Cats and Allergies

As many of you already know, allergic reactions to cats is not caused by the hair floating through your home, but the a protein found in the saliva the cat used to lick the hair free. This protein becomes airborne and can be found on the floor, the furniture...basically, everywhere.

This being said, if you discover your child or new boyfriend are having allergic reactions to your cat, it doesn't have to mean the cat needs to move out. For milder allergic reactions, there are ways to help to keep the floating proteins under control.

My husband never had pets growing up because of allergies. Once we started dating, we spent most of our time at his place, just because of the potential allergy problem at mine. We talked about it and I made it clear the cats weren't going anywhere, and we started spending a few hours at a time at my place, just to see how it would go. He didn't seem to have any problems.

When we decided to move in together, we realized this was going to be a more aggressive test of his tolerance to the allergens and I agreed we would have one cat live with my parents temporarily so we weren't bombarding him with too much all at once.

It wasn't long before the cat living at Grandma's house returned home, but it required a fair amount of work to keep my husband's allergen exposure to a minimum.

1) Cleaning regularly is a must. The cleaner you keep your home, the fewer allergens will be in the air and on the furniture. This includes dusting, vacuuming, and washing bedding - yours and the cat's.

2) If you can, pull up carpeting and replace it with hardwood floors or vinyl. It's easier to keep clean as the proteins can be more challenging to get out of carpet. Proteins stick to hairs and hairs stick to fabric surfaces. Carpeting can harbor larger amounts of allergens than you might think. At the very least, purchase a pet hair vacuum cleaner. The more pet hair you remove from the environment, the more allergens you remove as well.

You may also think about replacing curtains with vinyl or wood blinds, use chairs without fabric coverings on the seats, and sofas with just enough fabric to be comfortable, but enough wood to cut down on the allergen storage.

3) Have a pet free space. The jury is out on whether or not this is truly helpful, particularly if the animal has already had free access to every room of the home prior to the allergic person coming onto the scene. But it can help control the amount of allergens a person is subjected to. A room that is inaccessible to the cat means no new allergens will be added to the space and following the above suggestions, you can successfully remove most of the existing allergens.

This can also be helpful if you are moving into a new place with the cat and the person with the allergies. Establish a cat free room right away. For my husband and me, that room was the bedroom. He was able to sleep in a clean space and breathe in air largely allergen free. Of course it's near impossible to not get small amounts of allergens in the room, but the quantity will be considerably fewer than a room where the cat has full access.   

4) Bathe and brush the cat regularly. I have seen some discussion about the pros and cons of bathing cats. Some people believe this dries out the cat's skin, which can cause more dander, which will then carry more proteins into your environment. For others, it's one of the best ways to keep shedding under control, which also releases proteins into your environment.

On top of which, if any of you have tried to bathe a cat, you know you have a better chance of surviving a lightning strike than surviving ten minutes spent in the tub with your cat. My husband and I wear swimsuits and work as a team. He holds them, I scrub them, he towel dries. Repeat.

5) Some people would rather invest in allergy medication for the human than put this much work into changing the environment. This is the simplest solution, particularly if you rent and ripping out carpeting just isn't an option.

The most important thing is do your homework. Don't simply get rid of the cat before you have tried to find another solution. If you must part ways with your furry friend, always try to place them in a new home yourself (a friend or family member). With so many cats finding their way to shelters every year - many for this very reason - do the responsible thing.

This cat has trusted you with his care and his life, don't let him down. 

National Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month

You've been thinking about it.

You've been doing your research to help you decide on the best pet for your family.

Now, you might be able to get that cat for free.

The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and Fresh Step cat litter have teamed up to make it an even better time to adopt an adult cat from your local shelter. For the month of June, national Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month, shelters across the country are waiving the adoption fees for adult cats. Visit the ASPCA's website for a list of participating shelters.

According to a researcher for the ASPCA, it costs $13 a day for a shelter to care for each cat in their facility. Adults cats often spend more time in shelters than kittens and these costs add up quickly. When adult cats are adopted, the adoption fee rarely covers the cost the shelter actually incurred caring for the cat before you arrived to take him home. By offering free adoptions, the shelter is able to reserve their often limited resources while providing a loving home for the cats in their care more quickly than they might have otherwise.

If you've read my earlier post, you already know adult cats make the perfect addition to most families. Now there's no reason not to do it.
      

Greenies Pill Pockets

Molly suffers from inflammatory bowel disease and has been receiving a liquid medicine (Budesonide) through an eye dropper for the past 2-3 months. She wasn't happy about it, but with the element of surprise on my side, it was fairly easy to stuff it down her throat before she had the time to be upset. My husband didn't always fare as well.

My cell phone rings.

"I'm done giving her medicine."

The medicine was kept in the refrigerator and needed to be shaken. Hubby got the barbecue sauce out of the refrigerator and shook it. Molly crashed into the refrigerator in her crazed scramble out of the kitchen. She was fine. My husband was frantic.  

We soldiered on and thought she was well on the way to recovery, but she was still having some issues with diarrhea. I called the vet. There's medicine for this, but it comes with a warning:

"It tastes really bad. She's not going to like it." Great.

Turns out, that was an understatement. I've never seen a cat make herself foam at the mouth so she could spit something out with such determination. It was actually painful to watch. 

At her follow up visit this past Saturday, the vet changed Molly's medicine to Prednisolone pills. It was something out of WWE Wrestling match to get the Budesonide into her system some days. I was sure the Prednisolone was going to be a disaster.

I tried putting one down her throat and she bit, thrashed, screamed and spit until the melted pill was mashed into the living room carpet. I tried to crush one into her new hypo-allergenic prescription diet. This is the same food she had eaten earlier in the day with no problems. I thought I was being tricky but she looked down at the food and then up at me. She even snorted as she walked away. I was determined this cat was going to take her medicine whether she liked it or not.

Enter Greenies Pill Pockets. At almost $10 for a bag of 45 treats, they are far from the cheapest cat treats I've ever purchased. Since she sniffed out the medicine in the canned food, I was convinced the Pill Pockets were going to turn into a new chapter in the human/cat battle over who was the boss. I was convinced she would chew it once, notice the pill inside and spit it out.

Interestingly, I was wrong.

Molly inhales the Pill Pocket treats like they are a slice of kitty heaven. Put the pill in the center opening, squeeze the soft treat shut and kitty unknowingly ingests her medicine with no bellowing or protest.

Finally, a battle with Molly I actually win.      

Woman Kills Cat for Lady Gaga Concert

This disturbing story comes out of Oklahoma via Fox News. I'm actually speechless. It seems so obvious that this is crazy. I don't want to say crazy, but inappropriate doesn't seem like enough. I don't understand what kind of behavior causes someone to kill a human or an animal in the first place, but to use it as an outfit for a Lady Gaga concert? I'm sticking with crazy. 

Adopt An Adult Cat

Many times, adult cats are the last to be adopted from local shelters because of preconceived notions about their behavior. People often think adults cats in shelters must not be using their litter box or they are aggressive or sick. While these things can certainly be true, adult cats are most often in good health and well-mannered.

My youngest, Emma, was a year and a half old when we brought her home. She was surrendered by her family because she wasn't getting along with the dogs in the household. She purrs loud and often. She shares the litter boxes with her new brother and sister with no problems and she has a very loving nature. She can be a little shy around strangers, but she warms up to them quickly. She will inhale every morsel of food she can get her hands on, probably because in the home she came from (dogs and other cats), you needed to be on your game if you wanted to eat. I often compare her to a circling shark because she will hang around in the kitchen wandering aimlessly until Apollo and Molly have finished eating. Since Apollo is on a special diet, I have to hover as well or my little shark beats me to the bowl and devours what's left.

But these are examples of why Mike at the Wayne Animal Shelter says adult cats make the best pets. Adult cats, as Mike explains, seem to understand they are being rescued and are more appreciative than a kitten. They love you right away and show it.

In addition, adult cats already have developed their personality - something you will notice when you are in a shelter viewing your new pet. All three of my cats bonded with me immediately in the viewing rooms at the shelter. Apollo and Molly both curled up in my lap for a nap and Emma was rubbing up against us and purring soon after our introduction. Emma has a naughty streak and doesn't have any fear. She's taken a few tumbles off the bed from playing too hard and she's been known to climb onto and into anything where her head fits - even if it means I have to get her back out. She will, if given the chance, retrieve used tissue from the bathroom trash and eat it. If you pay attention at the shelter and spend enough time with the cat, you will get a peek into these personality quirks. You might not see exactly how the personality is going to play out in your home, but if you're looking for a lap cat (which Emma is not) you will learn right at the shelter whether or not that's what you will get.

Kittens, on the other hand, haven't completely developed their personalities yet and if you aren't the type of person to carry them around, teach them to enjoy attention from strangers and appreciate a good lap, you may end up with a more bashful, standoffish feline. This can work both ways. Apollo has always been gentle and loving, but because of the attention I lavished on him when I was single and he was my only kitten, I can't move about the house without him following me. He must be touching me at all times. This is very sweet, but can be a challenge, so finding balance with a kitten is important. The work is done for you with an adult cat and it becomes a matter of picking a cat with a personality that matches your own.

Check out Mike's videos on the other reasons adult cats make great companions and visit your local shelter to find your new best friend.