Cat Allergies....a Question.

[mommy2krj]

Ok, so we're doing a gluten free trial. We're a week and a day into it. This is for my 6 year old son.

He is very allergic to certain kinds of cats. Other cats he's kind of allergic and some cats...like my neighbor's cat...he can pet and not react to at all. Though, he rarely spends any time inside that neighbor's house so that could be it too.

When he has a kind of allergic reaction to cats....it works slowly. It'll take an hour or two and he'll start with the itchy eyes and then the runny nose and it will eventually lead to coughing/wheezing but it can take several hours for that to start happening. When he has a severe reaction (which has only happened 3 times) he goes straight to hives, swelling eyes, watering everything and the coughing/wheezing comes on very quickly.

Either reaction takes a long time to get the coughing/wheezing under control. Usually 2 or 3 days with double dosing on the allergy meds...giving him his claritin in the morning and still a dose or two of benadryl during the day and his Singulair at night for the coughing/wheezing.

Now here's my question:

 

Has anyone else found their cat/pet allergies to be stronger once going gluten-free?

I ask because he was with my daughter at her friend's house (I always forget they have a cat!) and while, yes in the past he has reacted to her cat it usually takes several hours and generally starts with just itchy eyes. The other day they weren't even there for 2 hours and he came home with hives and swollen eyes and coughing/wheezing (asthmatic reaction) and it took us 3 almost 4 solid days to get it under control! I'm thinking the heat and humidity didn't help.

Now...today we were over there again....outside. I took him inside once (he was being naughty and it was quiet in the house) and we were in there for I'd say....maybe 10 minutes tops. When we came out his eyes were already watery/itchy and he was wheezing. So....he's definitely reacting very strongly to a cat that he used to be able to tolerate for a while. I'm thinking of putting a call in to the allergist to renew his inhaler (he has seasonal allergies and what they called allergy induced asthma) that he hasn't needed since last spring. And talk to them about if there is a possibility that he may need an epi pen or something due to cats?!? It's gotten that bad that quickly that I am concerned that it may go worse just as quickly!

He has had the allergy testing. The skin scratch type....and that blister he got from cats was nasty. Guess it's time to go back in and make sure things haven't gotten worse and see if there are other things I need to watch out for.

Anyway...just wondering if this is something I should kind of expect with going gluten free or if it's completely unrelated and for some reason his cat allergy has just decided to get worse...which is entirely possible. Oy. Poor kid.

[shadowicewolf]

I haven't been around any cats in a long while. But my reactions are itchy watery eyes and a scratchy throat.

[mommy2krj]

Hmmmm....I think I will be putting a phone call in to the allergist on Monday. Kinda worried about this sudden reaction to a cat he's been around before. He was also complaining of a lump in his throat that was making it hard to breathe and swallow. THAT is what has me so nervous! Both times he was exposed to this cat....he complained of that. But in the past he never had that reaction.

[shadowicewolf]

Hmmmm....I think I will be putting a phone call in to the allergist on Monday. Kinda worried about this sudden reaction to a cat he's been around before. He was also complaining of a lump in his throat that was making it hard to breathe and swallow. THAT is what has me so nervous! Both times he was exposed to this cat....he complained of that. But in the past he never had that reaction.

Its possible that it has gotten worse then.

 

What type of cat is it?

 

I agree that speaking with the allergist might help.

[mommy2krj]

Its possible that it has gotten worse then.

 

What type of cat is it?

 

I agree that speaking with the allergist might help.

An angry....doesn't like people, cat. It really is...but it's an indoor long haired cat. But it doesn't seem to matter as much with him. Long hair or short hair....the other cat he's reacted to like that was an indoor/outdoor cat with short hair.

My daughter is allergic to cats as well and while she has broken out in hives before....it's been an incredibly long time since she has. Usually it's more a itchy eye, scratchy throat type reaction too....but she does take regular allergy meds every day because she has seasonal allergies that knock her on her butt. *sigh*

 

Yeah, the lump in the throat thing kind of scares me.

[Juliebove]

I have a cat allergy.  I test as allergic.  Most cats do not bother me at all.  Am also allergic to dogs and most dogs don't bother me.  I have cats.  Am fine with them.  Have visited shelters and frequently visit the adoptable cats at the various pet stores around here.  No problem.  But I visited my nephew, his cat and kittens.  Sneezed my head off and broke out in hives all over.  Daughter did too and she does not test as allergic.

 

I have read that the darker the cat, the less reaction it will cause.  Not sure if this is true or not.

 

Had a neighbor who was highly allergic to cats.  He usually came to our house with no problems but one day his eyes began to water badly.  He asked me if we had a cat!  The cat didn't usually come around when we had people over.  So you couldn't see her.  Then he told me that the problem for him was usually with the cat box.  So I just don't know.

 

I do know that right now, my allergies are bad.  Our air quality is very bad and we have not had a good rain in a very long time.

[shadowicewolf]

An angry....doesn't like people, cat. It really is...but it's an indoor long haired cat. But it doesn't seem to matter as much with him. Long hair or short hair....the other cat he's reacted to like that was an indoor/outdoor cat with short hair.

My daughter is allergic to cats as well and while she has broken out in hives before....it's been an incredibly long time since she has. Usually it's more a itchy eye, scratchy throat type reaction too....but she does take regular allergy meds every day because she has seasonal allergies that knock her on her butt. *sigh*

 

Yeah, the lump in the throat thing kind of scares me.

It would me too.

 

I never had an issue with them until i was in my teens (around the same time my celiac symptoms started to appear).

 

So, could there be a connection? Who knows?

 

Local raw honey is good for helping with seasonal allergies.

[dilettantesteph]

With me it was the opposite.  My allergies have become much better gluten-free.

[mommy2krj]

I have a cat allergy.  I test as allergic.  Most cats do not bother me at all.  Am also allergic to dogs and most dogs don't bother me.  I have cats.  Am fine with them.  Have visited shelters and frequently visit the adoptable cats at the various pet stores around here.  No problem.  But I visited my nephew, his cat and kittens.  Sneezed my head off and broke out in hives all over.  Daughter did too and she does not test as allergic.

 

I have read that the darker the cat, the less reaction it will cause.  Not sure if this is true or not.

 

Had a neighbor who was highly allergic to cats.  He usually came to our house with no problems but one day his eyes began to water badly.  He asked me if we had a cat!  The cat didn't usually come around when we had people over.  So you couldn't see her.  Then he told me that the problem for him was usually with the cat box.  So I just don't know.

 

I do know that right now, my allergies are bad.  Our air quality is very bad and we have not had a good rain in a very long time.

I never heard that before....but for us it doesn't ring true. The first cat was black/dark gray and this cat is white with brown. Both reactions are equally horrible. But I have noticed in the past that usually they were reacting more strongly if the cat was an indoor/outdoor cat. Guess that isn't true anymore either since this last cat is strictly indoors.

I don't think I'd be as worried if not for the fact that in the past it took hours before he really reacted to this cat and now it's taking minutes and if the symptoms hadn't gone from itchy eyes/runny nose to hives, wheezing and a lump in his throat that makes it hard for him to swallow/breathe.

I did find out yesterday that he isn't, thankfully, allergic to bees. But oh the drama! I seriously thought I was going to find him bleeding or something with the crazy screaming the poor kid was doing. There was minimal swelling and no other reaction besides the tears and him repeating over and over that he didn't want that to happen.

[Celiac Mindwarp]

Sound like having an inhaler around would be sensible, if you have had one prescribed but don't have one at present (not sure if I read that right).

 

My son has an anaphalactic nut allergy, and it sets his asthma off too - so if we need to use antihistamines or epipen (so for no epipen, thank goodness, but carry 2 everywhere just in case) we also give him his inhaler (salbutamol in the UK, not sure if it has the same name there).

 

Relief on the bee sting!

[mommy2krj]

Sound like having an inhaler around would be sensible, if you have had one prescribed but don't have one at present (not sure if I read that right).

 

My son has an anaphalactic nut allergy, and it sets his asthma off too - so if we need to use antihistamines or epipen (so for no epipen, thank goodness, but carry 2 everywhere just in case) we also give him his inhaler (salbutamol in the UK, not sure if it has the same name there).

 

Relief on the bee sting!

We've had an inhaler in the past but it didn't seem to do anything unless we got the actual reaction under control. Which is why we have the Singulair too (at least, I think that's why.)

I didn't get a chance to call today but it's at the top of my list for tomorrow.

[Celiac Mindwarp]

The singulair worked well for my son, and he has infrequent attacks. He has the brown inhaler, clenil modulite daily too. The blue inhaler help him during attacks, but we sure need those preventers.

Good luck with the cats. I am allergic, but not to all cats, but no obvious pattern. I come out to my own cat if I have been away a few days, but it gets better in a day or two.

[Gemini]

Take a look at this interesting article:  Open Original Shared Link

 

My allergies are not that much better 8 years post gluten-free but I have to admit, I only react now when allergen levels are really bad.  Then I have the typical reaction.  I am not allergic to cats, though.

[mommy2krj]

Take a look at this interesting article:  Open Original Shared Link

 

My allergies are not that much better 8 years post gluten-free but I have to admit, I only react now when allergen levels are really bad.  Then I have the typical reaction.  I am not allergic to cats, though.

 

Huh. Thank you for sharing that article Gemini! I thought, for a second, it was going to be a snarky one like the ones my stepmom used to give me when my older two were young that talked about how exposing kids to certain animals when they were babies helped avoid allergies. Which...I know it can help some people but it didn't help my daughter and it certainly hasn't helped my son. And she really was just being rude because she always got mad when we had to leave their house after a while due to their cat and the cigarette smoke. :/

 

If they'd come up with a safe treatment for cat allergies....my youngest son would be so happy! Not that we'd buy a cat here.....I simply am not a cat person! But he'd be able to visit people with cats and maybe the petting zoo wouldn't be so bad either. And eventually own his own cat when he moves out. But I will stick with the colored picture of a cat that I had to hang on my living room wall as our pet cat.

[AlwaysLearning]

Is it the cat or the kitty litter? They do sell wheat-based kitty litters that would cause wheat dust in the air and the cat would track it throughout its home. 

If dust were the main exposure method, it would make sense if the symptoms were more sinus/throat related. 

And if gluten free is new for your son, that could explain why an exposure to wheat now would be worse than in the past.

Could just take a simple phone call to the friend's house to find out what type of product they use. 

[mommy2krj]

Is it the cat or the kitty litter? They do sell wheat-based kitty litters that would cause wheat dust in the air and the cat would track it throughout its home. 

If dust were the main exposure method, it would make sense if the symptoms were more sinus/throat related. 

And if gluten free is new for your son, that could explain why an exposure to wheat now would be worse than in the past.

Could just take a simple phone call to the friend's house to find out what type of product they use. 

Hmmm....never thought about that. Good grief kitty litter is the last freaking place I would have thought to look for wheat!

But I don't know that it's just the dust issue. He breaks out in hives and his eyes swell.....ahhh!!! Will have to look into the kitty litter thing.

******See? This is why I have a dog. Ok...not the only reason and really my dog is more like a cat than most cats I know! ******