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thinking about getting a cat -- cat allergy questions

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demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
My dad has a cat (a couple years old or so) that he can't keep anymore because he's moving. I've seen the cat, and it's the sweetest, most well-mannered cat you could imagine.

Anyway, the main reason I wouldn't take her is because of the possiblity of other people being allergic to her. Like if some people came over to my place and a sneeze-fest ensued. What percentage of people are allergic to cats, at least to the point where it would be bothersome? And is there anything you can do to reduce the effect, like getting an air filter or something?

Also, my dad swears that he's never seen her scratch anything in his apartment, but it still makes me nervous, especially with a leather couch. Is declawing a good idea, and how much does that generally cost?
 
demon said:
Also, my dad swears that he's never seen her scratch anything in his apartment, but it still makes me nervous, especially with a leather couch. Is declawing a good idea, and how much does that generally cost?
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Do not declaw your cat. Would you like it if someone walked by and ripped off your fingernails?
 
I have a cat and I've definitely been allergic to him forever.
When I was younger, he didn't seem to bother me much.

But now, if his hair flies up into my face or nose, or if he scratches my skin or simply digs his nails into my skin slightly, I get a little sick. My nose gets stuffy and my eyes start to get watery. It's a very annoying feeling overall.

I can only speak for myself, because I know some people are much more allergic - growing up one of my friends could only stay for like an hour, because if he stayed any longer he had trouble breathing. I would assume it's pretty rare for someone to get THAT bad, though.

The best thing you can do if you don't want your friends to have their allergies act up is to clean off any hair that may have fallen off of his body. You can use tape, or if you want to do it more easily, those hair/lint roller things that you can find just about anywhere now for like $3.99. And most importantly, make sure there's plenty of fresh air in the room. If it's too cold for that, have a couple fans running and maybe an air purifier. Actually, a purifier at all times wouldn't be the worst idea.
 
demon said:
Also, my dad swears that he's never seen her scratch anything in his apartment, but it still makes me nervous, especially with a leather couch. Is declawing a good idea, and how much does that generally cost?
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declawing a cat is only right if the cat is still a kitten and even then i have some shakiness about it. usually when they are young you can declaw them and they will be able to forget about such an unpleasant experience. my parents had my cat (a kitten at the time) declawed and she loves us all just fine.
 
I wouldn't declaw a cat, and I've had cats tear me up before. There just something messed up about it. If it tries to claw at something, just blast it with a Super Soaker. They learn quick.
 
please don't declaw her! it's a terrible thing to do to a cat. she will probably scratch at your couch at some point. there are a couple things you can do to mitigate the inevitable damage, but most involve covering the leather with something disposable (plastic, canvas, etc). you can make it easier on people who are allergic by cleaning THOROUGHLY and REGULARLY, and i mean seriously cleaning. get a serious vacuum with a HEPA filter, filter the air, and regularly wet dust, vacuum all carpet and upholstery, vac and mop all hard floors. an air filter will help too (iirc you need one for each room). even if you do this, people who are really allergic (ie, the fartster) will still suffer a bit when they come over, but it should be able to keep it to a tolerable level (as long as they don't touch the cat or get anywhere near it). keep in mind though that what you have to do is get all the cat dander out of the air, out of fibers, and off of all nonporous surfaces, so you can't just vac up the occassional cat hair once a month and expect it to be enough.
 
fart said:
please don't declaw her! it's a terrible thing to do to a cat. she will probably scratch at your couch at some point. there are a couple things you can do to mitigate the inevitable damage, but most involve covering the leather with something disposable (plastic, canvas, etc). you can make it easier on people who are allergic by cleaning THOROUGHLY and REGULARLY, and i mean seriously cleaning. get a serious vacuum with a HEPA filter, filter the air, and regularly wet dust, vacuum all carpet and upholstery, vac and mop all hard floors. an air filter will help too (iirc you need one for each room). even if you do this, people who are really allergic (ie, the fartster) will still suffer a bit when they come over, but it should be able to keep it to a tolerable level (as long as they don't touch the cat or get anywhere near it). keep in mind though that what you have to do is get all the cat dander out of the air, out of fibers, and off of all nonporous surfaces, so you can't just vac up the occassional cat hair once a month and expect it to be enough.
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That's hardcore.
 
I only found out like 2 years ago that one of my friends I've known all my life is allergic to cats. She never mentioned it, and I couldn't even begin to attempt to count the number of times she's come round to my house, and we've never not had a cat. So clearly, for her, it was no big deal putting up with it.

My sister's boyfriend is much worse, and whenever they come to stay, we make sure the cats stay out of their room the day before. He's ok with it too though, he couldn't have cat all the time, but just coming round is ok.

In fact, no one has ever refused to come round or had to leave because of the cats. And over the years, the numbers say we should have had quite a lot of allergic people over.

PLEASE don't declaw your cat.
 
Mama Smurf said:
I only found out like 2 years ago that one of my friends I've known all my life is allergic to cats. She never mentioned it, and I couldn't even begin to attempt to count the number of times she's come round to my house, and we've never not had a cat. So clearly, for her, it was no big deal putting up with it.

My sister's boyfriend is much worse, and whenever they come to stay, we make sure the cats stay out of their room the day before. He's ok with it too though, he couldn't have cat all the time, but just coming round is ok.

In fact, no one has ever refused to come round or had to leave because of the cats. And over the years, the numbers say we should have had quite a lot of allergic people over.

PLEASE don't declaw your cat.
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Okay, that's a good sign. Still a little worried about the claws and the leather couch. Sigh. Did I even need a fucking leather couch?
 
If your down for some high maintenance (frequent, thorough cleaning) that won't *really* get rid of all that hair and dander, go for it.
 
Reading this thread has made me decide never to declaw another cat again. I did it to my two cats and even though they were kittens when it was done, I now wish I could give them back in a heartbeat. Poor guys. I don't remember how my first cat was when it was done, but my younger cat I remember and he was so depressed when it happened. He avoided us all the time. He got over it of course, but now I feel sad. I want to give them their claws back. =(
 
One of my cats claws things occasionally (the other one just goes for the wooden fence outside), but she has never shown any interest in the leather couches. I don't know if it's universal, but she wants something which is more fabricy.

EDIT: Oh yeah! Cats HATE citric smells. If you can get some sort of lemony smelling spray thing and spray it around the couch every so often, that should put it off.
 
the previous occupants at my new place had a cat. it took me two days of cleaning after a week of airing it out to get it to the point where i could stand in the apt for more than 30 minutes at a time. this guy was pretty clean too.

the upside of the leather couch is that it won't catch and hold dander like a cloth one would
 
-Don't declaw, but they have this new thing now, like a dull plastic/rubber cover over the claws that make it so they can't tear things up.

-I'm allergic to cats, some cats much more than others, with seemingly no clear way of knowing which ones. It's usually not so bad if I don't pet the cat or anything, but if I stick around for several hours it'll start bothering me.

-Allegra, Claritin and Zyrtec have all helped reduce my allergies significantly if I was gonna stay some place with cats for a while, so having some of that handly could be good, but I forget which of those meds are perscription and which aren't.

-Leather furniture is nice because it doesn't collect cat hair. An air filter would be a kind thing to get, and vacuuming every couple days is good, use swiffer wipe thingies on hard surfaces.

-Did you know that dander actually comes from the cat's mouth? It get's on their fur when they clean themselves. They make this bottle spray stuff that you can wipe down your cat with to help reduce the dander.
 
claritin is non-script but it's really expensive over the counter. allegra is the only one that doesn't make me nauseous so ymmv.
 
Oh, go to walmart and get their generic version of the drugs--same chemical, much cheaper. 12 or 24 hour extended release things are good.
 
Dice said:
Oh, go to walmart and get their generic version of the drugs--same chemical, much cheaper. 12 or 24 hour extended release things are good.
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There isn't a generic version of Allegra is there? And it's not over the counter?

they have this new thing now, like a dull plastic/rubber cover over the claws that make it so they can't tear things up.
Click to expand...
I'm intrigued. Tell me more.
 
allegra isn't non-scrip (yet). if you buy the generic claritins in bulk it's possible to get it really cheap through some health plan pharmacies (not sure about this one. i have family in health care, so they may get a discount)
 
"I'm intrigued. Tell me more."

Edit: Missread. Thought Dice was mentioning the pastic sheets that you attach to your couch's corners.

Shoot, I've run into these too but bo not know their name. The ones I've seen are generally made of a plastic that is dark, textured, and matte so they almost look like they are part of the couch. For what its worth, the theme in this thread seems to be that there is a solution for all of your concerns so if you want the cat, a visit to a good pet supply store should take care of your needs.
 
malek4980 said:
About two percent of the United States population is allergic to cats.

link
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Good article, but considering the sheer number of people I've known in my life who were allergic to cats, two percent seems an awfully small number.
 
declawed.jpg
:D

Why you should not declaw your cat. You're actually amputating thier toes at the first joint.
 
I'm allergic to cats.

There are easy things to do.

First, air filters work. Oh god. They work. The more the better.
When people visit, make sure the cat can sleep in a closed room away from others. Like a laundry room.
Vacuum, brush, do everything to reduce hair.
Open windows.

It's also not immediate many times, but take a bit for my eyes to get red. It's all about how clean you keep your furniture and the air.
 
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