1 post tagged “cat allergy”

Yes so the move is finally complete...almost. There are still 2 boxes to be unpacked and an extra television in the lounge that no-one seems to be in a hurry to move, including me.  My roommate came with a cat.  Which is great.  What's not so great is that I am allergic to cats. 

allergy inducing

Some allergy background: In September last year I got myself a kitten from our local SPCA and ended up with the most awful everywhere-all over body-itchiness.  My doctor confirmed that the cause was most definitely the introduction of a new cat into my home.

Back to the story: Here's the bit that confuzzles me. I am not allergic to my roommate's cat.  There were a few moments when I thought the onslaught of the itchiness was upon me... but it's been almost 10 days and I'm fine.  And so I did the smart thing and took my quest to Google.

What I found out: Cat hair is what folk are allergic to, more specifically the saliva on the cat's hair.  And wait for it... more specifically the protein in the saliva. Got it?  People tend to be less allergic to female cats than male ones. Why? for a really complex scientificy reason.

Cat fancier

Aha! Guess what: My roommate's cat is female and the cat I got last year was male. So the scientists were correct.  People are more likely to be allergic to male cats than female one's as my survey of 1:1 confirms.