My asthmatic friend

My friend called last night in tears because her doc has suggested that she
needs to re-home her husband's cat. Smokey is 17 yo and has been with her
DH through thick and thin. My friend moved out here 2.5 years ago to marry
her DH.

My friend has severe asthma. She used to play in the pit for musicals with
an oxygen tank beside her. Last spring, we played a concert together and I
had to take her off stage during the dress rehearsal while she had such a
severe attack that she couldn't lift her arms to give herself her puffer.
We got a doctor in the crowd to watch the stage for us during the concert
and he was ready to go backstage and assist her is she had to leave. We got
her an oxygen tank for the show backstage. It turned out that there were
lilies on backstage for the soloist and that set her off.

So its severe.

I phoned her this AM and she and DH were having a very emotional discussion
about it. DH doesn't think anyone could possibly take good enough care of
Smokey to consider re-homing him. Ugh. He's had a terrible work week with
three 17 hour days at the office and is emotionally maxed out so this is a
bad time for this discussion.

Any good thoughts for them to find a good solution would be much
appreciated.

Thanks,

Susan M
Otis and Chester

I think she should go get another opinion. I have a person that works at
the shelter who has severe asthma she walks around with an oxygen tank
sometimes when the pollen is bad. There are so many factors that can set
off a asthma attack and 2 and a half years is a long time has she had daily
attacks from being there more than normal
There are things to do to help out such as bath the cats often and groom the
cat daily to keep the fur dandruff down.

"Susan M" wrote in message
...
My friend called last night in tears because her doc has suggested that
she needs to re-home her husband's cat. Smokey is 17 yo and has been with
her DH through thick and thin. My friend moved out here 2.5 years ago to
marry her DH.

My friend has severe asthma. She used to play in the pit for musicals
with an oxygen tank beside her. Last spring, we played a concert together
and I had to take her off stage during the dress rehearsal while she had
such a severe attack that she couldn't lift her arms to give herself her
puffer. We got a doctor in the crowd to watch the stage for us during the
concert and he was ready to go backstage and assist her is she had to
leave. We got her an oxygen tank for the show backstage. It turned out
that there were lilies on backstage for the soloist and that set her off.

So its severe.

I phoned her this AM and she and DH were having a very emotional
discussion about it. DH doesn't think anyone could possibly take good
enough care of Smokey to consider re-homing him. Ugh. He's had a
terrible work week with three 17 hour days at the office and is
emotionally maxed out so this is a bad time for this discussion.

Any good thoughts for them to find a good solution would be much
appreciated.

Thanks,

Susan M
Otis and Chester

I agree with Matthew. Every other option should be explored thoroughly
before rehoming a pet, especially one that old.

--
Joy

**Don't believe everything you think**

"Matthew AKA NMR ( NO MORE RETAIL )" 10 points a troll
@linethetrollsup.com wrote in message
...
I think she should go get another opinion. I have a person that works at
the shelter who has severe asthma she walks around with an oxygen tank
sometimes when the pollen is bad. There are so many factors that can set
off a asthma attack and 2 and a half years is a long time has she had
daily
attacks from being there more than normal
There are things to do to help out such as bath the cats often and groom
the
cat daily to keep the fur dandruff down.

"Susan M" wrote in message
...
My friend called last night in tears because her doc has suggested that
she needs to re-home her husband's cat. Smokey is 17 yo and has been
with
her DH through thick and thin. My friend moved out here 2.5 years ago
to
marry her DH.

My friend has severe asthma. She used to play in the pit for musicals
with an oxygen tank beside her. Last spring, we played a concert
together
and I had to take her off stage during the dress rehearsal while she had
such a severe attack that she couldn't lift her arms to give herself her
puffer. We got a doctor in the crowd to watch the stage for us during
the
concert and he was ready to go backstage and assist her is she had to
leave. We got her an oxygen tank for the show backstage. It turned out
that there were lilies on backstage for the soloist and that set her
off.

So its severe.

I phoned her this AM and she and DH were having a very emotional
discussion about it. DH doesn't think anyone could possibly take good
enough care of Smokey to consider re-homing him. Ugh. He's had a
terrible work week with three 17 hour days at the office and is
emotionally maxed out so this is a bad time for this discussion.

Any good thoughts for them to find a good solution would be much
appreciated.

Thanks,

Susan M
Otis and Chester

"Susan M" wrote in message
...
My friend called last night in tears because her doc has suggested that
she needs to re-home her husband's cat. Smokey is 17 yo and has been with
her DH through thick and thin. My friend moved out here 2.5 years ago to
marry her DH.

My friend has severe asthma. She used to play in the pit for musicals
with an oxygen tank beside her. Last spring, we played a concert together
and I had to take her off stage during the dress rehearsal while she had
such a severe attack that she couldn't lift her arms to give herself her
puffer. We got a doctor in the crowd to watch the stage for us during the
concert and he was ready to go backstage and assist her is she had to
leave. We got her an oxygen tank for the show backstage. It turned out
that there were lilies on backstage for the soloist and that set her off.

So its severe.

I phoned her this AM and she and DH were having a very emotional
discussion about it. DH doesn't think anyone could possibly take good
enough care of Smokey to consider re-homing him. Ugh. He's had a
terrible work week with three 17 hour days at the office and is
emotionally maxed out so this is a bad time for this discussion.

Any good thoughts for them to find a good solution would be much
appreciated.


I have severe asthma. And two cats. I'd be looking for another doctor and
another solution rather than rehoming the cat.

Suggest. Keep cat out of the bedroom and really "de-allergy" the bedroom.
We had a waterbed for years and now use an air mattress. Both cut way down
on dust mites and friends.

Get some cat wipes and have DH wipe down cat daily. Alternative, have him
wipe down cat with damp wash cloth daily.

Make sure furnace filters are changed/cleaned frequently. No air fresheners
in the house. Use Tide Free for laundry and always an extra rinse. No
fabric softener especially on bedding and towels and her clothes.

Sorry, no perfumes, colognes, air fresheners, fresh flowers, etc.

DH gets to do all the vacuuming and dusting while she is out of the house.

You get the idea. Hit all the other problem areas and the cat should be
fine.

Oh, and she really has to wash her hands any time she touches the cat.

Jo

Susan M wrote:
Any good thoughts for them to find a good solution would be much
appreciated.

Lots of purrs.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"Susan M" wrote in message
...
My friend called last night in tears because her doc has suggested that
she
needs to re-home her husband's cat. Smokey is 17 yo and has been with her
DH through thick and thin. My friend moved out here 2.5 years ago to
marry
her DH.

Has she been tested for cat allergies? She may not be allergic to the cat.
She should go and have a full spectrum allergy testing, she might find out
the issue is something else entirely that they did not expect.

Diane

Matthew AKA NMR ( NO MORE RETAIL ) wrote:

I think she should go get another opinion. I have a person that works at
the shelter who has severe asthma she walks around with an oxygen tank
sometimes when the pollen is bad. There are so many factors that can set
off a asthma attack and 2 and a half years is a long time has she had daily
attacks from being there more than normal
There are things to do to help out such as bath the cats often and groom the
cat daily to keep the fur dandruff down.

I think Foster and Smith (and of course other sources) have
"daily moist wipes" for cats, specifically designed to help
keep the dander levels as low as possible.

"Matthew AKA NMR ( NO MORE RETAIL )" 10 points a troll
@linethetrollsup.com wrote in message
...
I think she should go get another opinion. I have a person that works at
the shelter who has severe asthma she walks around with an oxygen tank
sometimes when the pollen is bad. There are so many factors that can set
off a asthma attack and 2 and a half years is a long time has she had daily
attacks from being there more than normal
There are things to do to help out such as bath the cats often and groom
the cat daily to keep the fur dandruff down.

I too think that she should look at other options. She wanted to know if I
could babysit the cat at our house for a couple of months to see if it made
any difference. I simply can't because my 5 yo bare child is allergic to
cats. So far, we've managed but I'm not going to stress his system. I will
continue to talk to her about this.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
...

I think Foster and Smith (and of course other sources) have "daily moist
wipes" for cats, specifically designed to help keep the dander levels as
low as possible.

She was going to buy the cat wipes at my suggestion today too. Her DH is
overwrought.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

"Jo Firey" wrote in message
...

I have severe asthma. And two cats. I'd be looking for another doctor
and another solution rather than rehoming the cat.

Me too. I think that she's headed down that road too.

Suggest. Keep cat out of the bedroom and really "de-allergy" the bedroom.
We had a waterbed for years and now use an air mattress. Both cut way
down on dust mites and friends.

They have a HEPA filter running in the bedroom at all times and the door is
closed to the cat at all times. I'll mention about the mattress.

Get some cat wipes and have DH wipe down cat daily. Alternative, have him
wipe down cat with damp wash cloth daily.

They're buying some wipes today.

Make sure furnace filters are changed/cleaned frequently. No air
fresheners in the house. Use Tide Free for laundry and always an extra
rinse. No fabric softener especially on bedding and towels and her
clothes.

They are already very careful with this - she's had this condition for a
long time and has become quite a pro at reducing the triggers. They were
buying a new HEPA filter for their vacuum today too. They have a house
cleaner to come in a clean when she is not there and she also washes her
hands after touching the cats.

She's been really really sick since December and I think its a combination
of the animals (she also has a dog), her allergies, and huge stress. I'd
like to see her and her husband cut down on some stress too.

It's one of those situations where I can listen, offer advice, and strongly
suggest solutions but *I'm* not really in charge. They have good hearts and
they love their animals so I know that they have the best interests of
everyone at heart. My friend is also acutely conscious of the fact that
they could re-home the cat and then find out it makes no difference anyway.

Susan M
Otis and Chester