We're keeping the cat.’ Surviving pet allergies

Despite wheezing and sneezing, many refuse to give up a furry friend

When Doug Familia told his wife, Nancy, he wanted to buy a cat for his stepson, she balked. Nancy knew that 8-year-old Anthony wanted a kitten, but she also knew that her husband had severe allergies to cats.

“Don’t bring a cat home if it’s going to be a problem,” she warned. Doug assured her that he was going to buy a Siberian, a breed that the pet store had advertised as “hypoallergenic.”

But within an hour of the kitten’s arrival at their Yonkers, N.Y., home, 41-year-old Doug was coughing and wheezing. His eyes became itchy and teary. He could barely breathe. 

“What are we going to?” he asked Nancy. “I don’t know what you’re going to do,” she replied, “but we’re keeping the cat.”

Because Doug already had become attached to the cat, he quickly made an appointment with an allergist. Soon he was taking antihistamines and regular shots to desensitize him to the feline's dander. The therapy worked so well that these days Doug barely sniffles when his fluffy friend pops up on his lap to cuddle.

Americans love their pets and many are loath to part with their furry friends — even if it means coping with allergic reactions that include hacking, wheezing and watery eyes. Warnings of health risks don’t deter them, even though studies have shown that nasal allergies to substances like pet dander and pollen can hike the risk of asthma.

Up to 30 percent of people have some kind of allergic reaction to cats and dogs, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Allergies to cats are twice as common as reactions to dogs, experts say. While the best treatment for pet allergies is to remove the animal from the home, most allergists resist telling patients it’s time for Fluffy to go, at least until they’ve tried all other options.

“If we tell them to get rid of the pet, they’ll get rid of the allergist,” says Dr. David Resnick, director of the allergy division at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. “Most people do not remove their pets — ever.”

Sometimes people manage to get over the allergy just by dint of surviving constant exposure to dander and hair, but it's unclear how often that strategy works. A recent study that found that kids who grew up in a home with both a cat and a dog were less likely to develop allergies. So, if you want to have children and pets, it might make sense to get the cat or dog first, says allergy expert Todd Green, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.