Stupid Immune System

[mrissa]

It is not, in fact, the case that everyone we know has cats. It just seems like it sometimes.

I like cats. I like cats a good deal better than I like my hyperactive little immune system, in fact. (Have you ever tried petting my immune system? Well, don't.)

Comments

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

oh dear. did our kitty make your immune system kick in during the time you were over here yesterday?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

No, no. We went and saw some other people and would have liked to see them for longer, is all.

[palinade.livejournal.com]

I've always been allergic to cats, too. Sniffiles, wheezing, runny eyes, the feeling that cotton has completely and utterly filled all head cavities.

I don't know why, but people who live in cities seem to have cats. I haven't lived in the 'burbs since before I was a legal adult and never lived in the country, so tell me if it's mostly city-folk. Or maybe just kitty-lovers.

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. The "gee I'd love to chat longer but my head is swelling shut and full of goo now" syndrome. Been there. I can manage homes where the cats are allowed to roam but when people confine their cats 24/7 I have to be doped to the gills to cope.

Immune systems are squishy.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

It isn't mostly city-folk at all: country cats can be very, very useful as mousers.

I've known plenty of suburban cat-owners as well. I don't know if it's a higher proportion than in the city. I think very few people have dogs in apartments, so if people need other mammals around and live in an apartment, cats are the way to go unless they're allergic. But that's really the only skew I can think of, and only one of our friends falls into that category at this point.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Thankfully, I have the mildest allergies of anyone in the household.

Less thankfully, that means the other people in the household have to deal with allergies, too.

[ksumnersmith.livejournal.com]

Allergies, boo, hiss.

My recent discovery was Allegra. Allergy medication generally does nothing for me, but this stuff let me go about seven hours yesterday before the asthma started kicking in and kept the sniffling head-full-of-goo feeling to a minimum. (This means that there is hope for my continued ability to breathe over Christmas with the family!)

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

I could pet your immune system. I think I'd need an atomic force microscope to do it, though.

Allergies suck. I feel very lucky that I'm allergic mostly to plant pollens from plants most common in the Southeastern United States. Well, I've felt lucky ever since I stopped living in Florida.

[sraun]

I recognize those symptoms!

One thing that helps for me - being very careful where I sit down when I go to visit a household with cats. Wood, vinyl, leather - all good surfaces to sit on. On carpets, cloth covered chairs, etc. - bad surfaces. Wonderful fabric-covered comfy chairs or couches - very, very, VERY bad!

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

Can you get allergy shots?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I have not been motivated to find out yet.