Night asthma due to cat allergy

[ellekay]

The ONLY allergic reaction I have had in my life (itchy hives)is to WHITE cats only. We adopted a feral kitten aprox. 3 wks ago.(no white on the animal) All seemed well until the cat spent a night in my bedroom. I woke up coughing (expelling mucous) aprox. every half hour for 3-4 hours.I then found I was wheezing and had shortness of breath. I did a medical no-no and took two puffs of my daughters asthma inhaler...it helped. Next morning after less than an hour the heavy chest feeling, wheezing, etc. dissipated.(The kitten is not yet fully integrated into the rest of house)For the last three nights this has been the case. The kitten is pretty much only exploring between my Daughters bedroom and mine. So I suppose it is a relatively easy solution. Cat allergy get rid of the cat. My question is are there any available treatments that could possibly "cure" this allergy. When we moved to this town 30 yrs ago my mother suffered some respiratory problem inducing allergy. She had some sort of weekly (I believe) shot and eventually the allergy symptoms went away. I will be seeing my family physician next week, however, any ideas would be most helpful as will need to make a decision before family is too attached to animal and vice versa.

[National Jewish]

You have done a pretty good job of analyzing this situation and have come to a very logical conclusion.  Allergy shots to cats are not very successful for a variety of reasons.  They are not seen as the treatment of choice.  Getting rid of the cat will save you a lot of medical problems in the future for both you and your daughter, who has asthma.

[Duchess47]

I have been having a lot of problems with coughing, mucous in throat, etc. for around 7 months now going to various docs.  Most recently a pulmonologist.  He looked in my nose and asked me if I had a cat.  Well,  I never though of it but I got a cat right around the time these issues started.  But since I don't have itchy eyes etc I never even considered it could be cat allergy.  He said it didn't matter.  He ordered a bunch of lab tests and I will follow up with him tommorrow.  I don't know if it's the color of the cat as much as the type of fur that could be the problem.  My cat is mostly dark colors.

[EROS]

I had a similar problem too and searched high and low for a solution. Kept the local Chemist going for Anti-Histamines thru the winter. There is no easy solution, time for Tabby to go.

[tdfalls]

I say the best way to fight off your air born allergies is to buy a air purifier for your house, or a little one for your bedroom. I can not stress the benefits of having a air purifier or sterilizer in your home. For more information on air purifiers or articles on air purifiers / sterilizers / ionizers visit <a href="http://www.lifes-pleasures.info">Air Cleaners</a>

[tdfalls]

TABBY DOESNT HAVE TO GO! You can fight off allergies! GET A AIR PURIFIER!

[Kristin701]

A related discussion, Why only allergies to White Cats? was started.

[jimdamnit]

A related discussion, asthma at night was started.