been a cold but we run an air purifier in her room anyway and we both take an antihistamine if we’ve forgotten or been conned into belly rubs although I think the reactions seem to be diminishing. Most importantly the cats are really happy and we are too! Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences -it definitely helped

Apparently it’s the cat spit that causes the allergy. Seems unfair to deprive this cat of pets though! How about some sort of petting glove?