Cat Allergies - Are You Allergic To Your Cat? Some people are allergic to pets, animals in general or just their own cat in specific. This can be trying if you are living with a family cat that the rest of the family could not bear to become parted from. So, if you cannot swap your family cat, you will have to learn how to deal with your allergy. If you suspect that you are allergic to your cat, you will first need to take some notes on how your allergy manifests itself. Hold your cat on your lap and see what occurs. Do you start sneezing; do you get a runny nose; do you become short of breath or start wheezing; do your eyes stream or do you get a skin rash? If so, you are probably allergic to your cat's fur or any loose skin that falls off it. The fur and dead skin float about on the air and get sucked up your nose or settle on your skin. A GP will be able to solve the indications for you easily enough, but your foremost difficulty is what to do with the cat. You could give away your cat to a neighbour. In that fashion, you and the family may still see it and the kids can play with it. However, this alternative is hardly ever available, as children do not like to give away a pet that they have come to love. If this is your predicament, please read on. You will have to steer clear of your cat and banish it from some areas in the house, for example: the bedroom and the living room.. Getting a cat flap is one manner of encouraging your cat to spend more time outside. You could also put it out each night and when you go to work, merely actually allowing indoors to feed it two times a day. This is not difficult for a young cat, but is unkind for an older cat that will not comprehend your change of attitude. Deter your cat from sitting on furniture by buying it a cat basket. You could make it comfy with a blanket and a bag of catnip to persuade it to lie in there. Change the blanket often, say when you wash your own sheets every week. This will also help reduce fleas to which you may also be allergic. Or you might be reacting to fleas, their shed skin and their dried faeces rather than to your cat itself.. You could wash your cat in flea shampoo, but this can be hard. Try putting your cat in a pillowcase to bathe it as you would with a delicate blouse. Dust it with flea powder, put a flea collar on it and enquire at the vet's for an oil you could comb into the cat's fur to kill fleas which will not make your cat ill, when it washes itself. Brush your cat frequently to remove loose fur or get someone else to do it. Hoover your carpets more frequently and check for fleas and dust mites. You could steam-clean and spray with permethrin to get rid of these or add Neem to the steamcleaning water. Try using a good quality air-purifier with a HEPA allergy filter. This may be free-standing or attached to your existing central heating / cooling system.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with the Dust Mite Pillow Cover. If you would like to know more, go over to our website at Bed Infestation.