This is in response to Kristen Thelander's posting about allergies.
 
I too am very allergic to cats and most dogs. I'm only slightly allergic to
our three ferrets. Their cage is in our daughter's room, so I'm not sleeping
in the same room with them. I have no problems with them up to two or three
days after their baths. If they go longer than a week between baths my eyes
start itching and watering. However, my chest has never tightened up around
them. With cats, I have an asthma attack within an hour or so of contact
with them.
 
We've had Snoopy for a year, Frederick Von Ferret for nine months, and
Caesar for one and a half months. Hopefully I won't develop cat-type
allergies to them.
 
As to an explanation, I too would like to know if there's any rhyme or
reason to these allergies. My husband says I'm allergic to cat saliva, but
that does not explain my dog allergy.
 
We had a poodle when I was growing up that I wasn't allergic to. He was
bathed about once a month.
 
We had a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier for seven years (he died of kidney
disease a few weeks back). He only caused me problems if I had to brush him
before a bath.
 
I stayed at people's homes with collies and dalmatians and had nasty
allergic reactions....
 
So..... maybe my animal allergies are caused by a combination of cat saliva
and dust. I guess I could experiment with my three guys by not bathing them
for a while, but I'm sure that my sense of smell would develop nasty
allergies....
 
Any explanations would be appreciated.
 
Karen Poole
(Also a satisfied Modern Ferret subscriber)
[Posted in FML issue 1399]