Allergy Consumer Review Issue #34

By Mercia Tapping

Naturally, if we were sane and rational about our allergies, we would stay away from anything that makes us sick. Many of us, however, are not sane and rational about pets and indeed one of my screening questions when I was single was "Are you allergic to cats?"

I never wanted to have to make the choice between my spouse and my cats. Besides, the cats would always win out. So by a cruel twist of fate, AFTER I got married and after a whole lifetime with cats, I found out I was allergic to them, with a 7 out of 9 scale rating.

I want to be honest at the outset of this article. If I did not have cats, I would probably always wake up in the morning with a completely clear head. I would never sneeze around the house or experience mild sinus pressure. My eyes would never itch after I bury my head in their fur. BUT I would miss out on an important part of my life. My cat allergy symptoms are never gone completely, but they are manageable. Very manageable.

If you are super allergic to cats consider immunization. See our Immunotherapy FAQ by Dr Spector.

As yet there are no allergy-free cats or one-shot cat vaccines, although both are the subject of research.

Above all, be sensible. I get letters from people who have anywhere from 10-17 cats and land in the hospital several times a year with severe asthmatic attacks. With more cats, there is more allergen to handle. Less is better.

So here is an updated version of my original article.

1. No more cats sleeping on the bed. Sorry, this is a small price to pay for allergy relief. If you get your symptoms under control by all means invite them back, but give yourself a break while you are trying to abate your symptoms.

2. Close the bedroom door to try and keep the cat allergen down in the bedroom. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary from allergens. So tempt your cats to sleep elsewhere during the day.

3. Wash all bedding in 140°F hot water at least twice monthly. This eliminates both dust mites and cat allergen (because we know some of you will still let them sneak up on the bed).

4. Vacuum up cat allergen with a high grade HEPA vacuum cleaner twice weekly. Vacuum the walls, carpet, flooring, chairs, and furniture...everywhere. Use the hand tools on the vacuum. We use a Miele vacuum cleaner at home for quick pick-ups and a central vacuum for the rest. Cat allergen particles are very small and invasive so you really have to do a thorough job. Good hand tools on your vacuum cleaner are the answer here.

5. Use high-end HEPA air purifiers starting with the bedroom. Since cat allergen is so difficult to remove a good HEPA filter is essential. Personally, I have found that the liberal use of high-grade HEPA filters running 24 hours a day is the key to my success. When we have tested our air at home with a particulate counter, the allergen levels was very low indeed. We do use a bit of extra electricity, but it is worth it.

We use several HEPA filters all over our house. A Blueair purifier in the bedroom because it is so quiet. A Whirlpool Whispure in the family room/home office. An IQAir HEPA filter in the rest of the house. When it comes time to change any of the pre-filters, it is clear they capture a lot of cat hair. My furnace filter is also visibly capturing large amounts of cat hair when we wash it. If we had a basement, we would use a Clarifier air purifier because of its ultra violet mold killing properties which would also kill cat proteins.

The important thing to remember about cat allergen is the constant high rate of recontamination (because you have cats running around the house!). When my husband has an allergic patient come to the house, we use one of the HEPA filters on high, to clear the air within a one to two hour period. It works like a charm. No passive system without a fan, which relies on natural air convection in a room can clear the air really fast. HEPA filtration systems may be noisy and expensive to maintain, but when push comes to shove, when you are in need of fast relief, a good HEPA filter will do it for you.

Remember this basic fact about cat allergens. They need to be airborne and you need to breathe them in for you to have an allergic reaction to them. Cat allergen is very small so it remains suspended in the air longer. That is why I personally have multiple air purifiers in my home.

6. If you have sinus problems because of your cats, use a Grossan nasal irrigator and clean out the allergens in your nostrils on a daily basis. This alone will reduce your absorption of allergens by at least fifty percent. The Grossan irrigator has been the subject of a great deal of research, and has been found to be extremely effective assisting with sinusitis and allergen reduction. Irrigation is an harmless procedure and sounds much worse than it actually is. Information can be found at Hydromedonline.com.

7. After you pet the cats, wash your hands afterwards to remove allergens. Do not rub your eyes afterwards. When I forget, my eyes can itch for hours.

8. Some people wash their cats to reduce the amount of cat allergen that is released from their cat in to the air, but there seems to be conflicting research about its effectiveness. A well-known brand of a liquid, Allerpet, which you can be applied to your cats' coat, is available from your local veterinarian. Alternatively, you can get a micro fiber cloth (which you keep specially for this task) and just damp rub down the cats coats to rid of visible dander. I find this helpful. Never in a million years would my Siamese cats subject themselves to a bath, but a cloth wipe down is tolerated by them.

9. Using a vapor steam cleaner to clean your home in addition to vacuuming, is now proven by research to be extremely helpful in killing off the cat proteins/dander which are embedded in your carpets and upholstery. We are great fans of steam cleaners. They really do provide a chemical-free way of cleaning and killing dust mites, bacteria, mold spores, and cat allergen.

10. Even if you do all the above, you probably will not reduce the allergen even in your bedroom more than fifty to seventy five percent. The only way to get a better result than that is to over-pressurize a room, such as a bedroom. Frank Hames from IQAir says if you do that, you could make your bedroom a real sanctuary and dramatically reduce all allergens in the bedroom. This is also the answer for people who want fresh air coming in from the outside during the allergy season. IQAir offers positive air pressure kits to achieve this result.

In conclusion, as I have said before, keeping a cat when you have allergies takes a concerted effort, and is only for those people like myself who are nutty enough about their cats to go to all this trouble.

Good luck!

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