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

Fred&Ginger

Fred&Ginger

Member
Mar 17, 2007
1,221
10
#1
..but I can't do it as he is my baby.

Basically I have recently developed asthma, and the culprit is my long haired cat. I know it is him, because if I keep him out of the lounge I am OK. If I let him come and sit with me, later I need my inhaler as my breathing becomes restricted.

I know from a sensible point of view the Doctor is right.

But I've had Alfie for about 5 years. I have no children, so he is my baby. I would be heartbroken to let him go, and know I can't do it.:crybaby:

I just wanted an opportunity to share my feelings on this one.
 
#3
i agree with pidgeon92, if you've had your cat for 5 years now and have only recently developed asthma, it may not be your cats hair it may just be something that your cat may have picked up recently on his hair or something, maybe get the groomer to give him a bath (even though cats hate bathing) but to be thourough in determining if it's really your cat's hair.
 
#6
Oh no!!! How horrible! Please don't give up on your baby! I wonder if allergy shots to de-sensitize you to cat dander would help? Listen to me, telling you to get shots! But I would do ANYTHING to keep my kitties with me.
 
#7
This happened to me as well. I had just moved to Key west and my DH (then bf) and I got a cat, and I had to go on Zyrtec and get an inhaler as well. It did pass after some time...I washed my hands alot. Poor Zack passed away of feline AIDS.. :sad:
I hope you can work it out! Your heart will break otherwise! My Dr. told me to get rid of mine as well...I was told him this was not possible!
 
#8
Definitely do whatever you can to keep your cat. Talk with the vet and the groomer. It could be a million different things, and potentially something that doesn't have anything to do with your pet. Most importantly, get a 2nd opinion from a different doctor! A doc would never tell you to re-home your human child, so they shouldn't tell you to do it for your furry child either!
 
#9
Oh I hope you can make it work! I know for my friend who was in a similar situation a lot of it was keeping things very clean and she also made her bedroom a cat free zone, just because she had a few very bad asthma attacks in the middle of the night when the cat would come snuggle with her. Once she got everything under control, the right meds, the right cleaning and grooming schedule, things were more tolerable.
 
#10
Oh blimey! Do everything the others posters say. Then, remember, since you will be exposed to the allergen, theoretically you will have a decrease in your symptoms. When people get "allergy shots" get are getting very small doses of the material that they are allergic to. You will get used to it eventually.
 
#11
I knew someone who was allergic to cats and had two of them. She got allergy shots regularly to help her deal with it but she wasn't getting rid of her cats! I say do what you can to make it possible to keep your kitty.
 
#12
Thanks everyone for your support. There would have been nothing worse if you had all told me I must get rid of my cat. Like I said, he's my baby, I just can't get rid of him.

Alfie doesn't like bathing, but will tolerate it, so I could do this on a regular basis if you thought it would help.

He has been banned from the bedroom and that has been easy to achieve and helped alot during the night.

In respect of the groomers, I will look into this, its not something I'd thought of. Thanks.

Thank you for all your suggestions.

By the way, this is him...

Pets015.jpg


How could I ever get rid of this cutie!!
 
#13
He is so handsome!!!
You have to do what you have to do... I recently developed a mild asthma, too, so I have a rescue inhaler. But I am allergic to not only pet dander (more dogs than cats), house dust, certain plants/pollen, etc., etc.) Besides regular vacuuming with mask on (!) We have high industrial-type level air purifiers in each floor (http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/all-air-purifiers.html), and the vents are lined with HEPA filter. We recently got Dyson Animal-Pro for the vacuum.
Regular grooming, bathing, etc for your cat may help, it may stress your cat, too, if he does not like being bathed... But since Alfie is long-haired, trip to groomers will help you AND him.
Just a thought, some people are more allergic to bunnies...
 
#14
tiramisu said:
He is so handsome!!!
You have to do what you have to do... I recently developed a mild asthma, too, so I have a rescue inhaler. But I am allergic to not only pet dander (more dogs than cats), house dust, certain plants/pollen, etc., etc.) Besides regular vacuuming with mask on (!) We have high industrial-type level air purifiers in each floor (http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/all-air-purifiers.html), and the vents are lined with HEPA filter. We recently got Dyson Animal-Pro for the vacuum.
Regular grooming, bathing, etc for your cat may help, it may stress your cat, too, if he does not like being bathed... But since Alfie is long-haired, trip to groomers will help you AND him.
Just a thought, some people are more allergic to bunnies...
Click to expand...

Thanks tiramisu for all this info. Fortunately my bunnies are in an outside hutch, but its useful to know, as I have noticed the fits of sneezing when I've cleaned them out. Maybe I need to invest in the masks too!!

Thanks again.
 
#15
oh no! I was at Target a few days ago in the pet section and they had a bottle of something that I cant remember the name of , but it helped get pet dander off the animal! It was for cats and dogs. Hurry! Go get it!

Run!
 
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