Anyone have kids with severe cat allergy?

Maybe a daily antihistamine would help? Ask the allergist. Good luck.
Peg

Peg541, thank you for your suggestions. My dd takes singulair daily which I think stops her from having serious consequences. However, I tried benedryl but it makes her too sleepy in class. I will ask her allergist about taking a non-drowsy daily medication along with her singulair.

I believe Singulair is meant to accompany and enhance the benefit of a daily antihistamine. It might do your child some good to add the antihistamine.

I only use Benadryl for reactions, myself included. Television is selling it as an every day sort of medication but that has never been my experience. It's too strong to be used every day.

Good luck
Peg

Yes, both my kids and I are severely allergic. I don't technically have asthma but I've gotten asthmatic when I've gone into a house with animals.

Until...the three of us began immunotherapy (shots at the allergist). Within a few months, everything changed. For example, my neighbor has cats and I couldn't stay in her house more than 30 minutes before I was wheezing, sneezing and puffy eyed. After being on the shots under a year, I could spend 2+ hours in her house with a sigle tingle in my nose. Crazy, but I swear by shots. I started my kids on them at age 3 to ensure they could go into friends houses without reacting and to protect them from severe reactions in general. My son got head to toe hives (probably hundreds) when a dog licked him one time on the neck.

We can now go to the in-laws who have 5 cats and maybe sneeze once or twice after being there the whole evening. Definitely consider it! It's a pain to go to the doctor's over and over, but I would do it again.

Thanks for answering dgood. I'm happy for your family and the improved responses to cats. I will discuss this at my dd's upcoming appt. with her allergist. :)

MY DD has severe allergies to cats and to the point of epi needed. She gets hives and sneezes really badly. She does get allergy shots but still to early to tell if it will work.
She gets hives from the shots some times and that does frighten me alot.
My DH and myself are bad with cats also. Of course my whole family has cats so all parties are usually here at my house. In school they say they have never seen a child sneeze as much as her. Some kids were very jealous when she was given special tissues and her own bag to keep at her desk so she wouldn't have to get up so much. Teachers have been great with her.
I could go on all night about her allergies but I am exhausted tonight. Alot going on in my house at this point. take care Claire

Thanks for your reply Claire. I have never thought of the epi for her cat allergy just benedryl.

However, in hindsight before we knew of her allergy her class went to the SPCA of all places. She went into an asthma attack that evening and I couldn't understand from what. At the clinic they gave her steroids and her puffers and observed her for hours. They had me follow up at the hospital pediatric clinic the next day.

It took her three days before she was ok. I will think of epi with her cat allergy now. I think it was the exposure to hundreds of cats that did it. Benedry seems to help with ordinary encounters.

I had both a dog and cat allergy about 25 years ago. But after I took shots for mold and dust for five years. They just seemed to disappear. I have had a dog for 15 years with no problems.

Thanks cathlina. When you did have the cat/dog allergy may I ask what your symtoms were? Did they gradually change or did they stop when you started the shots for the other allergies?

DH has severe cat allergy. Has had reactions in meetings with co-workes who have cats. He's ended up in the ER a few times too from it.

I have a cat allergy and so does my son.

My allergy causes itchy eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat and after hours of being in a house with cats...esp if they sit on the furniture, raspy breathing. In my early 20s my Boyfriend had a cat, and after repeated exposures to his cat I got to the point where I did not react as long as I did not rub my face or eyes.

My son was visiting someone with my husband and my husband notices he was wimpering so he looked over at him and he was petting a cat rubbing his face...his entire eye and most of the side of his face was extremely swolen.