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.
No comments:
Post a Comment