My girlfriend got a cat last week, and I have quickly come to realize that I am allergic to cats.
Growing up, I didn’t have any pets in the house.
My mom was allergic to dogs, so we didn’t have dogs, cats, guinea pigs, or even fish. I didn’t spend much time with people that had cats, so I never realized that they might be a trigger for my allergies. Last week when my girlfriend got a cat, she called me over to see the cute feline. I was only in her apartment for 30 minutes and I started sneezing. I sneezed six or seven times. I thought it was dust but the sneezing continued the rest of the night and my throat started to get scratchy and itchy. I never felt those types of symptoms in the past, so I decided to look them up online and I found out that I might be allergic to cats. I made an appointment with my primary health care physician next week and I am going to have a series of allergy tests performed. If I am allergic to the cat, then I guess my girlfriend is going to have to get an indoor air purifier to get rid of the pet dander. I won’t be able to visit and stay overnight if I can’t breathe. A friend of mine has terrible allergies and he had to buy an air purifier to help with the grass outside. His allergies are way worse than mine, but the cats really do cause problems for me.