Over the past few years, there has been a clear tendency towards the growth of the number of people with increased sensitivity of the immune system of the body to various perceived as harmless and harmless for people substances (plant pollen, some food products, medications, etc.) At the moment, cases of allergic reactions are found in every fourth inhabitant of the planet, and the most frequent cases of allergic reactions to cats are found in approximately every tenth.
Unfortunately, cat allergy is also a common disease that affects both adults and children. If an adult, knowing the peculiarities of his or her body would never risk having a cat, then parents learn about the presence of an allergy to the animal in children only after the appearance of a fluffy beauty in the house. In addition, a cat can live in the house long before the child’s birth, and the allergy manifests itself in the baby immediately after arriving home from the maternity hospital.
What Causes Cat Allergies
In many instances, allergies are genetic, but even here, random materials can cause an allergic reaction in parents and offspring. This opposes the classic perception of an allergic reaction; people do not react to cat fur but to Felis Domesticus Allergen proteins found in cat’s saliva, urine, and skin flakes. Not only the cat’s fur but the tiny particles descend on the floor, furniture, baby’s crib, etc. Moreover, they can be expelled from the body allergens, and when a cat is often taken out, it can pick up pollen, mold spores, and other similar things on the paws and cover itself with them. Besides, an allergy can also develop to the animal’s food or the type of litter used in the house.
Symptoms and Signs of Cat Allergy in Children
An allergic reaction of the body to a cat can occur almost immediately after touching it or several hours later, even after being in the same room with the animal. Signs of an Allergy in a child to a cat can easily be confused with symptoms of colds or infectious diseases since the main manifestations of the body’s reaction to substances of an antigenic nature are:
- Redness of the mucous membrane of the eyes, lacrimation.
- After five to ten minutes of contact, allergens can lead to sneezing and watering of the mouth, similar to a running nose.
- Difficulty breathing and a dry cough may occur.
- After playing with a cat, severe itching and redness of the adjacent areas of skin occur in the areas of scratches and bites.
- Lethargy, drowsiness, loss of strength.
- Redness and itching in the eye and nose area.
- Skin rashes.
A child may develop symptoms of cat allergy at any age, but most often occurs between 3 and 7 years of age. In some children, allergies develop gradually, and the first signs appear only after several years of contact with a pet. Recent studies have shown that children who have been in contact with a pet since the first months of life are less susceptible to the disease as they grow older, which is explained by the child’s body’s habituation and adaptation to the biological substances released.
Diagnostics
Cat Allergies in children do not have any specific symptoms or signs. Therefore, only an allergist can accurately determine what substance causes an allergic reaction after conducting allergy diagnostics (skin tests and blood tests). The skin test method, namely the scarification method, allows for manipulations to be performed almost painlessly for the child: a shallow scratch is applied to the skin and moistened with a small amount of solution containing potential allergens (up to five types). The body’s reaction appears within 15-20 minutes; if an irritant is present in the solution, the skin’s redness in the scratch area is observed.
You can try to determine what exactly caused this manifestation of the body’s immune system by experimenting by temporarily handing the cat over to relatives or friends and observing the baby’s body’s reaction. If the symptoms and signs of allergy do not disappear, then the cat has nothing to do with it, and the cause of the disease lies elsewhere. The animal can then be returned to the house with a clear conscience.
It is better to buy a kitten together with children. This will not only allow the baby to feel involved in such a significant event and choose “his” kitten but also allow parents to observe the child’s body reaction to direct contact with the animal. However, suppose the child does not manifest an allergic reaction until taking the kitten. In that case, it is necessary to coordinate with the breeder that, even if there is no reaction after a short stay, they can return the animal, as allergies can develop after longer contact with the pet.
How to deal with cat allergies, and is there a treatment
Sadly, cure and medicine for Allergy can not be said to have been invented, and the use of antihistamines is mostly to combat allergy symptoms which the action is directed towards eradicating signs like itching, rashes on the skin, inflammation of the mucous membranes among others. Samples of such approaches to the disease are illustrated by the fact that if a child has failures and risks of an allergy to a cat, then the only way to fight it is to avoid communicating with the pet. Because the option of parents who are going to buy a pet appears in the list of alternative solutions, you may choose a puppy or another pet, in which case the risk of an allergic reaction is reduced several times. But there are cases when the cat has been living in the house for years; it is a family member, and there is no possibility of turning it over to strangers or worse – a shelter. In such a situation, you should take a set of measures that will help reduce the concentration of allergens in the house to a minimum level:
- Furniture that collects hair and other allergens (carpets, bedspreads, blankets) should be eliminated. Ideally, fabric products in the upholstery should be replaced with leather ones.
- Cleanse and dust frequently, including in the hard-to-reach areas, clean oilily with water daily, and wash curtains with drapes and bed linen as often as possible.
- Bathe your cat at least once a week.
- Comb the fur daily, and do this in the absence of children.
- Replace the litter in the tray as often as possible, in fact, after the cat’s visitation to the litter tray. Purchase a closed tray and keep it in a locked area.
- Purchase an air purifier and open all the doors and windows to freshen all the rooms.
- Minimize the child’s interactions with the cat and do not let him interact with the animal at all.
- You should never put the cat’s food dish, bed, or toys in the baby’s room, and the child should not be left sleeping with the cat.
- Antihistamines should always be present at home for immediate use when the need arises.
If a child with a cat allergy has swelling of the larynx, allergic asthma, or any other life-threatening condition, then it does not matter how careful one is while having a cat at home; the risks involved in treating serious diseases overpower the benefits of keeping a cat.
Hypoallergenic cat breeds – myth or reality?
The ones searching for an animal that does not trigger allergies must be disheartened at this point – there are no non-allergic cats. At the same time, the level of concentration of the irritant depends on many factors; for example, the following animals are much less dangerous for children with allergies:
- Cats that have been castrated or sterilized before puberty.
- Kittens produce much smaller amounts of allergens, but their amount increases with age.
- Cats produce less irritants than male cats.
- Animals with light-colored fur or no fur.
Often, representatives of hairless breeds (Don and Canadian Sphynxes, Peterbalds, Lykoi, and others), as well as cats with short curly hair (Cornish Rexes, Devon Rexes), are also considered hypoallergenic. This is not entirely true; such cats also produce allergens, but the amount of Felis Domesticus Allergen protein is slightly less, and it is much easier to maintain the constant cleanliness of their skin.
