Hi all,
As you know, I adopted two kitties over two weeks ago. I'm wondering if my 10 month old is allergic to them. He's been all snotty and itchy eyes/nose and it seems to be getting worse. He's all congested, etc. I know I'm allergic to cats, but I've never cared. He's on zyrtec (and me) but it does not seem to help. I would give up my love for cats in a heartbeat if he's allergic so he would not have to be miserable. Can anyone give me some advice?

Sheri

I'm sure others are better at this type of advice then I am as I have been allergic myself but had 3 cats for over 16 years. I was puzzled though cause I thought you had Babe and if your 10 month old was not bothered by her, why would you think your new ones might be bothering him. Have you spoken to your doctor as to whether it is a normal cold that goes around this time of year or if it has to do with the animals. You could also isolate them in another part of the home for a while and see if out of sight...changes anything. That's all I can think of to help. I hope you get more replies soon. Take Care and hopefully all will be ok for everyone.

Hi Lovethem,
Yea - I was pregnant with Jacob while I had Babe and then he was six months old when she died. I became immune to Babe from being with her for all of those years, so maybe he built up an immunity too! I just don't know.........

I would think it would take longer than 6 months to build an immunity. So maybe he wasn't allergic. Have you talked with your doctor about whether this is a baby cold that does happen? Does the baby play with the cats...touch their fur?

My allergy to cats was the dander in their fur. I found if I pet them and then touch my eyes...they would become all red and very itchy. But if I washed my hands before touching my face...I had no problem. And I did notice that after having them for over 16 years it has been quite a while since I had any itching from touching cause over the years I may not always run to the kitchen after I pet them. They were indoor cats and very clean. The only problem that remained was if I get a cat scratch...the skin becomes itchy and I have to wash it with soap and water and if possible put Ungentine to stop the itching. But the cats were very careful to keep the claws in. Once in a while walking across me they would forget and get my skin on my legs. I never had congestion and all the other symptoms you mention except when I have a cold. Were you originally allergic to Babe? and what symptoms did you have?

I would ask the baby's doctor for advice and hopefully it will clear up and be a normal cold. With my new young cat, Lucky, the vet told me if I wanted to clean him off without a bath to get rid of the shelter smell clinging to him, to get some Cat Wipes at Petsmart. I did that and it did work. They look like a large tissue and you can wipe off the cats fur. Maybe that would help clean off the saliva that may come when they clean themselves...I think that might cause an allergy but I don't know.
You might try using something like that and see if it helps what's in the air or what's in their fur.

I really don't have the answers. These are only thoughts that may help or give you some ideas that do help. But I would discuss it with the baby doctor and see if he has any suggestions how to tell what is happening. Good Luck. Sorry I can't be of more help.

I am sorry to hear that your child is having the congestion. I guess the only way to tell would be to separate your child from the kitties for several days. Then see if his symptoms clear up. You could also try bathing the kitties...although they won't like that. No doubt your child is playing and petting the kitties and then touching his face. It would be really hard to have him wash his hands every single time he touched them. But if he is highly allergic just having them in the house would aggravate his allergy. Good luck and let us know what your conclusion is.

I was allergic to cats when I was a child..but then again I had alot of allergies. When I was older we adopted a cat and she lived in the house for 18 yrs. Mind you she was a short haired cat. Luckily I was not allergic to her. I was a pet sitter for 14 yrs. and took care of tons of cats without any allergic reaction. However, since I quit the business I cannot tolerate being in a house with cats. I also took care of a house full of birds once and had a horrible allergic reaction. I also cannot be around long haired dogs or cats.

IF this is a true allergy or sensitivity:

My brother's 1st visit to my first house resulted in him being shocked because he'd forgotten at the time that I had my 2 furkids (they were about 1 yr. old then), yet didn't react at ALL to their presence despite supposedly having severe allergies to cats. I'd read back then that keeping them well-groomed could help eliminate such allergic reactions in susceptible people.....and that is what I'd been doing with them since the moment I'd adopted them....but for their OWN good health. Every few days (a week at most) I'd brush and then comb them thoroughly with one of those stainless steel, fine-toothed combs for animals. They were also short-haired, which probably also accounted for less dander in the first place, which a truly healthy diet also helps keep down....not that they had that at the very beginning, when I was more ignorant of such things. Some people suggest bathing a cat weekly so their people don't suffer with allergies, but then that's not the best solution, especially for the CAT, since their skin is very sensitive, most products aren't pure enough to not cause THEM any harm, and they can get skin problems themselves from such repeated bathing. (there's a REASON cats don't jump into water to get clean!)

Having said that, though, for ANY of you who suffer from allergies (of any type), you might consider trying NAET allergy elimination technique, which has been proven time after time to absolutely cure people of allergies for good. One of our vets practiced this as well and had great success with it, both for animals and their people. You just have to find someone in your area who's registered to practice it. Here's the site for it.
NAET official website

And, my usual broken record of attempting to help others, both human and animal: There's also homeopathy, which also offers much help to allergy sufferers, also often curing allergies for good.

There ARE solutions out there - you just have to be open to finding and trying them.