Cat allergies appear after years and now getting worse?

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I have two cats. Have had a cat now for ten years. This year I have started having reactions to the white one (doesn’t seem to be the same with the seal point…yet). Took me forever to even put the symptoms (sneezing, congestion occasionally, itchy eyes, and if I touch him…well read on) and the cause together!! I had no idea you could “become” allergic to something 3 decades into life.

It’s pretty bad–If I touch him and rub my eye, for example, my eyelid will swell up horribly–looks like I got punched or stung by a couple bees. Very painful swelling plus crazy itchy.

I stopped touching him as much as I could (he can get his loving from dad) and we deep cleaned the basement, which is where he likes to hang out (also the only part of the house with carpet).

However, it is getting progressively worse. It bugs me every night after work now. I don’t even need to touch him to react now either. This morning I went downstairs to use the shower (normally I’m upstairs but my fan broke) and half way through I felt like there was sandpaper rubbing my eyeballs. The cat was waiting outside the bathroom door for me when I got out, but I didn’t touch him.

He is a 10 year old, fully clawed, neutered male who likes to pee on my husband’s clothes (in his drawer, or if he leaves some outside the laundry room, etc.). He has a laundry-pile pee fetish. In otherwords, who would want him? He also is a puker. Throws up hairballs a few times a week and has for years (yes I tried oil, hairball control food-which helps, etc.). He also pukes if he gobbles his food down too fast. He is a p.i.t.a. but he is 100% healthy and happy and I would feel like a witch for putting him down.

He’s going to outlive all of my house pets. I just know it. He’s probably got another ten years left. I don’t want to take meds for the rest of my life. (Yes I’m whining a bit).

How much worse can my allergies get? Will I become allergic to other stuff?

[Diamondindykin]

Wow…I have never heard of that but it scares the H$!@ out of me since I have 7 cats that I adore…I don’t know what I would do:confused:

No suggestions just sympathy:yes:

[littleum]

Yep, can happen. I feel your pain, actually.

The dander is what gets me. I am so allergic to the dander. I have really severe dry eye too, and allergic dermatitis anyway (or whatever that’s called), so it’s just oil on the fire. If you’re allergic to one and not the other, and since you don’t even have to touch them, I’d suspect that one has a dander issue and the other doesn’t. Now the dander is all in your house.

Clean your house (CLEAN!), rinse your bedclothes, vaccum EVERYTHING and then try to control kitty’s dander. I’ve found one of the easiest ways to control really bad kitty dander is quality food. Especially since you say he’s puking a change in diet might really make a dramatic difference!

Also, consider more regular baths (either by yourself or at a groomer) using a gentle kitty anti-dander shampoo. We use Dander Lion from PetHead. A little goes a long way, it’s very gentle, rinses fast and gets the job done.

[bdj]

Yeah, you can develop allergies just like that! It stinks, but depending on how bad yours are, there are several ways to try to work with them…
OTC antihistamines are definitely worth a shot - and you may have to try several before you find one that works for you.
Friends have told me that the steriod nasal sprays worked for them (I think those need an Rx).
Allergy shots seem to have helped me, though after 3 or 4 years, I quit them - since my allergies seem to be reasonably well controlled by OTC antihistamines (I’m doing very well with Allegra now).
Somewhere out there, there’s an article that suggests that you don’t need to totally bathe the cat to minimize the dander - spritzing them lightly while grooming with plain water can help to keep it down.

It’s not fun, but getting allergy tested might be worthwhile - it may be a combination of things that are making any sensitivity to the cat worse than normal, and if you can minimize some of the other allergen exposures, the impact from the cat dander might be lessened somewhat. And honestly, having to take allergy meds isn’t really that big of a deal - you may even find (like I did) that your allergies fade back a bit after a while and you only need to take them sometimes, rather than all of the time.

[lewin]

Could someone bathe the cat once a week with this stuff?

http://www.amazon.com/Allerpet-Grooming-Emollient-Cats-12/dp/B000S0L0M4

Growing up my step-dad was allergic after we had already gotten a cat. He did finally get medication worked out for it but in the few months it took the cat went into the shower with me regularly and got a bath to eliminate the dander.

[SaveTheOtters]

It sucks that allergies can come like just like that and change everything :no:.
Asthma can also come just like that, learned that when mine went from being exercise induced to sitting in my living room taking shallow breaths and coughing for an hour because I didn’t understand how asthma felt when I wasn’t running sprints.

I also have weird cat-specific cat allergies. For years I would go to my cousins, play with his cat, touch my eye, and then go searching for benadryl.
I have no issues with my roommates cat or even cleaning out the cat room at the kennel I work at, but if I look at my cousins cat funny my eyes start to get itchy.

Allergy medicine prescribed by a doctor can really help control things like reactions to pet dander so I would definitely look into that.
I would also look into kitty shampoos to reduce allergens, and kitty allergen spray for furniture. Wiping the cat down once a day might also help remove allergens.
I also had a thread sort-of recently about reducing allergens from cats because one of my future roommates is allergic and we have a cat, lots of other good advice can be found there. (i’d look it up for you but I’m short on time.)
Good Luck!

[JanM]

It might not be the cat, but a combination of things. You said it was worse in the carpeted basement, so I wonder if there isn’t some mold or mildew or general dampness in the carpet. And have you changed laundry or bath soap or fabric softener or dryer sheets? You can easily be allergic to any of those, and they do change formulas sometimes so it might be they changed to something you can’t handle.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I react to him upstairs, it just seems worse in the basement, but that’s where they live (and it does have carpet vs. the upstairs hardwood). The dogs live upstairs and although the cats can go anywhere, the dogs can’t, so the cats tend to hang out downstairs away from the dogs (if that makes sense). We do have a dehumidfier running as needed, etc.–the basement isn’t damp at all, particularly this time of year.

No I haven’t chaged anything else. I’m really pretty healthy and never had sensitivity issues before (with soaps, detergents, etc.) or reacted to anything before.

It is definitely him. You should see what happens if I touch him and then rub my eye.

I think it is weird that he gets to me, but the other cat doesn’t…