Another question

[renure]

First I would like to thank you for the ideas on my guinea pig and new cat question. Already Lupe is beginning to be less interested in them.

Now for a new question. Let me preface by saying we already have 2 dogs (lab & lab mix), an 11 yr cat, 2 guinea pigs and some fish. All our animals were adopted (including the fish - a local carnival give away). Anyway we got our older cat as a stray kitten in our neighborhood and although I was never a "cat" person he just moved in & is part of family. We also have 3 kids (12, 10, & 8) Our youngest son has been having sneezing and allergy problems since Lupe (our new 1 yr female black cat) moved in. He never had any problems with our other cat who actually sleeps occasionally in his room. Of course our dr. feels that we should ban all pets etc.. but we have had him (the kid) tested and he is not allergic to cats. However, I did bathe Lupe and am interested in other thoughts on this. Our dr. said that eventually you can have too many pets and that can set off an allergy where there was none before.

 

[sweet72947]

Over a LONG period of time repeated exposure can trigger allergies (like my vet who is now allergic to guinea pigs, but that doesn't stop him from vetting them), but I don't think that's the case with your kid. If it was the other cat would be triggering the allergy as well. Maybe the allergy is to the shampoo used on the cat?

 

[renure]

I used the same shampoo on both cats. Although I admit I use less of it on the older cat since he's strong and it takes all my will to bathe him.

I was always under the impression that kids who grew up with pets (and we've had the dogs & cat before we had the child) were less likely to develop a reaction.