Can you have a cat with allergies or asthma?

(Close To Home Calendar)

I love my Close to Home Calendar, it's a little like the Far Side comics. And let's just say I have a goofy sense of humor that enjoys that type of comedy.

But, this is how our family feels. Since Hubby and I and all 3 of our kids are allergic to just about everything, pets are a no-no in our house. If any of you have cats, you know that cat hair gets EVERYWHERE. We had problems with cats when Son #2 was in second grade. He kept having asthma attacks at school, and it took a while to figure out what was causing it. We couldn't figure out what was triggering his asthma attacks, but came to the conclusion that other students in the class had cats, and they would come to school with cat dander on their clothes-causing Son #2 to have asthma attacks.

That's when we started allegy shots (immunotherapy) to help de-sensitive Son #2. To learn more about it, click here. They did seem to help with his sneezing and wheezing, but of course he still has the allergies.

This was obvious last week when someone's cat decided to adopt us. Most likely it's because of the bird feeder in our backyard. Hubby was talking to The Cat while he was doing yard work. At first The Cat barred it's teeth and hissed at Hubby, then it meowed. Then The Cat decided it wanted to look around inside the house. So, it sat on the porch and meowed, and meowed, and meowed.

The kids opened the door and daughter Kitty said, "Oh mom, it's soooooo cute!" The Cat started looking around Kitty's leg and decided to check out our house. It carefully stepped inside and looked all around. The kids thought it was funny and started to pet The Cat. No sooner had Son #2 pet The Cat, then he started to sneeze and his eyes started to water. But at least he didn't have an asthma attack.

The Cat has decided that if we won't let it live in our house, it won't acknowledge that we live there. If we try to talk to it out in the yard, The Cat looks at us like it's annoyed. Stupid humans. No warm house and bowl of milk? Then I'm not talking to you.

I love cats and grew up with several of my own. But that's before I was diagnosed with asthma and understood what caused me to sneeze and wheeze. I know it's hard, but talk to your doctor before you get a pet for your home, especially cats. They are incredibly cute, but they can also make life miserable when you have allergies and asthma. And if your airways are swollen and irritated from having a cat, and then you get sick on top of that, it can spell trouble. And having experienced my kids being in the hospital 12 different times for asthma and pneumonia, I can tell you that it's no fun.

I try to keep our home allergy and asthma friendly, and that's one of the ways of doing it, is to ban pets. If you can't bear to find a new home for Fluffy the Cat or Fido the Dog, at least keep them out of your bedroom and off your bed. They will give you those big brown eyes and beg to sleep with you, but your asthma will thank you later if you "just say no!"

Take care of yourself, because no one else will. If we don't take care of ourselves, how are we supposed to take care of our families?