If you are a cat lover, nothing is more discouraging than finding out that someone you love and care about—perhaps a friend or your young child—is allergic to cats.
What do you do? Do you get rid of your cat, and perhaps never have another furry feline again? What a terrible thing to imagine! Do you get rid of your child or kick a family member out of the house in favor of your cat? Of course not! Do you never see your close friend again? That’s no good.
Here are a few tips for dealing with cat allergies:
• Keep you house clean. If you have someone who is coming over that has a mild allergy to cat dander/hair, you can help them out quite a bit by vacuuming beforehand and making sure things are tidy. This will reduce the allergy symptoms quite a bit. You can also open up the windows to get a lot of fresh, outside air circulating throughout your house.
• Keep your cat away from people. If you regularly host guests but also have a cat, consider keeping your cat in the basement full-time or upstairs where the bedrooms are full-time. Make communal areas like dining and living rooms off-limits to your cat.
• Consider a Sphynx. A Sphynx is a hairless breed of cat and so a terrific idea for anyone who suffers allergies. Most people say the look of a Sphynx takes some serious getting used to, but we think they are gorgeous!
• Use medication. Check with your doctor, but there are a lot of prescription and over-the-counter drugs that do wonders with keep allergy symptoms in check. You shouldn’t offer prescription drugs to your guests, but would be very nice of you to keep some over-the-counter stuff handy for anybody who may need it. Melaleuca.com makes a great allergy medicine.
• Talk to a veterinarian. One of the best things you can do if you are a cat owner is to find and rely on an excellent vet. They are experienced in these matters and can work with you on a personal level to overcome allergy challenges.
