Has anybody had any success with finding a way for a cat and a cat allergy sufferer to be together?

It looks as if my boyfriend is allergic to my cat. At the moment we live separately but are planning to live together. I have ordered a steam cleaner and plan to clean the house, wash bedding and the cat, etc., before he visits. I have also ordered a treatment for the cat which is supposed to make him less allergenic. I've also seen a nasal spray that my boyfriend could use. Is there anything else I could try?

I know the sensible solution would be to rehome the cat but I can't bear the thought of doing that. I would rather explore every other possible avenue first.

I'm allergic to cats and I live with three (and there are plenty of other people on this forum who are also allergic). Your boyfriend will probably suffer from his allergies for a bit when he first starts living with your cat, but the vast majority of people build up a resistance to it, and the symptoms wear off after a few weeks.

I'd recommend Piriton antihistamine tablets to control the symptoms. It's what I use when my cats are moulting and the allergens are worse than usual, and I know other people on here say it's the most effective treatment for them as well.

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Proud Mummy to:

Sam (born June 1999, found August 1999)
Milly (born May 1999, adopted September 1999)
Eva (born 2010, adopted us August 2011)

i had my last cat for 10 years, my ex-partner has a wee alergy to her, it never bothered me until about 7 years later, i got Chemosis one time (google images it)

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I have an allergy but has calmed down now after a few years exposure took around 6 months with each new cat to flare up and calm down to point I now only react if I rub my face on them.

with boyfriend moving in - ban the cat from the bedroom - by minimising the contact with your bedding BF can recover over night - once allergy dies down can relax on that rule.

Thank you so much. That's fantastic news about building up a resistance. I didn't know that could happen.

The cat sleeps with me, so I will have to tackle that. He likes to sleep with people rather than on a cat bed, but I suppose I can get him used to sleeping alone.

My cat Merson was allergic to my last boyfriend so the boyfriend had to go.



Oops, just realised I've read the OP incorrectly........

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My hubby grew up with cats but became allergic when he went away to uni, presumably because he wasn't exposed to them often any more. He isn't seriously allergic but they caused irritating symptoms. It didn't stop him wanting cats (thank goodness) and now we don't let them sleep in our bedroom to minimise problems but on the whole he has built up tolerance and it's only an occasional problem.

When i got my cats all I had to do was look at them and i started sneezing. I started using Beconase nasal spray for a while.Now I dont need it.

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Black with white around his private area



Black Tortoiseshell




R.I.P Patch my well behaved boy dog
R.I.P. Abby and Rebel my beautifull litter sister cats

I've always grown up with cats but a year ago I developed an allergy to cats cats! (and I had 6 at the time).

Of course my idiotic doctor told me to 'get rid of the cats for my own sake...', so i promptly told him to sod off and thanks for the useless advice! A second doctor who was much more sympathetic told me i'd be fine and to take an allergy tablet...so off i marched to chemist! I tried alot of tablets but the ones I found worked best for me is anything Loratadine based (Clarityn or Boots own make!) - one a day, non drowsy and now i hardly suffer

Its typical I should develop an allergy after owning 6 cats, but honestly, its never made me think i should get rid of them, I've just learnt to manage it and live with it and its right that you do build up a resistance to it

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My little angels....Alfie, Bella, Barney, William, Baxter and Audrey


Rest in peace Barney my angel, i miss you every day

Yes, a daily dose of antihistamine like Clarityn is not harmful and works well.