Help me keep my cat

January 3, 2007 12:04 PM

My four month old seems to be having an allergic reaction to my cat. What options do I have that include keeping the kitty. More inside please.

Some background info: About six weeks ago my son got the sniffles which we thought represented his first cold. At this time he was on the perfect sleeping schedule of waking 1x/night for some food. However, the sniffles have not gone away and now he is constantly awaken by his clogged nasal passages.

We took him on his first trip away from home this weekend and almost immediately his congestion went away and his perfect sleeping schedule came back. In fact it was better than ever because he was consistently napping during the day as well. The only two differences I could come up with were the temperature and the lack of pets. I like to keep the house at about 62 at night while at home but on our vacation our accommodations were at about 70. When we got home, the sniffles came right back and his sleep schedule is all jacked up again. We called his pediatrician and she told us that it is unlikely that he has allergies already but to try keeping the pets out of the room he sleeps in. This is impossible because he sleeps in our bed and our pets (2 dogs 1 cat) sleep in our room. So much to our chagrin we tried putting him in a nursery last night with a humidifier to no avail. I’m considering buying an air purifier for his room and am looking for any other suggestions the hive may have.

posted by toomuch to health & fitness (33 comments total)

Since your return have the sniffles continued? You may also want to check for other allergens such as mold, pollen, etc... My understanding is the same as the pediatricians that allergies don't come along until later...
posted by Octoparrot at 12:09 PM on January 3, 2007

Sadly the sniffles have returned. We suggested taking him to an allergist but the pediatrician wanted to wait on that. I think she wants to see if putting him in his own room helps.
posted by toomuch at 12:21 PM on January 3, 2007

toomuch posted "What options do I have that include keeping the kitty."..."This is impossible because he sleeps in our bed and our pets (2 dogs 1 cat) sleep in our room."

I have no idea what's going on with your kid, but I'd suggest that you might want to expand your search for an answer. For instance, you might want to keep your child in your bed and have the pets sleep elsewhere. The two comments quoted above make it seem a bit like your first priority is your pets, and that your kid comes next. Are you seriously suggesting that keeping your cat is more important to you than mitigating your child's illness? If not, you might want to re-examine your presuppositions about what is and is not open to change. It may well have nothing to do with your pets, but if you're concerned you should wear out all the options.
posted by OmieWise at 12:22 PM on January 3, 2007

Wash all toys (particularly stuffed), blankets, apholstered furniture regularly to limit exposure to dust/animal hair. There are toys you can buy now that are "asthma friendly" and come with instructions on how to clean it (generally you freeze them and then wash them).
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:31 PM on January 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Giving up the pets is definitely an option. I am just curious to know if anyone has dealt with this kind of thing before and what worked for them. Suggestions like checking for other allergens are much more helpful than things like "you can't possibly be saying your pet is more important than your kid" and "wear out all the options". I am trying to find out what those options are that allow for keeping the pets before I take that last one.
posted by toomuch at 12:34 PM on January 3, 2007

I agree with the above suggestion that you make the animals sleep elsewhere in order to create a dander-free environment for your young child. Over time, as his immune system matures, you can slowly re-introduce your child to the animals. Afterall, children with animals at home tend to have less allergies.
posted by parilous at 12:34 PM on January 3, 2007

As an addendum, even if it is something else entirely, it will be necessary to limit your son's exposure to the animals. (If only to remove them from the list of suspects.) In addition, you may want to look into a dander-reducing spray for the carpet and other areas (like curtains) that can't necessarily be washed.
posted by parilous at 12:36 PM on January 3, 2007

toomuch writes "Suggestions like checking for other allergens are much more helpful than things like 'you can't possibly be saying your pet is more important than your kid' and 'wear out all the options'."

Yeah, well, I made my comment based on what you wrote, and it was only meant to point out that it seemed as if you'd already constructed some limits around what you were willing to try to help your kid. In that sense it was an answer aimed at getting you to think about whether you do actually have those limits, or whether they're simply present in what you wrote.
posted by OmieWise at 12:40 PM on January 3, 2007

Agreed. I should have mentioned that every option is on the table.
posted by toomuch at 12:43 PM on January 3, 2007

For heaven's sake, turn the heat up. Infants lose heat much more readily than adults, because they have a much higher surface to body volume ratio, particularly with regards to the head, and because their respiration rate is much higher, with respect to body volume, than an adult's rate. The CDC advises:

"Why are infants and older people most at risk for cold-related illness?

Infants lose body heat more easily than adults; additionally, infants can't make enough body heat by shivering. Infants less than one year old should never sleep in a cold room. Provide warm clothing and a blanket for infants and try to maintain a warm indoor temperature. If the temperature cannot be maintained, make temporary arrangements to stay elsewhere. In an emergency, you can keep an infant warm using your own body heat. If you must sleep, take precautions to prevent rolling on the baby. Pillows and other soft bedding can also present a risk of smothering; remove them from the area near the baby."

At a minimun, your baby should generally be in rooms at not less than 72° F for the first year of life, and preferably, a few degrees warmer. Keeping the baby's head covered when outside in cooler weather is vital, but head coverings indoors can be a big help in warding off drafts, or heat loss due to small amounts of moving air that are generally unnoticed by adults.
posted by paulsc at 1:01 PM on January 3, 2007

At a minimun, your baby should generally be in rooms at not less than 72° F for the first year of life, and preferably, a few degrees warmer.

I don't mean to be snarky, but that has as much validity as saying you caught a cold because you went outside after a shower and had wet hair.
posted by docpops at 1:11 PM on January 3, 2007

I kept the heat at about 70 last night and plan on making that the norm in the house. He was always covered with copius amounts of clothing/blanketing and slept in the same bed with us so there was the whole body heat thing but I certainly will keep the temperature up.
posted by toomuch at 1:17 PM on January 3, 2007

You need to conduct a thorough cleaning of your entire house. Shampoo the carpets, wash all the sheets, curtains, and washable toys, and wipe down the entire place for dust. Make sure you're not just scattering dust back into the air as well. Also, have your house checked for mold, it's a common problem. Then, if your child is still having difficulties, it's time to test for pet allergies. It would be a good idea to bathe all of the animals, no matter how much kitty may protest. Make sure you don't use strong perfumes or scents around the house, these can irritate nasal passages as well.

Also, you do not mention this, but keep this in mind. If you or your partner smoke, quit immediately. For a baby's sensitive system, second-hand smoke is extremely irritating. Even someone who only smokes outside can trigger this, the scent and particles linger for quite some time.
posted by Saydur at 1:51 PM on January 3, 2007

My neighbor keeps his house a perfect climate-conditioned 72 degrees year round. And his kids howl like absolute banshees Every. Single. Time. they have to go outdoors.

I'm not saying you should freeze your kid, but geesh, a little variation is a good thing.
posted by bink at 1:54 PM on January 3, 2007

Make sure you've got a good flea treament happening, and try running air filters through the house.
posted by krisjohn at 2:22 PM on January 3, 2007

At a minimun, your baby should generally be in rooms at not less than 72° F for the first year of life, and preferably, a few degrees warmer.

A baby needs to be kept warm, but room temperature is a little more complicated; it depends a bit on which danger you are protecting against (and also the culture you live in). The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths recommends a room temperature of 16 - 20 C (61 - 68 F) -- of course with appropriate clothing/bedding. The CDC page linked above mentions that babies should not sleep in a "cold room" without defining what it means, but the rest of the page is about hypothermia, so the implication is that it probably means unheated/barely heated -- probably well below 60.

It sounds like your original night time temperature is on the low end of the recommendation, so increasing it a bit certainly won't hurt, but 72 F plus isn't necessary for health, and could even be detrimental.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 2:45 PM on January 3, 2007

Hey, when you do this extra deep clean of the house - have some place entirely where the kid can stay while you do it. And get some HEPA filters for the rooms where the kid spends time so the dust that life accumulates doesn't just settle again.

The dust you will kick up when you wipe all the baseboards, crown molding, ceiling fan blades, etc is just hell for allergic folks.

I try to stay in a different room with the door closed when there's vacuuming going on, and I'm 25. Plus the noise from a vacuum may not be pleasant at 4 months old.
posted by bilabial at 2:46 PM on January 3, 2007

Get a HEPA filter for the child's room, never allow the pets in the child's room, and make sure there is no carpeting in the child's room. Wipe your pets down daily with damp paper towels to remove saliva & dander residue.
posted by catfood at 3:00 PM on January 3, 2007

Allerpet. Use it on your pets (I'd suggest it in addition to separating the pets from the child as much as possible) to reduce the amount of allergenic material they shed.
posted by decathecting at 3:13 PM on January 3, 2007

Nobody knows what causes allergies, but I wanted to point out that some speculate that a total lack of exposure to allergens as a young child will actually cause allergies to develop. Who's to say if it's true, and surely a good cleaning can't hurt, but I just wanted to point that out in case you were contemplating going down the boy in a bubble route. I am the most allergic person I know, to animals, dust, mold, and anything outdoors, really, and I always have people telling me that it's because I wasn't exposed to pets/dirt/mold or whatever as a child. I don't necessarily believe them, but I also respect that it's a possibility.

FWIW, I think 62 might be a little cold for a baby.
posted by ubu at 4:48 PM on January 3, 2007

the HSUS has some good advice and a downloadable brochure here.

the only other thing i would suggest is to be sure your doctor is sympathetic to your plight -- some doctors aren't, and see getting rid of the pet as the only obvious answer. but there are alternatives for many people, so do look into as many of those as possible.

good luck to both your family and your cat!
posted by doplgangr at 4:52 PM on January 3, 2007

"... It sounds like your original night time temperature is on the low end of the recommendation, so increasing it a bit certainly won't hurt, but 72 F plus isn't necessary for health, and could even be detrimental."
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 5:45 PM EST on January 3

We're talking about a 4 month old baby, here. An infant of that age is not exactly a newborn, but this child has had observable upper respiratory issues, and disturbed sleep patterns for almost 1/2 its short life. This 1997 paper by the WHO is targeted towards warming recommendations for newborns, but given the age of the child, I think the recommendations it makes are relevant to the question raised. And the WHO is recommending minimum at home delivery room temperatures of 25° C (about 77° F). And it is known that babies tolerate moderate heat better than moderate cold, although the WHO recognizes that an upper temperature limit recommendation is harder to make:

"It is more difficult to determine the upper limit of the optimal thermal environment. Except for the wet baby at birth, the maximum tolerable air temperature is about 35°C (95°F) for a naked baby, and slightly less for a dressed baby."

A few degrees of air temperature matters much more to an infant than it seems possible it could to an adult. Err on the side of maintaining a warm environment for the child during the first year of life.
posted by paulsc at 7:21 PM on January 3, 2007

If you don't already, start washing your bed linens and pajamas in hot water with a mild detergent, followed by run through the rinse cycle with a cup or so of plain white vinegar. When I had bad allergies, this was recommended to me by my allergist, and it worked well.

Also, it's possible that it's not the pets he's sensitive/allergic to, but dust and dust mites, which are most commonly found in and around beds. Before ditching the pet, you could try ditching your old mattress and box springs, and use an anti-allergen mattress cover on the new mattress.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:30 PM on January 3, 2007

Mattresses and pillows are major sources of dust mites. Encasing these in allergy covers (a sort of synthetic fiber, not sure of the name) goes a long way towards helping. Old sofas and chairs can have the same problem. I find that non-spongy sofas (or scotchguarded ones) are good for keeping mites out. Blinds instead of curtains. Area rugs instead of carpet.

I (for one) support your effort to keep the cat in the family. All my life I've wanted a dog, but my mom would never allow it because of my allergies. Had she at least looked into ways to make it work, I may not have been so resentful of having missed out.
posted by cowbellemoo at 7:50 PM on January 3, 2007

We suggested taking him to an allergist but the pediatrician wanted to wait on that. I think she wants to see if putting him in his own room helps.


I'm no expert, but I did go through the process myself. Some allergies do not develop until a certain age, and some of the testing methods are a little too intense for a newborn. I won't scare you with too many details, but they're actually testing the immune response by illiciting reactions on the skin -- it requires a certain pain/discomfort threshold that may only come when the child can trust the doctor enough to remain calm.

Be patient and learn all you can. And good luck!
posted by cowbellemoo at 8:02 PM on January 3, 2007

We're talking about a 4 month old baby, here. An infant of that age is not exactly a newborn

Exactly. Children, in my experience, are born naked and wet. Four month old babies will likely have damn near doubled their birth weight (see this growth chart), wear clothes, and though they can get a little damp on occasion are in an entirely different situation. WHO recommendations for delivery are not at all relevant here.

My point is that, in general, babies do fine with room temperatures in the 60s, and there is evidence that cooler temperatures may reduce the incidence of SIDS, so erring on the hot side may not necessarily be entirely benign.

This is getting a little away from the original area of concern; do what the child's doctor recommends in your specific case if you have concerns about the effect of room temperature on your kid.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 8:41 PM on January 3, 2007

If your son is allergic to the cat, you have to get rid of it. I'm sorry, but you can not put his health in jeopardy just for your beloved cat. I completely understand your love for your animals, but too many parents make this mistake and don't realize that you simply have to accept that you have to get rid of whatever is making him sick.
posted by onepapertiger at 9:56 PM on January 3, 2007

I think cleaning is definitely the way to go here. There are a lot of things that could be triggering his issues, and animal allergies are just one of many. As many others have suggested, priority one is getting him out of your bed and bedroom, and into his own room -- but not before you clean that room down to the bare hard surfaces. Dust-mite covers on the crib mattress, and giving the sheets an extra rinse cycle are good, too. If you can afford it, I'd spring for a HEPA filter. At least then you'll be covering all your bases. If his problems immediately go away, then you'll know one of the things you removed (dust, dust mites, dander, etc.) was the problem.

Frankly if having him in his own personal "clean room" at night lets him sleep, and he doesn't have any problems during the day with the rest of the house, I'd let things be (keeping the room clean, of course) until he's old enough to see an allergist. It wouldn't make any of you feel great to get rid of the pets only to find out later he's allergic to your old mattress.

Getting rid of the pets first seems like a bit of an overreactive 'nuclear option.' Sure, it might come down to that, but it seems more sensible to take minimalist steps first. I'd hate to be the pet-less kid who finds out later in life that his family used to have animals, but had to get rid of them because of his own allergies.

One last thing: I've heard from friends who have severe problems with dust that many vacuums tend to just blow small particles back into the room air, and really don't help the situation. Placing a damp washcloth on a "Swiffer" type mop head might be the best thing. If you need to use a vacuum and can't afford a HEPA one, I know someone who swears by a canister vac with a really long hose -- they put the canister outside, so the exhaust air goes out there instead of in the house.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:19 PM on January 3, 2007

onepapertiger-- Sheesh, don't act like she's sort of horrible mother for wanting to find a solution for keeping both her pets and her child happy. It's perfectly possible that there exists a middle ground where she can happily keep the cat with out causing the child discomfort. And since when did "Is it possible to treat a child's allergies without getting rid of the cat" mean the same thing as "Can the kid cope or is it time for a trip to the orphanage?" Really, that sort of overreacting is uncalled for.

Personally, I'm allergic to cats. My allergies didn't show until later than your child's (6-7 years of age, I guess?), but for my whole life we've owned cats, usually multiple, and long-haired, too. Living with cat allergies AND cats is perfectly possible (though, of course, depending on the severity of your child's allergies, putting Fluffy up for adoption might end up being the final option). And though I can't speak for your child, I personally was glad my parents didn't get rid of the cats; in fact, I'm on my way to becoming a veterinarian. (Of course if your kid ends up being a dog person, there might be some resentment. :P )

As far as what practical advice I can give about this, since this is a sleeping problem, wash your bedding and pillowcases as often as possible. I'm talking weekly. Also, see about washing the pillow itself, or buying a brand-new one for the baby to use. And, this might be obvious, but keep the cat off the bed, or at the very least, the pillow, and cover the pillow with a towel during the day to keep off hair and dander. This has done more than anything else in improving my quality of sleep, personally.

Good luck, and ignore the torchwaving "horrible parent" comments. You're doing the reasonabe thing.
posted by internet!Hannah at 10:49 PM on January 3, 2007

"... My point is that, in general, babies do fine with room temperatures in the 60s, and there is evidence that cooler temperatures may reduce the incidence of SIDS, so erring on the hot side may not necessarily be entirely benign. ..."
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 11:41 PM EST on January 3

Cites, on both points, please?
posted by paulsc at 11:17 PM on January 3, 2007

Advice from someone who grew up in a house full of people with bad allergies. On a farm. :

Others have said the same, but keep the house -clean-. It can be messy, but it can't be dirty. Don't lest dust accumulate anywhere. Keep the kid in a room where the pets are never allowed, limit the pets to other places where the kid spends a lot of time (living room?) Don't let the kid come in contact with anything that the pets sleep on. Launder the bedclothes very often.

Not only air filter for the kids room, but any part of the house the kid spends time.

Don't burn incense or candles or let anyone smoke in the house. Get rid of any aerosol products. (Hair spray, Pam, etc.) Make sure you have a vacuum with a good filter. Often vacuuming with a cheap vacuum will just fountain the fine dirt from the (relative) safety of the carped in the the air where it can stay suspended for a long time. (or until you breathe it.)

Not sure where you live, but taking a trip might indicate natural allergens (pollen, mold, other stuff that occurs in your area.) If you're somewhere that you might have the window open this time of year, try closing it for a few days to see if that makes a difference.

Note that the child could be allergic to any number of things in the house. Cats are most common, but dogs or goose down are other common allergies.
posted by Ookseer at 4:28 AM on January 4, 2007

paulsc: Cites, on both points, please?

An example for room temperature and SIDS: Pediatrics. 2001 Apr;107(4):693-8. From the abstract: "A strong association between thermal regulation and ventilatory control was found, specifically for prolonged apnea. Infections, excessive room heat and insulation, and prone sleeping produce significantly increased odds ratios for SIDS."

For suggested sleeping room temperature not being too high, I already gave a link to the U.K. recommendation for 16 - 20 C (61 - 68 F) from the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths up-thread. U.S. recommendations are slightly higher and tend to sound fuzzier i.e. Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia says "Make sure the room temperature is not too hot. The room temperature should be comfortable for a lightly-clothed adult. A baby should not be hot to the touch.", but this usually seems to be taken as meaning the usual 68-72 F.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 4:57 PM on January 4, 2007

Again, you really need to talk to a physician. I have relatives who are docs and one uncle grouses about a parent who inquired what kind of pills she could put her six year old on so they could keep the cat around. This is fairly serious because it can be aggravated into asthma or other chronic respiratory disorders.

You really ought to go to an allergist and ask for his/her opinion and explanation of the matter. You are definitely putting your baby at risk-unnecessary risk.

You are pretty much asking for him to be raised on inhalers and combo asthma meds. There is a good chance that it will just get worse because of your cat.
posted by onepapertiger at 6:02 PM on January 4, 2007