cat fur & Litter

[Haven62]

I have 2 cats. Took in, wild. Luv em. But their hair in my face makes me cough. litter is worse. Pouring fresh litter, i have to turn on bathrm vent & try to hold my breath so I don't cough cough cough cough. Still, I cough, cough. Any suggestions...other than "get rid of the cats"? GB

[kfritter]

I am a cat lover too, altho' i have none at the moment. Doctors will always suggest no cats, but sometimes we have no choice. I agree with bsmsl about the masks, i use them to protect myself from corn dust when feeding cracked corn to the wild turkeys. You could also look into electrostatic filters, but i don't know how much good they do as far as cat dander goes.

[bsmsl]

I admire your dedication to animals.  You have a great deal of compassion and patience to win over a wild cat.  That is nearly impossible.  You difeintely demonstrated grace to the cat much like God has done for us.  

I would also recommend that the cats not be allowed in your bed room.  I know that would be hard, but 8 hours in there with a cat ... Just think of all the dander you would be breathing.  You might also want to consider allergy testing and shots.  This would be quite expensive, but I think you might find the value in it.

Feel better.

[Haven62]

Thanks for your suggestions! I'll tell u a story:Grace was wild, lived in a swamp area w/falling dn sheds. kept having kittens. no one can get near. it took me many months to get her to come even close to food I put out w/me there. Then one day I noticed she must have had more somewhere again. But no one could track her down. I looked out my window and here she came  bringing a kitten to my house. She went back and came back w/4 more 1x1. Then someone hit her in the eye w/something. Had her in to restore use.She trusts & cuddles me constantly. Yeah, I'd deal with the side effects, etc. etc.That's why I named her Grace. Thanks for your time & concern. I'll get some masks maybe even for snuggling. I've been thru alot of yrs of really hard stuff but I found the pets I've had always gave me great joy. And great joy has got to be pretty close to the top of the list. Hoping God smiles on u both today....

[David S. Wilson, MD, FCCP]

you have a pet dander allergy and should consider removing the cats from your environment...after all, would you rather take medications that have expense and the potential for side effects or simply remove the problem

[bsmsl]

I suggest you  get some n95 rated dust masks.  This would keep the dust from the litter at least from bothering you.  As far as the cat hair goes, you are most likely allergic.  You could try an antihistamine daily to see if that helps at all.