I guess I’d just go for a bunny or a fishtank or something.
Medication may be a good option. I’m quite allergic and lived with two cats for several years, thanks to daily doses of Claritin and Flonase – they’re not very good at treating in-progress allergy attacks, but they were excellent (for me) at preventing them.
In addition to a medication regimen, she would have to exercise some common sense around the cats: not letting the cats rub up against her face, rinsing off her hands after touching the cats, getting in the habit of not rubbing her eyes (I eventually figured out how to rub them satisfactorily through my eyelids, instead of making direct contact with the eyes).
Anyway, if she loves cats then it’s probably worth trying to work around the allergies. If she were indifferent to them I’d advise you to table the idea.
What’s more important to you? Having a cat or the relationship with your SO?
I’m allergic to cats, and although I like them, living (or even spending a lot of time) in a home with one would be a deal breaker.
I’m a bit disappointed with all the people saying “dump the SO.”
Is owning a pet that important?
I say, I say, it’s a joke, son.
Nice boy, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.
Ya, at this point its just a question of what kind of medication. She isn’t into needles, and frankly I’m not either so I can’t really blame her. Right now it looks like a battle between Clariten D and Flonex.
The SO obviously, or we wouldn’t be having this discussion. The whole point of this thread is to figure out a way to have both. If it isn’t possible I am OK with that and can live w/o a cat, but from what I’ve heard & read it seems very possible that there is a way I can have my cake & eat it too.
Can’t argue with that.
Though as someone who’s mildly allergic to cats, I find it to be a huge pain n the ass being in a cat owner’s apartment. You have to stay aware of what you touch (basically anything and everything in on the premises, since they get into everything). If I forget and rest my hand on the couch, and half an hour later rub my eye or nose, the rest of the night is pretty miserable, and there’s not much I can do.
Were I you guys, I’d ask a friend with a cat if you could spend a weekend at their place. Should give her a chance to see how bad it would be, if at all.
(Personally, I think it’s nuts to even consider it, but then again I don’t like the little fuckers in the first place.)
Another breed to look at would be the Devon Rex. Going to a breeder’s house would probably give you a good idea if your SO was allergic to them.
If I play with a cat for a few minutes I start to get allergies but I no longer get reactions to my cat so I guess it’s posisble to build up a resistance to your own pet. I was allergic for maybe a month and after that it stopped. Good luck!
For long term, living with an animal you are allergic to is miserable and possibly dangerous. Allergies are one thing, the potential for asthma attacks another.
Washing a cat regularly? Hah.
Doping up on drugs for ever more? Not much fun. Allergy meds have improved a lot, but taking them all the time indefinitely is not the best plan, not to mention will get expensive eventually.
Getting a hypoallergenic cat? Very expensive.
Tormenting your SO with allergies indefinitely in order to stay with you is pretty severe.
Shhhh… You’re gonna get us all assimilated!
Cat lovers and allergies have lived side by-side forever. Try the over the counter stuff; nose drops, eye drops, whatever. If that doesn’t work, the doctor can probably prescribe something more effective. Except in the most extreme cases, you can work this through and have the cat and the SO under one roof.
Hypoallergenic cats and hairless cats (comonly Sphinx) are not the same thing. Hypoallergenic cats are genetically modified. They look juts like regular, furry, cuddly kitties, and are available for prices starting at $6,000, according to a link one of my collegues sent me. My wife and I have been contemplating a Sphinx, but some people are still allergic to them. It is cat dander not cat hair, that most people are allergic to. Washing your cat and keeping your place vaccumed can cut down on reactions. Sphinx may look a bit scary, but according to the research I’ve done, they are very affectionate and even like to play in the water. I really miss my cat, but my daughter and I have reasonably severe allergies to them and we just can’t get another regular kitty.
Be kind and settle for a pet other than a cat. Forcing someone to suffer allergies doesn’t say you care.
You don’t mention your SO’s level of reaction. If I’m around friends’ cats or dogs, I get runny eyes, an itchy throat and the sniffles. OTC allergy meds take care of it. After I’ve lived with a cat for a while, I lose a lot of my sensativity to that cat. Not to all cats, just to my cat.
If your SO gets the sniffles around cats, you might want to try it. If it’s a serious reaction, it might not be worth it.
Is totally shaving the cat completely out of the question?
Wonder if that’s vet recommended.
Actually, Sphynx cats can be *more * allergenic than some of the furry varieties. As others have pointed out, it’s the dander, not the fur, that most people are allergic to. Since Sphynxes have no hair to catch the dander, it tends to flake off more readily than it does on furry cats.
For that reason, shaving the cat probably wouldn’t help either (plus it would make the cat look ridiculous, and why would you want a ridiculous looking, humiliated cat anyway?) 
The shots do work, btw. The spouse is allergic to cats but he really wanted them too, so he went through the treatment–even now, he has to go in every couple of weeks to get a shot, but it’s less often than it used to be back when he started (when IIRC it was two or three times a week). We have five cats and have had varying numbers of them for the last 8 years, so it seems to be doing the trick.
According to post #12, the length of the hair is irrelevant.
That sounds about like what she gets. This is the kind of thing I am secretly hoping will happen, I just don’t know how likely it is.
If there were a way to make it workable with a minor amount of discomfort in the short term, I don’t think its cruel & unusual. She even likes cats, and would like to not be allergic to them.
This is the kind of info I am looking for, thanks. I like the idea of shots but not if she has to keep doing them every couple of weeks. So I guess that is out.
I feel like an ass! I didn’t read the whole thread as you can undoubtedly tell.
My boss’s husband is allergic, but then, he’s allergic to half the world, apparently. So he takes meds anyway and they have a cat (HIS cat, mind you. ;))
It might help if you (instead of your SO) take on the cleaning duties where you’re likely to encounter a lot of cat hair, or hire someone to do that sort of cleaning for you every couple weeks or so. Dusting and vacuuming would fall under this category. You could work out some sort of arrangement where she does chores like mopping the kitchen floor or cleaning the bathrooms where there’s going to be less cat hair around.
Have her try different allergy meds until she finds one that works. I find that Zyrtec is the only non-decongestant one that my allergies don’t just laugh at. (Zyrtec recently went over-the-counter) It’s not such a big deal if you’re also allergic to something you just can’t avoid (like me with lawn grass), so you have to take meds anyway.
I don’t know about hypoallergenic, but we think one of our feline overlords is a Korat mix, and they’re certainly cute and sweet. She can meow, but very rarely does- she usually communicates by making little cooing or squeaking noises. A warning, though- Korats are very good at bending their humans to their will. Our suspected Korat mix (we got her from a shelter, but she has the look, unusual fur texture, and voice of a Korat) likes to be petted while she eats. She managed to get us to do this even though it hurt our backs to bend over or squat down to do it. When we moved to our house and had room, we got a card table where the cats’ food sits, so that now we can pet her while she eats without bending or squatting. She’s not nearly as noisy as our Siamese mix, but she’s at least as good at getting her way.