Toddler and cat

Piper101

Hi all!

Advice would be really appreciated. We got a 5 month old cat/kitten from the <snip> yesterday. She's a lovely little thing but very very timid and spending half the time hiding and the other half being petted on my lap.

Our timing was way off because my child came down with a terrible cold the same day. Now I know she was coughing and had a runny nose anyway but now her eyes are streaming. I don't know if it is part of the cold or whether it's an allergy and the other symptoms are masking it. She loves the cat but I don't want to have the cat settle and then have to return her because the little one is allergic. The poor cat has been through enough having been dumped in the woods ( who does this??)

I would really appreciate any advice you could give

Thanks in advance

doubter

get your toddler allergy tested.

Piper101

Do you know where I can do this? Will a GP's office do it?

Rips

Just be careful, I would think your GP will be dismissive at best and consign it to an allergy too quickly.

I know someone who was tested and got rid of pets, only to find out later the allergy was something else.

What you are doing at the moment is no different to foster, so don't feel bad about unsettling the cat. Any day out of the rescue is a day she has more room to move around and more attention. See if the child settles down. I would ring the rescue [mod edit] and inform them, so they are prepared and they know that you are trying it out and tell them you will give it a few more days / week.

Sneezing is typical of an allergy to cats. Or she could have a mild allergy which is being exacerbated by her cold. I had bad allergies symptoms this year along with other illness, not sure why, when I don't usually suffer from any environmental allergens.

braddun

don't leave cat and child alone

Piper101

Rips wrote: »

Just be careful, I would think your GP will be dismissive at best and consign it to an allergy too quickly.

I know someone who was tested and got rid of pets, only to find out later the allergy was something else.

What you are doing at the moment is no different to foster, so don't feel bad about unsettling the cat. Any day out of the rescue is a day she has more room to move around and more attention. See if the child settles down. I would ring the rescue [mod edit] and inform them, so they are prepared and they know that you are trying it out and tell them you will give it a few more days / week.

Sneezing is typical of an allergy to cats. Or she could have a mild allergy which is being exacerbated by her cold. I had bad allergies symptoms this year along with other illness, not sure why, when I don't usually suffer from any environmental allergens.

Thank you! I informed the shelter and they have said that they will take the cat back if needs be. We've said we'll give it a few more days and reevaluate. The shelter lady said something similar, that the gp would automatically blame the cat.

I was thinking if it's a mild allergy she may build up an immunity over the next few days with a bit of luck. The lady in the shelter said if there's no improvement to let them know soon because a pet allergy is very uncomfortable.

She was sneezing last night along with the streaming eyes but she hasn't had as much contact with cat today as she was very under the weather (temp of 40.6 at one stage) and her eyes have been relatively fine. A few little red patches on the lids but that's it. Ugh! Hopefully it's nothing just a coincidence with the cold.

mymo

I'd give it a week to ten days at least, to let the cold run its course, then see how she is.
If she is allergic you can still give it a little more time (providing once over the cold her allergy isn't too bad),

My brother was allergic to most animals when we were kids, but our lovely doctor told us he'd build up an immunity, which would make allergies milder if not go away.

We had rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, rats, cats and dogs, and his allergies did get milder. Airing rooms, hoovering and cleaning up hair helped, keep cat out of bedrooms (he loved the cat so much he snuck her into his room and slept with the cat on the bed).
The symptoms got better, and while he was always slightly symptomatic around animals, he coped well and only used antihistamine when really bad. (He had hay fever too so both combined in summer required antihistamine)

SillyMangoX

I'd agree with what others have said about doctors being quick to blame animals for allergies. I was in hospital for a bad asthma flare up a few years ago and of course it automatically had to be my cats fault, despite the fact I'm a vet nurse, constantly around animals with no symptoms, and was living away in college where I had no contact with animals in 2 weeks. But of course it couldn't have been from the mouldy apartment I was living in, the only solution was to get rid of the cats. Needless to say I took no notice I'm just wondering would it be worth trying an antihistamine to see if your child's symptoms improve (if there are still symptoms after the cold runs its course) at least that way you would know if they were allergie symptoms rather than residual effects of the cold. Just ask a pharmacist before trying any medications.

boomerang

Good idea on the anti-histamine.

OP It's true about building up immunity through prolonged exposure. I'm allergic to cats and work with them full-time... I also now own two of my own! So long as I have continued exposure to them I'm perfect. It takes time for the allergy symptoms to abate in the beginning, but they certainly do.

Spaniel heaven

i am allergic to horses - cats - guinea pigs you name it. Ive got over most of them due to modern medicine and common sense but for the moment you might want to think about separating the child and the cats. Never hurts to air on the side of caution.

Piper101

Hello! Thanks everyone for the advice, quick update!

It wasn't an allergy at all just an immediate reaction but no more reactions in the days that followed or since. Little one loves cat, cat still not sure of little one. Cat is still a bit shy but we're hoping if we let her be she will slowly integrate herself into the family.

Nody

Piper101 wrote: »

Hello! Thanks everyone for the advice, quick update!

It wasn't an allergy at all just an immediate reaction but no more reactions in the days that followed or since. Little one loves cat, cat still not sure of little one. Cat is still a bit shy but we're hoping if we let her be she will slowly integrate herself into the family.

Get a toy like da bird (this is a knock off but works just as fine) that let you play with her with out being to close. Among the best ways you'll be able to help her build confidence as she'll be focused on the toy rather than the big scary humans (see it from her perspective, you're all huge!) while being out and about so to speak.

Pumpkinseeds

A family with a 3 year old and a 5 year old adopted our 5 month old foster kitten at the beginning of the year. She wasn't too sure about the 3 year old but she adapted to the 5 year old within the month and she was gradually letting the 3 year old get closer to her as time went on. It'll be fine, supervision and common sense are the key things. Now the kitten is a full grown cat enjoying her first Christmas in her forever home and you'd never know she'd ever been anywhere else.:)