Allergies question

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Deep Freud Moors - 04 Oct 2003 03:05 GMT

OK, I did a bit of Googling, and came up with little, so I hope folks here
have not been bludgeoned with this question too many times.

I have allergies. My mother has a short haired brown burmese that I react
VERY badly to. Whenever I am at her house, I snuffle almost immediately, and
continue reacting for a day or two afterwards. But interestingly I currently
live with a very long haired (I am looking at a strand now that is about
12cm, 5 inches long!) moggy that does not bother me one bit. My mother
didn't believe me to begin with, because she believed that the length of the
fur should make little difference. Eventually when she was around at my
house I drove the point home by rubbing my long haired cat all over my face
(picture the expression on its face!), having no reaction whatsoever.

One possible factor to consider in this is that short hair is much harder to
clean up. Long hair tends to form little bundles on carpet that are easily
picked up and placed in the bin. At such, the latent hair lying around is
much less, even if the cat is much furrier.

Does anyone have any personal experience, or links to good articles on this
subject?
---
DFM

Reply to this Message

MaryL - 04 Oct 2003 08:15 GMT

> OK, I did a bit of Googling, and came up with little, so I hope folks here
> have not been bludgeoned with this question too many times.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> ---
> DFM

You may be allergic to the cat dander instead of to the fur. This is very
common, and you can find many resources if you search for "cat dander."

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Reply to this Message

Deep Freud Moors - 05 Oct 2003 03:36 GMT

> > OK, I did a bit of Googling, and came up with little, so I hope folks here
> > have not been bludgeoned with this question too many times.
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> You may be allergic to the cat dander instead of to the fur. This is very
> common, and you can find many resources if you search for "cat dander."

Thanks! I will do a search on the net for whatever info I can find!
---
DFM

Reply to this Message

~*Connie*~ - 05 Oct 2003 14:43 GMT

my brother in law is not allergic to his own cats, but get him near someone
else's and he's a mess. Guess his body is used to the dander in his own
house.

To help eliminate the dander, your mom could use a number of commercial
products, or the simplest thing (don't laugh) is to bathe the cat. I
suppose simple is a relative term depending on how easily the cat takes to
the bath.

Reply to this Message

Deep Freud Moors - 06 Oct 2003 12:03 GMT

> my brother in law is not allergic to his own cats, but get him near someone
> else's and he's a mess. Guess his body is used to the dander in his own
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> suppose simple is a relative term depending on how easily the cat takes to
> the bath.

Not very easily!

I have had to wash out long haired number once. I quietly carried him into
the bathroom, and closed all the doors and cupboards. He knew something was
going on, and started cowering.

I plonked him in the bath, and hosed him down. To say that I was disturbed
to find out how tiny he actually is would be an understatement! All that
fluff, and just a tiny creature inside of it!

Drying him was interesting too (or course). I took him into the toilet
cubicle and chased him around with a towel and hairdryer.

He didn't speak to me for a week after that.
---
DFM

Reply to this Message