Cat allergy -- need advice

[RoughCollie]

My DD is allergic to cats. Her best friend has a kitten. DD went over there this weekend. She took Benadryl beforehand. Unfortunately, I dropped the ball and stupidly let her go there. She has Reactive Airway Disease from a cold and is taking Nebulizer treatments. I think the exposure to the kitten made her current health worse.

 

Aside from all that, I'd like to know if there is anything else DD can take when she goes to her friend's house. Benadryl works for me, but she said it did not help much in alleviating her allergy symptoms once she was there, even before she got this cold and RAD. DD took the Benadryl about 2 hours before she arrived at her friend's house. If she takes it about 1/2 hour before, will it be more likely to work from the time she arrives there?

 

Please give me some advice on what to do so that DD can continue to visit her friend when DD is no longer ill.

 

Thank you,

RC

Edited November 10, 2008 by RoughCollie

[hsmamainva]

Unfortunately, there's not much TO do about it.

 

My 9yo son is terribly allergic to cats (+4 or 5) on his allergy testing results. It's by far his worst allergen.

 

He can't even be in a room where a cat has been (so putting the cat in another bedroom and shutting the door doesn't help him). If he goes to the vet's office with one of our dogs, his eyes swell shut in the waiting room, just because a cat had been there earlier in the day.

 

It did improve when he was taking regular allergy shots and he was able to handle it better.

 

His best friend has a cat and when my son goes over to visit, he takes his inhaler with him (as well as taking Benadryl before he leaves home) and he usually has to use it 4 or 5 times during the visit.

 

They try to play outside as much as possible when he's at his friend's house. They also play a great deal on their screened-in porch (they'll bring their action figures or toys out there, etc.)

 

What we do most often, however, is that his best friend comes to our house. I would say that 80% of the time, his friend comes here. It's just easier on my son...and they don't seem to mind either way -- just so long as they have a chance to play!

[Jennifer3141]

If the mom is a friend of yours, could she bathe the cat before your DD comes over? Or how about switching the diet? Raw fed cats tend to produce much less dander.

 

My best friend has always been very allergic to cats and we laugh about the first time she visited me because I have four cats. She had no idea there were ANY cats in the home until they all paraded through the living room to chek out the new human in the house. My cats were the first cats she had petted in 20 years.

 

She still washed her hands afterwards and I made sure none of them left any cat hair on her coat. But taking proper care of the cat can help a lot.

 

Jen

[love2read]

As a person with cat allergies and a mother of several with cat allergies (and asthma) I would not let her go to her friends home. She will be disappointed, but she'll recover and they'll come up with alternative ways to have fun together. Don't risk it.

[apheartsong]

My husband has severe cat allergies. Unfortunately, cat dander can react in the lungs up to 2 weeks after the exposure causing an unexpected and dangerous reaction. Bathing the cat before your daughter visits will not help as the dander remains on surfaces for 6 months. The allergist told us that cat dander is the most difficult substance to get rid of because it takes about 6 months to begin breaking down. My husband still cannot visit my aunt's house without wheezing. She has not had a cat for years, but it is still in the carpets, furniture, duct work, etc. Research may have been updated within the past 3 years, but I would ask your daughter's allergist.

 

I have heard that balancing your electrolytes/minerals, making sure you are not dehydrated, and healing the gut has healed allergies.

 

HTH

Allison

[RoughCollie]

Thank you all for your advice. I'm going to talk with the pediatrician about it this on Wednesday when I see her. I told DD that her friend's house is off limits and she can come here or they can walk to the library or a pizza place in town. (I'll drive them in cold or rainy weather.)

 

I have to be careful about DD's lungs as she is susceptible to pneumonia and reactive airway disease when she gets a cold. This child was never sick, even with a cold, until she went to Kindergarten, and from the first cold she got, she has had complications about half the time.

 

I used to be allergic to cats -- my eyes would swell completely shut. Then a neighbor noticed how nice I was to her cat. She thought I loved her cat, when I was merely being polite to it. She gave me a kitten. I accepted the gift because I had no idea how to politely refuse it. For some reason, I was not allergic to it, and when the neighbor gave me another kitten a few months later, I wasn't allergic to it either. Those two cats were like children to me.

 

Now I am allergic to long-haired cats only. This has always seemed strange to me.

 

I appreciate your help.

 

RC

[Jeannie in NJ]

I have owned cats for about 15 years (we currently have 7) when I first got a cat, it took me about 6 months to not be allergic to it and now I am not allergic to any of MY cats . However, I am allergic to other peoples cats. Maybe you and i have built up an immunity to the cats in our own houses .