When it comes to popular pets that people keep in their house, cats are the winners by a long shot. Over 50% of all families living in the US have either cat or a dog. Even though they are so loved, a lot of people have cat allergies. According to the statistics, there are more than 10 million people suffering from cat allergies in the US.
In most cases, the thing that causes the allergy is the dander, which is essentially dust, made by the cat's body. Dander comes usually as small flakes of shed skin that cats leave behind. One effect of dander is irritation of the skin, but if it gets inside you, it can also provoke allergies and other symptoms.
If the dander enters your immune system it becomes a threat to you. You can't really call it an illness, but more of a defense reflex of your immune system and body. Because allergens can be found in the cat's saliva, urine and blood, cat allergies can happen very often. Even if a cat is not present, if its excretions are in the area, they can still provoke an allergic reaction.
If you have a cat allergy and you enter the house of someone that has a cat, you will have a reaction, since their saliva, urine and dander can be found there. The grooming process of a cat means that it rubs saliva on the fur, which spreads allergens and dander. This can't be stopped and since grooming is a normal part of their life, you shouldn't even try.
The regular symptoms of a cat allergy are cough, wheeze, itching, sneezes, a tough time breathing or watery eyes. The ways that people react to cats when they have allergies are different, so the symptoms that can be found in one person might not be found in another. In some rare cases people can even experience chills and fever. In such cases, the person needs to visit a doctor as soon as possible. Sometimes it's more about a disease that needs to be identified, and not about the cat allergy.
The treatment for people that suffer from cat allergies consists of decongestants and antihistamines. For example, when people have asthma attacks, they will receive antihistamines. If you have a swollen nasal passage or a cough, you will be prescribed decongestants. In other cases you can even get allergy shots, which will help you with attack prevention, good especially for those that have cat allergies. If you want to do some prevention or to treat a current allergy, these shots can be of huge help.
If you think that you might have allergy to cats, you should go to a doctor to check it out. A doctor can give you a proper diagnosis and let you know what you can do to treat it. Getting rid of the cat is the best method of actually stopping the attacks from happening.
That's actually not as easy as it sounds usually, since people are attached to their pets, but allergies are a serious thing, and if you suffer from one, I'm afraid that's the best way to make sure you're safe. Shots and medicine can only help you so much. Unfortunately, these allergies can show up after you owned a cat for several years, so you might already be very attached to the animal.
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