Cats: a Love/Hate Relationship

How do you react to this picture? I can tell you I have a bit of a dual reaction: I find this kitten both adorable and avoidable. I've already checked to see if windows are open and spotted my closest exit. I know I've got some Benadryl in the car along with my emergency inhaler, and my medical card is in my wallet. But, you know, adorable.

Ever since I was a baby I've had a love/hate relationship with felines. I love them, they're wonderful companions, but I can't ever build a relationship with one unless I decide they're worth the cost of an airtight suit. My first allergy attack was after meeting my paternal grandparents' cat, Sam, a tabby (not dissimilar than the kitten above).

As I've covered before, dander and saliva from animals like cats can act as an irritant and, when combined with the wrong immune system, can trigger a moderate to incredibly severe allergic reaction. Symptoms for cat allergies are heavy on the respiratory, causing coughing, wheezing, chest tightening, and asthma. Moderate reactions include itching and rash along with eye irritation. It's not fun. Worse still, dander and saliva particles can be quite small, beating some filters on the market.

What can be done? When avoidance simply isn't possible, there are naturally steps that can be taken to reduce the severity and frequency of allergy attacks and symptoms. The most obvious action would be to reduce the amount of allergens by having HEPA air filters and vacuuming often. If you're not vigilant with these, living with a cat can be torture. Beyond that, when you wash clothing, bedding, and other fabrics, you must do so in hot water. The hot water is more efficient in breaking up allergens so they can be washed away. For the love of god, don't let your cat sleep on your bed, or even in your bedroom. You should also air out the house when you can because there's no faster way to get stuffy, allergen-filled air out of your house than a decent wind.

So, cat allergy sufferers, how do you deal? Do you have a cat? Are you interested in a cat? Have you learned to live with a cat for a significant other?

Welcome to Allergies Weekly

Welcome to Allergies Weekly, your source for news, information, and discussions in relation to allergies. The purpose of this blog is the create a community for fellow allergy sufferers and to help with the management of symptoms.

Before going on to anything specific, let's outline some basic facts about allergies:
• Allergies are your immune system reacting to a foreign substance as if it were harmful, despite the fact that it is not generally harmful to others.
• When you are allergic to a substance, that substance is considered to be an allergen.
• Typical allergens are pollens, drugs, lints, bacteria, foods, and dyes or chemicals.
• During an allergic reaction, your immune system creates antibodies, called IgE (Immunoglobulin E), to combine with the allergen in order to prevent it's perceived danger. The IgE attaches itself to mast cells. Mast cells fill a variety of functions in the body, but are commonly found in the airways, and your lungs are particularly susceptile to allergen exposure. The IgEs combine with the allergens and attach themselves to the mast cell, stimulating the mast cell to release several chemicals into the blood, one of which is histamine. Histimines normally are a response to tissue damage, and can cause blood capilaries to dilate. Dilating makes capitlaries more penatrable, allowing liquid to escape into nearby tissues. This reaction generally causes swelling and itching.
• Symptoms of allergies include itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, itchy, runny nose, rashes, feeling tired or ill, and hives, though certain allergies can manifest in indigestion and even difficulty breathing.

So now you've had the crash course in allergies, so what now? Now, I blog.



I'm going to get everyone started with the most simple method of managing the most common symptoms of allergies; antihistimines*. Antihistimines are drugs available without a prescription that compete with histimines in your blood for histimine receptor sites. By blocking the receptor sites, they prevent histimines released by mast cells from causing the blood capilaries to dilate.

I've personally discoverd that diphenhydramine (sold as Benadryl) is the most effective antihistimine for me, preventing more allergy symptoms than Claritin, Zyrtec, Clarinex and Allegra. I do have a common side effect of drowsiness after taking Benadryl, but this generally decreases in severity after prolonged use. Others have reported side effects such as dizziness, headache, indigestion, decreased coordination, and dry mouth, though these are generally mild.

Next week, we're going to discuss methods of prevention....

*Note: if you are using an MAOI, have narrow-angle glaucoma, or are breast feeding, please do not use antihistimines.