CAT SCRATCH FEVER
Living with pets and allergies
I
t took Ashley Middleton almost one
year after a car hit her beloved kitty
before she and her husband considered
getting another cat. But nearing Christmas
of 2006, the couple felt the time had come.
At Greenhill Humane Society, they fell for
a bluish-grey longhaired cat with gold eyes.
While they waited for Greenhill to evaluate
adoption paperwork, Middleton — a Great
Clips hairstylist — and her husband, Jay,
talked about cat names over beers.
Middleton sipped a Naughty Nellie.
It was the perfect name for the new, feisty
fluffball the Middletons brought home.
Nellie fit right in: She was spunky and socia-
ble. She played with the dog, Boo (and swat-
ted his snout if he crowded her), and she
soon found her favorite spot on the couple’s
bed at night. But in the nighttime, Middleton
started having problems breathing.
“I would lie down to go to sleep and I
would start sneezing and my throat would
close up,” she says. After a few weeks of her
suffering with puffy eyes and asthmatic
symptoms, her husband suggested she might
be allergic to Nellie. “No way!” Middleton
remembers saying to him. “That couldn’t be
it.” After all, she grew up with cats.
But allergies to animals are highly indi-
vidual and variable and can come and go
during a person’s lifetime, say allergists.
Children can outgrow allergies or be misdi-
agnosed as “prone to colds,” but adults can
develop allergies at any time.
About 15 percent of Americans, or 10
million people, are allergic to their pets,
according to the American Academy of
Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. So what
is it about our cuddly companions that make
some people itch and sneeze and wheeze?
The notorious culprit dander, or sloughed-
off dead skin cells, is often to blame. But the
most intense allergic reactions result from
glycoproteins secreted by glands in animals’
skin. The most potent such protein is Fel d1
BY NICOLE FANCHER
— short for felis domesticus — and is pro-
duced exclusively by cats.
Dr. Patricia Ashley of Eugene’s
Veterinary Allergy and Dermatology clinic
says it’s no wonder cats often incite the
most severe allergic reactions — they
groom themselves all day long. Cats dis-
perse more dander and protein allergen than
dogs or other furry critters. Fel d1 is
extremely pervasive: It can become air-
borne, it can persist for years embedded in
carpet and furniture and it is even detected
in catless homes from tracked-in allergen.
Still, many allergic pet owners would
rather suffer through sniffles than give up their
animals. The website for the Humane Society
of the United States says, “An estimated one-
third of Americans who are allergic to cats
(about two million people) live with at least
one cat in their household anyway.”
For Middleton, the sneezing and itching
and asthma were becoming unbearable. Her
husband persuaded her to see an allergist.
At the clinic, the doctor administered a
prick-test, poking her forearm at eight dif-
ferent points to test for several allergies.
Minutes later, sure enough, Middleton
began itching furiously and was horrified to
find an enormous red welt on her arm,
along with a smaller welt. The verdict:
Middleton tested highly allergic to cats and
dust mites. She couldn’t believe it.
“I was afraid I would have to get rid of
Nellie.”
Instead, the allergist suggested the cou-
ple banish animals from the bedroom. In
addition, they washed their bed sheets in hot
water and covered their pillows and mat-
tress in special vinyl encasements designed
to block dust mites and dander. But they
soon had a new problem: Feeling jilted after
getting the boot, Nellie went somewhat
berserk, scratching the door at night, racing
around the house in a spastic rampage. “She
was like a child acting out,” Middleton says.
The cat needed affection, Middleton told her
husband. Besides, she couldn’t bear the
woeful meowing and dog whining at night
any longer. The animals came back in, and
so did Middleton’s allergies.
She turned to medication. Her allergist
started her with Singulair to address her aggra-
vated asthma. But after little improvement, she
added a daily Claritin. And that seemed to do
the trick. Now Middleton can cuddle Nellie
without fearing an allergy attack.
Many allergic pet-owners medicate with
the same antihistamines used to alleviate
common pollen allergies and hay fever.
There are also homeopathic medications
such as BioAllers, which claims to actually
help boost the body’s natural defense sys-
tem long-term instead of merely suppress-
ing allergy symptoms. Allergen injections
are another option, where allergists essen-
tially concoct a vaccine using animal aller-
gen from the sufferer’s own pet.
Pet websites encourage allergic pet own-
ers to make their homes less susceptible to
dander collection. The Humane Society’s
website and About.com “Cat” section pro-
vide suggestions such as using HEPA (high
efficiency particulate air) air purifiers,
HEPA vacuum cleaners, replacing carpeted
areas with wood or tile and replacing cur-
tains with vinyl blinds. There are also some
low-cost, no-brainer solutions: Wash sheets,
comforters, etc. with hot water (140 degrees
F), bathe and brush your pets regularly to
minimize loose dander and designate pet-
free rooms. The emphatic overall message:
You don’t have to get rid of your pets.
But in recent years, many prospective pet
buyers have chosen another option altogeth-
er: “hypoallergenic” pets. According to many
breeders associations, certain breeds of cats
and dogs secrete less animal allergen and
generate less dander than others — “hypo”
means less, not non. Poodles, bichon frises,
Portuguese water dogs and terriers are sup-
LAURIE HAAG
Allergy-inducing cats shouldn’t sleep on beds. But who’s telling?
posedly less likely to incite allergic attacks.
For cats, the big-eared Devon Rex and
Siberian breeds are touted as hypoallergenic.
But the term “hypoallergenic” is con-
tentious. How can one breed be less allergy
causing than another when a person’s aller-
gies are so individual? According to Dr.
Ashley, there is no such thing as a hypoal-
lergenic breed.
“Different [dog or cat] breeds have differ-
ent qualities to their skin cells,” Ashley says.
“What we react to may be in higher concen-
trations in one dog [or cat] than another.”
Likewise, two allergic individuals can have
entirely different reactions to the same dog.
Despite scientific skepticism, the grow-
ing popularity of “hypoallergenic pets” is
undeniable. Even biotechnology companies
have joined the bandwagon. Last fall, the
Delaware-based biotech company Allerca
announced its production of “the world’s
first scientifically proven hypoallergenic
cats.” At just $5,950, these “lifestyle pets”
supposedly have undetectable allergen lev-
els. Allerca claims to have bred its cats by
selecting for those with a natural diver-
gence in the gene that produces Fel d1. The
process is totally natural … ish. However, a
September 2006 BBC News report does
quote Allerca’s Steve May as saying, “there
is really no modification of the gene.”
Really? We may never know; that infor-
mation is proprietary, the company says in
its FAQ section. But Allerca kittens are sell-
ing like crazy. The company had them on
backorder starting in 2004, and the sneeze-
free kitties are so popular that Allerca has
had to stop taking orders for one year
“effective August 31st, 2007,” just to
increase its breeding pool. By the time this
EW issue is out, we’ll only have one week
left to get those Allerca kittens.
But some, like Ashley Middleton, could
care less about Allerca; after all, she’s got
her Nellie. With medication, lifestyle mod-
ification and tolerance for some sneezing,
pet owners with allergies keep on lovin’
their furry companions.
Ashley
Middleton
and Nellie
AUGUST 23, 2007
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