Question:
Hoping to solicit a few opinions on the idea of cats causing asthma. About
7-8 months ago, my wife started wheezing after doing any exercise. A few
months later, her breathing got so it was bad all the time (not terrible,
but uncomfortable). She's been diagnosed with asthma, and a recent trip to
the allergist revealed a fairly severe cat allergy.
We've had our two cats for about six years. Is it possible for cats to cause
asthma "all of sudden" like that? The other mitigating factors are these:
we've been in our current house for only about 15 months, and the
asthma-like symptoms have existed only here. We finished our basement last
April, and there was drywall dust everywhere (and certainly it's possible
that it's still lingering in the heating ducts).
Answer:
The advice from an allergist would be for her to leave the home for at
least 36 hours; much longer is not necessary. She could go to a
relative's or friend's (as long as thaere is no cat there), or she
might go to a motel. On return she should have close contact with the
cats - on the porch, in the garage, in a car, not inside the house -
for an hour. If she could then be away again for 4 hours before
entering the home, you should be able to make a certain causative
diagnosis. There is a reason for each of these steps, and for the time
intervals, but it is not necessary to understand them all in order to
answer the question.
