How to Fight Back Against a Cat Allergy
- Author: Jacob Greene
- Posted: 2024-05-25
There are all sorts of people out there in the world that are allergic to cats. They know they're allergic to cats, and so they don't end up having cats as pets. It makes sense, of course; you wouldn't eat peanut butter cookies if you were allergic to peanut butter. So, knowing you have such an allergy means you can avoid things that upset it. However, a lot of cat owners find that they become immunocompromised or have some sorts of other issues that result in them developing cat allergies out of the blue, while they actually have a cat. Some of these cat owners will just get rid of their cat to avoid the allergies. Others will brave through it and suffer the symptoms and just be miserable every time they're around their cat. There's actually a different way you can go about this. You can actually take steps to ensure that your allergies are kept under control.
With the right set of steps taken, you will find out that the 'allergy' in question is really just caused by a two-step combination of cat dander and your histamines running wild. If you understand the formula that causes the allergies to run out of control, then you can thus understand how to keep your allergies in check. This means not having to get rid of your cat if you develop allergies. Just take a few simple steps in your life and those cat allergies will be a thing of the past.
Take Antihistamines
Histamines are nitrogenous compounds in the body that develop and start to bounce around as an immune response to some sort of stimulant. This could be some type of infection in the body, or something in the air, such as pollen. Of course, for people allergic to cats, it's the cat dander they're breathing in that's causing this immune response. The immune system kicks into overdrive, and those little molecules of dander are causing a huge histamine issue in your body, as if your body is fighting to reject the dander. The first step here is to take antihistamines to control the production of histamines in your body. You can get these sorts of medications over the counter, but you can also find a lot of antihistamine properties in something like pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and even vitamin B3 (nicotinic acid). Make sure that you start off by controlling the histamines in your body.
Bathe Your Cat Often
Pet dander builds up on your pets over time. It's not necessarily caused by your pet being dirty or rolling around. It's more to do with their dead skin cells and loose hair and other issues that just accumulate on their coat and ultimately shed off onto the floor and onto furniture, etc. The best way to ensure that you're controlling your cat's dander is to bathe your cat often. Cats hate water, so this might not be the easiest thing in the world to do. Though a bath about once a week should keep your pet from accumulating the dander that's causing the histamines in your body to attack it. You have to keep your cat clean and free of that dander.
Clean the Home A Lot
By the time you realize your pet has dander that needs to be cleaned off, it's too late and that stuff is already all over the floor, stuck in corners, clinging to the carpet, and everywhere else in your home. While you're cleaning your cat to get rid of dander from their coat, you also need to make sure that you're cleaning your home. You can purchase specific products that help you eliminate the dander. This is going to remove this stuff from the environment and thus allow you to freely breathe in the home without causing an immune system response in your body.
Following these few tips is a great way to ensure that you're not going to suffer from allergies nearly as much. However, the fact is that you're not likely going to completely eliminate the allergies from your life. You may always experience flare-ups with these allergies. When that happens, just remember to go through these steps so that you're controlling your histamines while also getting rid of any lingering pet dander that could cause more of them.
