Of Kitties and Leather Sofas

Well, as for the allergies: they can be dealt with. I know someone who takes Allegra, and he would be deathly allergic to the cats/dogs/horses/cows/everything that his family has, but it helps. Then there's Mark; he was deathly allergic to cats, but we got one, and now he has gotten used to it. We tried a trial period.. it might be worth it to at least give it a chance. Maybe borrow a cat from someone and see how the hubby gets along? However, I am not sure if you could build up an immunity from one particular cat while still being harmed by other cats' dander..

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Originally Posted by joyful girl

again, I did not criticize
this is a forum for discussion and I gave my opinion
I don't care if you happen to not like it

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i completely 100% agree with you jenn. i was just attempting to enlighten you to the fact that you can do it with grace and you can do it with malice.

i think you had some nice suggestions in your posts... but the harshness of your words tend to make the reader miss the information cause their feeling defensive from your words.

you may find, your information is more welcomed by others when you present it more politely https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../4/7/heart.gif

and i would think... judy's lack of response to you would let you know how much you may have hurt her with your posts. personally i prefer to bring a warm smile to people's lips instead of hearing them swear under their breath when they read my posts. perhaps you could try that next time and see if your suggestions are better received. :confuzd:

Good luck, Judy!! I hoep you find a nice cat! I can see Jenn's point here. You wouldn't have a kid to see if having a child is for you, and then give him away just because they are not for you, would you? IMO, it would be a good idea if you went out and fostered a cat for alittle bit, just in case. I don't want your husband loosing his wings over a silly cat allergie, and I don't want to see a cat go into a home then back out of it because of an allergie either. So fostering or babie sitting a cat would be your best idea, so you don't end up loosing a pair of wings and a pet all in the same do-hickey.

I hope you understand!:carrot: Good luck, Judy.

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

i completely 100% agree with you jenn. i was just attempting to enlighten you to the fact that you can do it with grace and you can do it with malice.

i think you had some nice suggestions in your posts... but the harshness of your words tend to make the reader miss the information cause their feeling defensive from your words.

you may find, your information is more welcomed by others when you present it more politely https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../4/7/heart.gif

and i would think... judy's lack of response to you would let you know how much you may have hurt her with your posts. personally i prefer to bring a warm smile to people's lips instead of hearing them swear under their breath when they read my posts. perhaps you could try that next time and see if your suggestions are better received. :confuzd:

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I understand what you're saying.
I don't feel I was harsh at all considering how upset I actually get over the topic of rehoming. I've been harsh in the past but this time I was only voicing my concern.

I volunteer at shelters and I've taken in a lot of animals needing homes over the years. I know the effect it can have on the animals.

that's all..

I wish Judy luck finding a cat and that her husbands allergies are able to be controlled.

me too :hug:

the idea of looking for a previously declawed cat is awesome. i have seen the soft paws tips at the petsmart near me but never tried them. i clip my kitties nails pretty regularly but they do still snag on the (new!) sofas. they don't claw the furniture because they know they aren't allowed to, but just in regular play and leaping around they do snag a thread from time to time.

the idea of fostering is good but i'm not sure how effective that would be. i have a friend that was severely allergic to cats but was able to get used to hers or keep it under control, yet she still has a reaction to other people's cats. maybe they aren't as clean or the dander isn't the same exactly. as for borrowing a cat--i tend to think that is not the best idea. cats freak out at change and new places and i would think that most cats would hate being "borrowed." save yourself and kitty the stress!

there are so many things you can do to help with the allergies i think this is totally feasible for you judy. don't let kitty sleep with your husband. groom kitty, dust and vacuum regularly, bathe kitty, etc. they make some kitty wipes too that are supposed to help keep allergies down--the friend i mentioned uses these on her cat (maybe that is the reason she is still allergic to other people's cats?).

keep us updated on what you decide. cats are the best! :)

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks!


Fostering random cats is not a viable idea because different cats bring up different reactions in him. He can be in the house with his brother's cat and not have any problems at all. He spent some time in the house with my sister's cat and had a very strong reaction. (Heck, even ~I~ had a reaction to my sister's cat and I never considered myself allergic to them!)

So...why is it OK FOSTER a kitty with the intent to give it a temporary home before sending it on to a permanent home....but it's not ok for us to temporarily have a kitty in our home, and then find it a permanent home IF we have no choice. (And this would only happen if the steps of choosing the RIGHT kitty and keep it in the home in the right way to mitigate as much allergy reactions as possible all failed.) Not just because we didn't feel like keeping it.

Jenn...I sort of understand your point...except for my questions mentioned above. Why is one ok and the other isn't? I would never just dump a cat off at a shelter to get rid of it. I appreciate your passion for animals, but what offended me with your original post was the tone of your question demanding answers for how I will deal with these situations...as if you had some say in the matter to begin with.

I appreciate Aleesha's vehement defense...but my feelings aren't terribly hurt or anything. But do please listen to her advice and realize that your own passions will be more easily accepted by those you try to impress them upon if you do it with a bit more thought to how your words may come across.

Foster cats are usually cats that have special needs that can not be attended to at a shelter (needing medication, ect). A lot of the time kitties may need fostering if they are brought in to a shelter really young and are not able to be adopted out yet.

Fostering cats is necessary to enable them to find a home at some point.

Getting a cat and re-homing because it didn't work out is totally different. Your not helping a cat find a home you're adding to the already thousands of other cats that need homes.

Not all foster cats will be 'special' cases. Many will just be overflow that just exceed the housing capabilities of that facility.

I think that only Judy can decide what is best for her situation, and giving a cat a shot at a wonderful permanent is awesome! I know she will not make this decision lightly. Nothing in this life can be guaranteed 100%.

Just a thought--I saw an interview with a woman on the news months ago. She was talking about genetically-engineered "dander free" cats. They're expensive, the article I'm linking says $3500 in the US. And the first litters weren't supposed to be born until early this year.

I'm not really sure what to think of it--but you might find it interesting, even if it's not a viable option :)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/10/27/b...ats/index.html

EDIT: Here's the company's actual website: http://www.allerca.com/html/pricingreserve.html