My Doctor has told me to rehome my cat....

#16
Absolutely get a second opinion. My allergist says that most allergies can be brought under control (sadly, there are some people whose allergies are just too severe).

And definately take kitty to the groomers and see if that helps. My cat is really tolerant and I brush her all the time. Some cats tolerate grooming pretty well.

Good luck!
 
#17
To add a note, bathing too much is not good for the cat's skin neither.
I hear the older you get, your immune system just give up on those things that you were okay when you were younger... I have become hypersensitive to many things. One annoying thing is that my lips get red and inflammed if a dog hair sticks. Or my skin breaks out when I handle those short-prickly haird dogs at work... It goes away, but my coworkers freak out!
If you want to go this far, get one of those professional air cleaners to cleam your air, wash all fabric draperies and sofa covers and start from there. And have professional house cleaners come and clean/dust your house. Then start from there of cleaning/dusting your house with a mask regularly.
From one allergy suffere to another, it is sure not fun... But I will not be able to give up my cats neither~~~!!!
 
#19
I've had asthma my entire life, and we've had cats pretty much the whole time too!
With me I tend to find it takes a couple of weeks to build up a "tolerance" and then I'm fine. I still struggle around cats I'm not used to but nothing too bad.

Are you sure it's nothing else triggering the asthma? It could be stress? I find it hard to believe that you've suddenly developed an allergy to a cat you've had for that long.

Good luck :heart:
 
#20
Alfie is gorgeous, how could your doctor even suggest that you rehome him?

Also doctors like to blame asthma on cats as it is so much easier than to investigate what may actually cause your asthma. Like op said stress, air pollution, smoke, dust mites etc are far more likely than the cat you've lived with for the past 5 years.
 
#21
Well both my wife and I are healthcare providers, and she has asthma. We have 2 cats and 3 dogs, and for a period of time her asthma got severe to where she needed to be on a substantial dose of prednisone, more albuterol, singulair, and flovent. Her doc immediately claimed it had to be the cats.

While it is possible that people can develop allergies to pets after having them for several years, it is not the norm. Besides, we had no intention of giving up our pets.

I did some investigation, and we ended up having our vents and air ducts cleaned. We purchased a few HEPA filters, and I removed the remaining carpets in the house.

The worst was the vents, our house was built in 1963, and the vent cleaners said that it looked like the vents had never been cleaned. Apparently they were some of the worst they had ever seen.

Basically, my medical and pet lover opinion would be to try to investigate other possibilities. If you have carpeting get it cleaned or remove it, check the vents and ducts, get some HEPA filters, dust everything out there, make an appointment with an allergist for a scratch test (maybe there are other items you are allergic too). If all that is left after you exhaust other options, you then need to decide on how you want to live. With breathing issues or with the cat.
 
#23
I am allergic to dogs and cats (surprisingly, not the rabbits) and everyone here knows I will not give up Phoebe, Lucy, Mao or Eddy (the cats). But, I am used to my own cats and don't have any trouble until I come into contact with another cat. My doctor also told me that he would not dream of telling me to giving up my animals since most people will change their doctor before getting new homes for their pets. But, he did give me some information on how to manage the asthma and allergies. Number one on the list was to regularly groom and brush the cat. My cats don't mind this because it's attention and another form of petting to them. Beaver (rest his soul) loved grooming time so much that all I had to do was tap the brush on the grooming table and he was up in a flash.
Number two was remove the carpets. Well, just so happened I did not like the ugly brown carpets that were in this house anyway. When I did remove them and saw the INCH of dirt that was underneath, I was horrified! I put on a mask and cleaned it up and that took a long time.
Dusting regularly is also key. That one I'm not so good at, unless you call dusting whenever I cannot stand it any longer regular.
I had the vents cleaned and they were gross! Maintaining them now that they have been cleaned is a lot cheaper.
So there are a multitude of ways of controlling your asthma and allergies without resorting to giving up your companion.
Good luck,
Katherine
 
#25
kmccrea said:
I am allergic to dogs and cats (surprisingly, not the rabbits) and everyone here knows I will not give up Phoebe, Lucy, Mao or Eddy (the cats). But, I am used to my own cats and don't have any trouble until I come into contact with another cat. My doctor also told me that he would not dream of telling me to giving up my animals since most people will change their doctor before getting new homes for their pets. But, he did give me some information on how to manage the asthma and allergies. Number one on the list was to regularly groom and brush the cat. My cats don't mind this because it's attention and another form of petting to them. Beaver (rest his soul) loved grooming time so much that all I had to do was tap the brush on the grooming table and he was up in a flash.
Number two was remove the carpets. Well, just so happened I did not like the ugly brown carpets that were in this house anyway. When I did remove them and saw the INCH of dirt that was underneath, I was horrified! I put on a mask and cleaned it up and that took a long time.
Dusting regularly is also key. That one I'm not so good at, unless you call dusting whenever I cannot stand it any longer regular.
I had the vents cleaned and they were gross! Maintaining them now that they have been cleaned is a lot cheaper.
So there are a multitude of ways of controlling your asthma and allergies without resorting to giving up your companion.
Good luck,
Katherine
Click to expand...

:roflmfao::roflmfao::roflmfao::roflmfao: This is so true.

Thanks everyone for the good advice.

I'm going to look into finding a groomer for alfie.

I can't get rid of the carpets as its my partners house and they are his pride and joy. I have bought a Dyson vacuum with Hepa filter (the pet one), but must use it more regularly.

I'm with you on the dusting front, but again must try harder.

We only have vents in the kitchen and bathrooms, but will see if bf will take apart and clean out. I know they are very dusty.

And just see how it goes.
 
#26
I'm allergic to cats and dogs. I've had Dr.'s tell me the same thing! I have three cats and two dogs. I am doing just fine now and without any meds. I was on Albuterol, Advair and Allegra. I moved away from NYC and it goy a lot better. I clean my house (which doesn't have HVAC, just radiators) wearing a 'dust mask' to cut down on the effects of stirring everything up. I guess I grew out of it!
 
#27
I'm allergic to cats and have athesma as well. I have this little cat cleaning whipes that help remove dander. Since I've started using those I have no problems. Maybe you can look into that.

Also what about going to the groomer and having him clipped to short hair? I know it's a somewhat goofy look but it would let you keep your baby!
 
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