Severe pet dander allergy
I have been asthmatic my whole life , I am 46. Always had a severe pet allergy/ asthma. My adult daughter who lives on her own has a cat and dog. I have never gone in to her home for this reason. For the last 5 months, my allergy has become so much worse. I cannot even stand next to her outside without starting to react immediately. This is heartbreaking. Any one else have this happen? Its as though we can't have any relationship.
Hi Hbrooks, and thanks for your post. While I'm hopeful others in the community will respond to your inquiry and share their own personal pet experiences, I thought you might want to look over any of these articles which focus on pets and allergies: https://asthma.net/search?s=pets. These are published right here on our asthma.net community website.
I do hope you find them to be helpful in a practical way.
All the best,
Leon (site moderator asthma.net)
Hi, Hrbrooks. So sorry this is happening to you! I can't imagine how frustrating and upsetting it must be for both you and your daughter.
First, have you talked about this with your doctor? Even if you do your best to avoid cats, the severity of your reaction is concerning. We can't give medical advice here for your own safetyit may be worth it to see if you can pursue medication, allergy injections or even an emergency anaphylaxis pen like an EpiPen, just in case.
As for your daughter, have you discussed what might be helpful to you? If she's willing to make changes, I wonder if it would make a difference for her to visit after a shower, wearing freshly washed clothes (right from the dryer). Her vehicle might be an issue too if there is any cat hair or dander on the seat from previous outfits.
I truly hope you can work something out, and that you'll keep us posted. We're here to support you. -Melissa, asthma.net team
