What was the outcome of raising your child around a cat from birth with regards to allergies?
Posted: September 27th, 2009 | Filed under: Cat Health | 4 Comments »
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With my first son we had a cat when he was born & continued to have one. Everything was fine, then around 5 yrs old he started getting allergies. We had him tested & he had a slight allergy to cats & is allergic to ragweed. I wouldln’t say he became allergic because we had a cat since he was born, but who knows. I don’t see a problem with either choice, as long as you keep the cat out of your child’s room at night until she gets older – don’t want the cat to lay too close to her face.
I raised my boys around different animals and they haven’t shown any allergies to the animals there have been around. I was also raised around cats and dogs and birds and have no allergies to the types I was around. I am actually allergic to breeds of dogs that I had no exposure to until later in life. I asked the pediatrician about having the animals around the boys and the Dr said that studies do show that early exposure to the animals can help babies build up immunities to the animals so their dander (which is actually what causes the allergic reaction) doesn’t cause an allergic reaction or if they do have an allergy it won’t be as severe.
Raising children around pets actually makes them less likely to have allergies because their immune system becomes accustomed to the dander. I was raised around pets and I will raise my own children around pets some day. I have no allergies, and unless your child starts to show signs of allergies, don’t even worry about it. =)
I was raised around cats from birth and while i have allergies, i dont have one to cats… we didnt have a cat when she was born , but we got one when she was a year old.. she developed allergy symptoms and we had her tested.. she was allergic, but i couldnt get rid of my cat.. so we kept it.. she is 11 now and has had no allergies since about 2 years old.. we tested her again because of a food allergy, so we know.. Just as you would give an allergy shot.. which is small doses of the allergy to build ur ammune system, having the cat around boosted hers.. no shits needed.. its just like any other childhood vaccine.. but if the cat is around until her adulthood, tell her to get one when she moves out.. if not, she will develop allergies to it again… and btw.. i wouldnt have her tested unless its a life or death situation or allergy is really bad… like asthma.. its painful for the kid and plain torture on the parent!! Good luck!