I’ve recently developed allergy-like symptoms in my own home. I have a known allergy towards some cats and I also live with 2 cats whom I’ve previously not had any reaction to in the 5+ years that I’ve lived with them.
My question is whether it is likelier that my phyisiology has changed in such a way that my previously benign cats have changed or that there is some other unknown substance that is setting me off.
I haven’t changed anything significantly in my habits since this started (same hygene/cleaning products etc…) and I only get these symptoms after I come home from work. The only thing I can think of are the cats.
Have my benign cats turned malignant for me?
Even if they have I would never give them up I would just have to treat them as any other cats that I know cause the symptoms (wash hands after petting etc…).
I assume from your post (other cats that I know cause the symptoms) that you are allergic to other cats.
If that’s the case then it may well be that you are allergic to a mite or fungus carried by some cats and that your cats have finally contracted this parasite.
IOW it’s not anew allergy, it’s that your cats are now carrying something you’ve always been allergic to.
You definitley can get a new allergy to something you have been exposed to for a while! I work (and study) in the animal technology area and over 40% of animal techs who had no allargies before starting work (in most unis and animals you have to get tested before starting work) end up with at least one after 10 years of work. It is not uncommon for an animal tech to spend 4 years in uni studying for the job they want, then after only a year or two having to give it up and work with some other kind of animal.
You can get this tested and there are some medications that will help to keep it under control. In cases like this (late, exposure induced onset.) if it is an animal allergy it may stay as it is or may get worse over time.
Commenting on them having picked up something: this is possible but unlikely, most lice, mites, etc. that we are allergic to cannot survive on animals and most parasites that do live on pets are harmless to humans (that is, from an allergy point of veiw).
I had an allergic reaction to “something” when I was about 16. I came home from a day out, developed a rash, became unwell and went to bed. I woke in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and collapsed. I ended up in hospital due to obstructed airways but antihistamines had me well by morning. Since they had no idea what I was allergic to the doctor suggested not bothering to investigate as in most cases it never happens again. He said if it happened again he would investigate. He proved to be correct as it was a one off.
Crap, I just wrote a huge reply and my browser crashed.
So in short, yes, you can develop a new allergy at any point in your life. My mom ate peanuts all her life, up until the past few years, when she developed a potentially fatal allergy to them.
I’ve had allergies since I was a year old. I’ve had a couple of them fade, and developed some new ones as I got older.
If you want to find out if you are really allergic, you should get an allergy test.
I’m also one who is living proof that allergies can develop out of nowhere.
I went 32 years of my life allergy free, until 4 years ago when I started waking up in the AM with my right eye all dry, puffy and swollen. Some mornings it was worse, some better. The opthalmologist didn’t have much to give me for relief. Then I started having chronic sinus problems. They found an infected cyst which they removed and had tested. They found evidence of eosinafils (sp) which are an indication of allergies. So I was tested 3 times and was finally found to have a reaction to mold.
I’ve since gone through my house and had the air tested, results showing some mold in the air. We had our heating ducts cleaned which has helped, but we are still looking for the source in my house. Four years of dealing with this has made me so sensitive to mold in the air that I can actually feel the tissue around my eye start to swell when I enter a place that has it.
I’d been allergy free my whole life, then a few years ago, in my early 20’s I developed an allergy to something (didn’t know what) in mid-September, which meant sneezing all day and itchy/watery eyes. As soon as it started, it stopped. But then every year since, I’ve experienced a period, usually in September, where it pops up for a few weeks then goes away. I figure it’s ragweed or something. Nothing some cheap OTC meds can’t help with for the short time it irritates me.
Absolutely. I’ve become, in the last few years, allergic to libraries. Mold, book dust, hell, maybe it’s the floor cleaner, I dunno. It kind of sucks, as I’m a librarian. Everybody I work with must think I’m a very, very sniffly person.
I used to not be allergic to anything. Maybe I need to go play in the dirt some more.
This is somewhat off the topic, but is an example–yes you can develop an allergy to something over time. I’m not real involved in the subject and yet I’ve heard of this happening a few times in people who do fiberglass/composite construction, such as (usually) for homebuilt aircraft: they develop allergies to the epoxy resins used. There have been people who have worked with this stuff for literally years, gotten a bit on their skin here and there (even though you’re supposed to avoid doing that) and no big deal, and then one day they get a bit on their skin again and they get an immediate violent reaction, basically go into shock and allergy testing reveals a sensitivity to the stuff, and in some cases from then on they have not been able to work with the epoxy ever again. Even breathing it sends them into a bad reaction.
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Ditto on the acquisition of allergies. I’ve taken penicillin lots of times over the years. Couple of years ago, as I was finishing up the last of a prescription, I started getting awful, itchy hives-like eruptions all over. Went back to the doctor who said it was most likely a reaction to the penicillin. “But I’m not allergic to it!” I said. “You are now,” he responded. "It’s possible that the next time the reaction could be worse. "
