Cat allergies

May 29, 2005 7:32 AM

I'm allergic to cats. Will I be unhappy if I move into a place in which a cat used to live? It is mostly hardwood floors, but two rooms have carpets. No furniture or draperies will remain.
posted by callmejay to Pets & Animals (8 answers total)

Unless it's a very extreme allergy, I doubt it. Just make sure you vacuum the carpets thouroughly.
posted by fvw at 8:37 AM on May 29, 2005

You'll probably be a little stuffy for a day or two. Just vacuum the carpets and open some windows.
posted by Jon-o at 9:15 AM on May 29, 2005

I moved into a place that had cats live there before and it was horrible ... eventually I took the air vent/duct covers off and discovered piles of cat hair. I got the apt management to clean/vacuum them. That helped a lot. Then I replaced the $1 air filters with more expensive ones and that helped too.
posted by fourstar at 9:22 AM on May 29, 2005

How much allergic are you ? I'm mildly allergic to cat and I have one :o yeah with no problems. Yet as far as I know one could risk a lot if exposed to whatever makes an allergy start..as there's the possibility of allergic shock..remote but possible and deadly.

So maybe having someone clean up the place could help..and I mean really clean it, vacuum everthing I guess is for starters.
posted by elpapacito at 9:41 AM on May 29, 2005

Response by poster: I'm not crazy allergic. I just don't want to have allergies the whole time I'm living there.
posted by callmejay at 12:15 PM on May 29, 2005

Cat allergen is sticky and hangs around in diminishing potency for several months (through vacuuming and various kinds of cleaning) after the cat is gone. It is not a bad idea to wipe down the walls and floors - having hardwood floors certainly makes things easier.

Allergy-product catalogs list enzyme cleaners that break down cat allergen, and there's at least one form of Febreze that claims to do the same thing. It's worthwhile.
posted by caitlinb at 1:54 PM on May 29, 2005

I'm allergic to my cats, but do just fine through washing them (which doesn't apply to you) and using a HEPA vacuum cleaner (which does). Borrow one from a friend if you can.

I've never heard of being allergic to cat residue months later, or even after a good vacuuming. And I have known people whose cat allergies put them in comas. But, of course, they may not have mentioned this concern to me.
posted by Aknaton at 4:24 PM on May 29, 2005

As you can see from the responses so far, allergies vary in degrees of sensitivity depending on the person. You will have to figure this out for yourself by hanging out for a couple of hours in the place that you're considering. If you get a very mild reaction, then it's something that can be dealt with using the various means people have suggested here. If you get a strong reaction, then no amount of carpet shampoo is going to resolve the problem to nil.
posted by randomstriker at 4:32 PM on May 29, 2005