(no subject)
Allergy-sufferers and cat owners, I
LOOK AT THAT CAT. IS SHE NOT BEAUTIFUL.
I've put down the deposit for her and everything. The problem is that I'm somewhat allergic to cats. The fur sample from this particular kitty made me get tight in the chest within about ten minutes when I shoved it up my nose. The long-term exposure test (sleeping with the fur and the dander-coated paper sheet on my pillow) resulted in eczema, morning stuffiness, chest tightness, and sharply increased sensitivity to dust, my major allergen.
The escalation in symptoms worries me because I used to have far, far, far worse allergies. I pretty much have no allergy control problems whatsoever aside from the odd seasonal sniffle or chest tightness when I'm digging through old files, but when I was a wee babe, I basically looked like the crocodile child because I had eczema all over my face, hands, and scalp. I had oozing sores, OK? And I remember crawling up stairs because my eczema-opened knees had infections. I grew out of it eventually, but only because my parents put me on the avoidance diet for six years -- no seafood, no nuts, no milk, no dairy products whatsoever, only the occasional egg. Seriously. I used to get baaadddd asthma with cats and lick-shaped hives from dogs.
On the other hand, I've heard encouraging stories about acclimatization. On the same hand, LOOK AT HER. LOOK AT HER. LOOK AT HER. And the extent of my allergies these days is the occasional sneeze when it's tree pollen and ragweed season or blowing my nose when I get into some crazy dusty files.
Additional data points:
- She's a Siberian, a breed that has relatively low Type 1 allergy triggering levels.
- The fur sample also came during the worst-case scenario when she was freshly spayed and still nursing her kittens, which I'm given to understand are when FelD-1 levels are still ragin' high.
- I'm totally comfortable with buying HEPA filters for both rooms of my apartment, keeping her out of the bedroom, and using Allerpet.
- My mother hates the idea, and my father is not a fan of the idea of me being on long-term medication. They live very close to me, and together, they could make me a giant ball of guilt-ridden misery.
- There's a family in my state who's also very interested in her. WOULD THEY GIVE HER A BETTER, LOWER-GUILT HOME?
- My insurance will cover immunotherapy if my allergist agrees it's medically necessary to control asthma, which I'll have.
- I'll end up spending something in the range of $1300 in initial outlay for her. I can afford it, but the idea of spending $1300 to be miserable for the next fifteen years isn't really appealing
- Short of a $6000 Allerca cat and/or shopping around and waiting for a lower-allergen Siberian ex-breeder to come onto the market, this is probably the best I'll do.
The second that I clap eyes on her, I'll basically fall head over heels in love, get on Zyrtec/Claritin/Nasonex/Flonase/immunotherapy shots/black voodoo art involving chicken hearts and spend the next decade and a half wheezily feuding with my mother, who is understandably worrying (but also v. controlling in the way of mothers). This month and a half while I'm waiting for her last litter to grow up is pretty much my last shot at rationality for the next fifteen years.
So should I get her? Is acclimatization real? Or should I back out now while there's a loving family for her to go to?
LOOK AT THAT CAT. IS SHE NOT BEAUTIFUL.
I've put down the deposit for her and everything. The problem is that I'm somewhat allergic to cats. The fur sample from this particular kitty made me get tight in the chest within about ten minutes when I shoved it up my nose. The long-term exposure test (sleeping with the fur and the dander-coated paper sheet on my pillow) resulted in eczema, morning stuffiness, chest tightness, and sharply increased sensitivity to dust, my major allergen.
The escalation in symptoms worries me because I used to have far, far, far worse allergies. I pretty much have no allergy control problems whatsoever aside from the odd seasonal sniffle or chest tightness when I'm digging through old files, but when I was a wee babe, I basically looked like the crocodile child because I had eczema all over my face, hands, and scalp. I had oozing sores, OK? And I remember crawling up stairs because my eczema-opened knees had infections. I grew out of it eventually, but only because my parents put me on the avoidance diet for six years -- no seafood, no nuts, no milk, no dairy products whatsoever, only the occasional egg. Seriously. I used to get baaadddd asthma with cats and lick-shaped hives from dogs.
On the other hand, I've heard encouraging stories about acclimatization. On the same hand, LOOK AT HER. LOOK AT HER. LOOK AT HER. And the extent of my allergies these days is the occasional sneeze when it's tree pollen and ragweed season or blowing my nose when I get into some crazy dusty files.
Additional data points:
- She's a Siberian, a breed that has relatively low Type 1 allergy triggering levels.
- The fur sample also came during the worst-case scenario when she was freshly spayed and still nursing her kittens, which I'm given to understand are when FelD-1 levels are still ragin' high.
- I'm totally comfortable with buying HEPA filters for both rooms of my apartment, keeping her out of the bedroom, and using Allerpet.
- My mother hates the idea, and my father is not a fan of the idea of me being on long-term medication. They live very close to me, and together, they could make me a giant ball of guilt-ridden misery.
- There's a family in my state who's also very interested in her. WOULD THEY GIVE HER A BETTER, LOWER-GUILT HOME?
- My insurance will cover immunotherapy if my allergist agrees it's medically necessary to control asthma, which I'll have.
- I'll end up spending something in the range of $1300 in initial outlay for her. I can afford it, but the idea of spending $1300 to be miserable for the next fifteen years isn't really appealing
- Short of a $6000 Allerca cat and/or shopping around and waiting for a lower-allergen Siberian ex-breeder to come onto the market, this is probably the best I'll do.
The second that I clap eyes on her, I'll basically fall head over heels in love, get on Zyrtec/Claritin/Nasonex/Flonase/immunotherapy shots/black voodoo art involving chicken hearts and spend the next decade and a half wheezily feuding with my mother, who is understandably worrying (but also v. controlling in the way of mothers). This month and a half while I'm waiting for her last litter to grow up is pretty much my last shot at rationality for the next fifteen years.
So should I get her? Is acclimatization real? Or should I back out now while there's a loving family for her to go to?