• LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    I likely think there was something she would emit, some sort of fur particulate or something else because she loved sitting on my lap and just being right in my face and I was fine. Only literally being in the house with her would mess me up, and after like half an hour outside I’d be okay again.

    This lack of direct correlation made me think I was just sick for the longest time until I connected the dots that time outside made me feel immediately better.

    She was an odd cat. Fur was unreal silky, extremely impressive even for a cat, and also quite long, and the previous owner said how they’ve never really had to trim it or do anything to her coat at all because she maintained it herself really well. I’ve a gut feeling it’s connected to that.

    • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      Most people are allergic to cat saliva, not the hair (some are allergic to the hair too though). If the cat was maintaining herself well, she was likely licking herself a lot, which could have contributed to your allergic reaction. There are sprays/washes you can buy to reduce the affect, and I think maybe even a specialized food (probably very expensive). But, I mean, that’s a lot for effort. If you had the cat for a few weeks and it was unbearable, it’s not worth you suffering. Allergies can be hell, they make you miserable. But in the future if you feel the pull to adopt or get a cat, the stuff I mentioned might help. Or even fostering, you might come upon a cat you get along with well allergy wise and can adopt it once living with it for a while and find a match. But there are other pets which are equally nice, rabbits, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, dogs, ferrets. Or others alternatives like snakes iguanas tarantulas and so on.

      It’s actually easy to tell whether you’ll have a reaction by going to the store or humane society and asking to hold them for 5 to 10 minutes.