In response to Geri's question about people who are allergic to cats
being allergic to ferrets; some people are, some aren't.
 
My husband is extremely allergic to cats, but we considered getting a
ferret since he adores them and had heard that some allergic people
could tolerate them.  We went to a pet store in Hartford, CT, and
handled ferrets for about 20 minutes, then left the store to see how
he would react.  Unfortunately, he did indeed start to have a very
severe reaction!  In addition, it seems that I might be a little
allergic to ferrets, even though I'm not allergic to cats, since I
started to get a little stuffy and the claw scribbles on my arms got
red splotches around them.
 
We couldn't take the risk of buying a little baby and having us
suffer, so we left without one.  My husband was so out of it from the
reaction and the countering medication that I had to drive all the way
home while he slept.  That's the end of our ferret involvement unless
we find someone willing to loan us one for a weekend to see if a clean
ferret in a clean environment is okay, versus the pet shop.
 
                             ...eliz
 
[Posted in FML issue 0225]