Cat allergy

by Shawn Fernandes
(Dubai)

Hi,

I have a sad story :-( . . .

I got two lovely kittens and my brother has developed allergic reactions to them.

I got my boy who is 4 months old now first, 2 months prior to my second cat.

My brother did not have any signs of allergy than.

After two months i got my second cat (persian female) who is now 5 months old. She is a really sweetheart. After bringing her home my brother was ok for a week or two but nor since 3 weeks he has developed an allegry towards them.

My male is a persian/angora male and the girl is a pure persian female.

My brother did not go to the doctor but i noticed that when he is in thwe house he has a blocked nose and sneezing. No other symptoms. Only blocked nose and sneezing.

When he leaves the house and is elsewhere, his nose clears up and is absolutely normal.

We live in a flat on the 9 floor in dubai so i don think there is allergy from pollen or anything.

Now i don know whether he is allergic to dander in one cat or both.

I keep them out of him room and groom them once a day in the balcony so the fur flies out directly. But these precautions i have been taking only since 3 days.

Still he has allergy.

Now i read somewhere that the food which we feed them can cause allergy. Is it true?

I read on a source that if you feed them grain free food than the allergy may reduce.

I feed them whiskas 3 times a say in medium portions with cat biscuits mixed with wet food. Cat biscuits i give are from purina.

Is there any kind of gel which i can apply on their fur to reduce the dander.

If i cut their long hair will it hep top reduce dander and hence allergy.

Should i stop the kitten food which has grains and give them home made plain boiled chicken?

Does royal canine have grains in them?

Please advice as i am completly out of ideas and i just cant give my darlings away. But i might have to if my brother condition does not impove.

will he ever be immune to the allergy?

He does not have very bad allergy. Its a medium one just like when one has cold. Nose block and sneezing every few minutes.

Answer by KAte
Hi
Firstly can I say that when people say theya re allergic to cats its not actually the fur which is causing the allergy. It is actually a enzyme in the cats spit which gets on their fur when they wash. then as it dries it can become hair born. So the length of the cats fur and what you feed them makes no difference at all i'm afraid.

i am allergic to cats as it were and have found that over the years the longer you live with a cat the less of a reaction you have to that particular cat. Your body builds up an immunity to that particular cat. So for your brother it may just be that he needs more time living with the cats.

there a re a few things you can do to help the situation.

brush your cats fur outside of the house at least three times a week especially as they have long fur which. This will remove a lot of the dried enzyme from the fur.

Also your brother can try some nasal spray for hayfever for a week or so. i found that it not only eased the symptoms but helped my body become less sensitive to the cats.

many cat owners I know suffer from a alight allergic reaction but this dous not and should not stop you owning cats.

best wishes Kate

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