I'm allergic to my cat!

A cat allergy came as a surprise to me.

Growing up, I had many pets - cats, dogs, and birds. My family welche fritzbox kaufen was animal lovers and there were many pets, so contact with animals was a daily occurrence. Nobody seemed to temporarily suffer from a cat allergy or any kind of animal allergy.

After my youth and last pet died, I was unable to adopt another pet for many years. Then, eleven years ago, a cousin's friend was looking for a home for her last remaining kitten. And that's how Kira came into my life. This was a cat with attitude (and still is!) and we bonded pretty much immediately. When she was a kitten, I put her in the kitchen overnight, with a small kitty bed to sleep in and the litter box nearby.

As she got older, I let her sleep in the bedroom. It's surprising how relaxing a cat's purr can be in small hours.

A little over a year later, while getting some supplies with the vet, I heard that a kitten needed a home or needed to be put down. And so Fritz came home with me that day.

Unfortunately, Kira was less than integrated by this invader and I had to keep the two days separate before an uneasy truce ensued.

They're an odd couple - Kira has an attitude, Fritz is much more affable; what you would call a "gentle soul". She is still the queen of the whole house, occasionally throwing a right hook to Fritz's face in his place when she feels the need to assert her authority.

When Fritz got older, he was also allowed into the bedroom. Both he and Kira would sleep there day and night, as was their wish.

We all know that cats are the biggest comfort-seeking animals on the planet, and a comfortable place to nap is one of their primary concerns. But the place where your cat sleeps may not be your first choice. Though I didn't mind the cats closing up on the bed, I took offense at Fritz's tendency to barge in from the garden and sleep in a basket of warm, freshly dried laundry straight out of the dryer.

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine recently conducted a survey of pet owners on their pets' sleeping habits and found that 60% of them sleep with a stay in bed. When it comes to cats, there are two potential problems here: one, they somehow manage to take up 90% of the bed, and the other has to do with allergies.

I discovered I had a mild cat allergy when I started making strange wheezing noises when doing something strenuous. Coughing relieved it for a few minutes but it kept coming back. I thought I had developed a mild form of asthma, probably due to poor air quality and pollution, so I went to the doctor to have it checked out. After listening to my lungs, he asked me a question: "Do you have a cat?"

Well yes I have. Two even.

"You're allergic to your cats," he intoned.

Then he ask if the cats slept in the bedroom. Of course they did.

"That's your real problem," he said. "What you're allergic to is your cat's dander. When a cat sleeps on your bed, the dander ends up in the sheets and duvet and you breathe it in deeply at night as you sleep. Not good. That's the cause of your wheezing. Put cats off sleeping in your bedroom for two or three weeks and see if that relieves your symptoms. If not, you'll likely need to use an inhaler for the rest of your life.

OK, that last sentence kinda hit me between the eyes. As much as I love my two furballs, I didn't want to endure a long-term health issue that could possibly be avoided.

Why is dander such a problem? It is the layer of dead skin rich in animal protein that animals constantly shed. Sebaceous (oil-producing) glands in the skin also produce these protein allergens. Males have on average more sebaceous glands and are therefore more allergens than female or neutered males. This is a result of the action of the testosterone hormone on the sebaceous glands.

With this information and the prospect of a permanent health problem, I also banished my cats from the bedroom, threw away the comforter (on doctor's advice), bought a new one, and changed everything about the bed (including new pillows). Didn't get much sleep for the first few nights as the cats meow and claw at the door to get in, but they've finally gotten used to the thought. After three weeks in a cat-free bedroom, my wheezing was all but gone. Since then, the cats are no longer allowed in.

If you have a similar problem with a cat allergy, one possible measure is to ban the cat from your bedroom. Alternatively, you can get your cat its own cat bed and put it in a safe place (yours and the cat's).

I've spoken to other cat owners about it since I found out that I'm mildly allergic to my cats, and quite a number of them are also expecting to experience a mild form of allergic reaction - sneezing, wheezing, watery eyes, blocked sinuses and so on . Owners seem to become at least somewhat immune to their own cats in that the symptoms are not as pronounced as they become when around other people's cats.

But that aside, none of us would temporarily part with our feline companions and urge others to adopt a cat as a pet, as the benefits far outweigh any minor inconveniences.

Allergy to pet dander can be a significant contributor to respiratory problems that affect the sinuses, nasal passages and eyes, as well as cause respiratory problems that can lead to asthma (like in my case). These problems can severely limit your quality of life despite various medical treatments. For fritzbox gebraucht kaufen some people, it can be even more serious, leading to prolonged acute asthma attacks that can be life-threatening and require emergency room visits and hospitalizations. The good news is that most people who die from allergies to their pets can control their symptoms by knowing the facts.