I have a cat.......and my SO is allergic? HELP?!

[devanneallover]

So, I rescued a kitten off the streets over the summer with the intention of getting the starved, frightened little thing healthy again and then finding someone to adopt him.

Of course it didn't end up that way. I made the mistake of naming him, (Haydn. Hyde-in. As in Joseph Haydn,) and taking him to get all his shots blahblahblah. Now the little guy is not so little anymore and is closing in on 6 months old. Needless to say, I'm rather attached to him now.

Here's my problem: Boyfriend, Rob, is pretty allergic to cats. He doesn't break out in hives or anything, just gets a bad case of the sniffles and if he doesn't have any allergy medication he can have trouble breathing. He can take some Benedryll or Claritin and be okay, but I don't want to have to drug him up the whole time he's here. He hasn't been in since the beginning of summer -- before I came across Haydn. He's probably making a trip in next week with his puppy to spend Thanksgiving with me. I've been obsessively cleaning all week to try and prepare. I even bathed Haydn and have these wipes that are supposed to cut down on allergy-causing dander. I washed all my sheets and have been vacuuming regularly.

Anybody have any other ideas on what I can do to cut down on the amount of dander and make my apartment more comfortable for Rob when he gets here? I'm going to feel really bad kicking Haydn out of my bed, especially since my head/chest/back are his favorite places to sleep, but I know that's a major thing I'm going to have to do. I don't want to have to make someone else watch him for a week, mostly because I'll feel bad and it'll just be a huge hassle to try to deal with.

I appreciate any comments!

Here's my baby!

[snow_girl]

My sister has a cat and is really allergic to them. She takes a reactin everyday and she has no symptoms and it doesn't put her in a haze or make her tired. I know you said you don't want to drug him but without the symptoms of being zombie like is it really drugging? I'm not really sure there is anything you can do to totally remove cat around the house, unless you send your kitty to one of those animal hotels while he is there or maybe a friend could sit for the week?

[Engel]

My sister has a cat and is really allergic to them. She takes a reactin everyday and she has no symptoms and it doesn't put her in a haze or make her tired. I know you said you don't want to drug him but without the symptoms of being zombie like is it really drugging? I'm not really sure there is anything you can do to totally remove cat around the house, unless you send your kitty to one of those animal hotels while he is there or maybe a friend could sit for the week?

I love cats! I just sneeze after a while around them and have the sniffles or a long time even when the cat isnt around anymore. thanks for the name of the med! i saw a beautiful white cat this week in the streets, i cleaned him up and had to let him go, because my mother doesnt like cats, and we already have a lot of dogs, and when im not in brazil the others dont have as much time to spend with them.

my SO mentioned getting a cat or a dog. i would love a cat, so maybe i will ask someone if i can babysit their cat for a weekend, and take this medicine. if everything goes fine, i would look more into adopting one in Germany.



to the op: if you dont consider someone else caring for him for you, you have pretty limited options. so try to set boundaries as to where the cat can go or cant (like, no sleeping room or bathroom!) for the sake of your SO. good luck, and your cat looks adorable!

[devanneallover]

My sister has a cat and is really allergic to them. She takes a reactin everyday and she has no symptoms and it doesn't put her in a haze or make her tired.

In definitely going to look into that medicine for him. Claritin and Benadryll make him very zombie-like so that's what I implied by "drugging him up". Haha. Thanks again!

---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 PM ----------

I would love a cat, so maybe i will ask someone if i can babysit their cat for a weekend, and take this medicine. if everything goes fine, i would look more into adopting one in Germany.
!

If you were in the states you could babysit mine! Haha

[Laura_N]

My mother used to be very allergic to cats, but when we took our first one, her allergies just disappeared. Then later on we had a total of four cats at the same time, and I became very allergic. I'd sniff and sneeze and be sick all the time, I had trouble breathing at nights, got a rash etc. At the end of this summer we gave the cats away because my mom's bf's child is very allergic, too.

I have to say that even though I love cats (especially my cats), it's so much easier to live and breathe and just be without them. Nowadays I get symptoms after spending fifteen minutes around cats. It sucks, but... What can I do?

I think the best for me was to just take medication, and make sure I had my asthma inhalator with me always as well. My advice would be to keep the bedroom as cat free as possible, and not let the cat in there at all. Vacuum cleaning is good too, of course. But some people get used to the things causing them allergies after they spend a lot of time with them, without getting symptoms at all or getting just very little of them, so who knows if this could happen?

Good luck!

[NineInchNails_x]

I have never owned a cat so I'm not sure how possible this would be but do you have a room or a large closet where you could keep him for the few days your SO is there? I know it sounds mean but it's really no different than dropping him off at the kennel for a few days. You could put his litterbox there and his food and water and maybe a toy or whatever cats need. And if you need to take him anywhere carry him in a blanket so none of his fur flies all over the place. I understand it might be hard to keep him holed up the whole time but maybe for most of the time you should to minimize the contact. If it's too bad you could always get a friend or relative to babysit or get your vet to put him in a kennel for a few days(which can get kind of expensive)
You can buy claritin over the counter now and my boyfriend and my dad both have horrible allergies and we have a dog. They take claritin and it really helps alot. It's kind of expensive. Like 20 dollars for 20 or pills or so. But you can buy a generic version for 10 dollars less (:
Good luck!

[megfashion]

only problem is, the cat fur would be on the sofa etc.... and around the house. the SO is allergic to cats too (grrrrrrr! meanie ) and he can get allergic to the fur from even the carpet

[Josephine Falnor]

I think your best bet would be to ask someone to watch your cat for a while. I am very allergic to cats. Even if the house is clean, there's still cat hair, and that's enough to set me off. It's even worse for my parents. As far as medication, I've only ever taken Benedryl, which knocks me out. Some of the other medications the people here have suggested might work.
Sorry I can't be more help!

[Sierra]

You could ask him to take medication because quite frankly there's no way you could get rid of the cat hair that's everywhere and make him not allergic. I'm allergic to my boyfriends dog, but I love dogs and know how much he loves his dog so I decided to take allergy medication when I'm around the dog and it solves the problem.

[LilyChiba]

I'm allergic to pretty much every cat I've come across, except for the one I own now thank god. Because I always wanted one of her and its great to know I won't die. lol. I used to get the sniffles, sneezes, conjunctivitis and severe asthma around my other cat, but it was worth it because I love cats. I sometimes flare up around Shailer, but that's not very often and its never as bad as it used to be. As for what to do, like said, if you don't intend on sending him to a friends or the cattery, then really all you can do is limit places and try out different meds. I ended up having to continue to up the dose for me because I'd get used to the meds. So try around until you find something that doesn't make the poor guy sleepy haha.

[lucybelle]

I'm super allergic to dust mites and there's this laundry detergent that I wash my sheets in to kill them. Plus I have covers for my mattress and pillows. I think there's also products for pet dander.

https://www.demite.com/

It's a little pricey for a visit (I just paid $54 for a liter!), but perhaps you can look into it if you ever move in together in the future. I went from have a constant runny nose, sneezing and itchy eyes to almost no symptoms at all.

PS- I tried every type of allergy medicine available and not one worked as well as this detergent stuff. It's really, REALLY awesome.

[CandiCandi]

My real dad's mom had an allergy test to see what all she was allergic to. It turned out she was allergic to cats, but there was no way she was going to get rid of the cat she had for a long time because she loved him too much. She ended up taking the medicine for it. Honestly, I think it's your best bet. I hope you get to keep the kitty with no problems! I love kitties!

[BlueCat]

In terms of making the place as clean as possible, it seems like you're doing everything you can short of getting rid of Haydn. As long as your SO knows and is aware of it, I would have him take allergy meds, better than feeling crappy all the time from allergies. In a way you can see it as a trial run, if he has a serious problem with his allergies with Haydn, you may have to look at trying either a stronger allergy pill or if not, sadly getting Haydn a new home. He may be ok with him though. There are two different types of cat allergies, some people are allergic to the actual hair, other people are allergic to the cat's saliva (which just happens to get all over their hair when they groom!). I myself have developed a slight cat allergy over the years of owning them, however I find it is only with certain cats that I get reactions, and more often with dark coloured cats than lighter coloured cats. Yet my cat is black and I have no issues with her.

Basically what I'm saying is, don't give up on the situation until you've at least tried it out and if needed exhausted every reasonable option for dealing with the allergies.

[amartnotkmart]

I'm super allergic to cats and my SO has two. >_< but he has a younger cousin who is at his house frequently who is also allergic, so his family keeps the house SUPER clean.

Vaccuum the floors and the couches (unless they're leather couches I guess?) and make sure everything is as de-hair-ified as possible. I think there's also a type of air filter thing you can purchase that does something with any cat hair that is in the air or something along those lines. I'm not really sure what it's called, sorry.... But pretty much you're on the right track, just keep it up and there shouldn't be too many problems.

[devanneallover]

I didn't expect nearly so many responses! Thanks to all of you. I'm definitely going to try the detergent that lucybelle suggested, maybe a generic brand though >.< And I'm ping to ask Rob to try to get Reactine and take that.
Thanks again!