What to do, what to do, We are quite possibly allergic to the (pets) house

[NightWatcher]

Put yourself in my shoes. Both me and my SO appear to be VERY ALLERGIC to the pets (4 cats and 1 dog), dander, fur, hair, and such that are in the house.

I've had a severe allergy/sinus heachache for more than a week, and now I've been sneezing, coughing, and draining. I couldnt even breathe last night and was up for several hours with severe headache and congestion. I even called in to work because I felt like such shit this morning. Today, I was out for several hours, standing in the great outdoors and I felt fine. All of my symptoms disappeared. Three minutes after I return to the house, BOOM all the symptoms return.

We are planning on removing the carpet and replacing with hardwood laminate flooring, but I want to go the whole nine yards and remove the reason for the suffering (at least the 4 cats).

Have any of you found yourselves in a similar situation?

PS anybody wanna cat or four?

[rcrush]

1. Cats do the same thing to me.

Most dogs as well. Too bad cause I like dogs. Oh well.

[dropkickpa]

2. Cats do that to me

Good thing I vastly prefer dogs.

[azmouse]

3. I had to give up a cat because my husband developed a terrible allergy.

My parents took her in at first but my brother just fell in love with the cat and took her with him when he got his own home. I was always thankful that my kitty had good homes.

[pitohui]

4. yes i have severe allergic reaction to cat dander

it would be better if you could afford to have your allergy verified by an allergist, it is hard to adopt out cats and you would not want to send them to a shelter without knowing for sure that it was your health on the line

the shots unfortunately don't work, the medicines work great IF you are not constantly exposed to your allergen, so there is no genuine healthy alternative to removing the cats and cleaning anything that might hold the dander

a relative tried to keep the cats anyway, his allergy has progressed to asthma and he is at an elevated risk of heart disease...keeping the cats is not a serious option if you have a cat allergy

good luck, and i'm v. sorry, having "been there"

[jmm]

5. If you can, get allergy testing to comfirm it.

I'm very allergic to cats. I thought I was developing an allergy to my chinchilla awhile ago until I realized it was the grass I was giving him. I changed his food and snacks and now I'm fine.

Edited to add it does seem odd that you both are developing allergies at the same time. Are you certain it couldn't be something else such as a reaction to mildew/water damage?

[mzteris]

6. i'm allergic to my cat and dogs -

I take zyrtec (the generic) . . .

You could be allergic to something else in your house. I wouldn't jump the gun on the pets. Allergy testing might be in order.

Are you new to the house? Are the pets new? It seems odd that you and your SO would suddenly develop these allergies at the same time after not having them. . .

[Manifestor_of_Light]

7. I'm allergic to cats too.

Very allergic to cats. Allergic to dogs as well, but I'm a dog person. No wool either.

I once was putting some hand lotion on my face and my face turned red and my skin burned.
I looked at the label to try to figure out what was causing the reaction.
I saw "lanolin" on the ingredients and figured out that that is oil from sheep wool - animal hair. Now I read the label on my moisturizer.

It also depends somewhat on how long the dog's hair is. I see no other remedy than to get rid of the critters and rip up the carpet. I take antihistamines/decongestants every day and I have no pets.