Cat Allergies more common?

[Guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6260340.stm Link to the BBC news site.

Apparantly cat allergies are getting more common, and even those not allergic are finding respiratory problems when exposed to cat hair. I always knew cat allergies were common. Hmm. Anybody here agree?

NB Maybe this should be in Off Topic, I don't know.

[vote_for_pedro]

I don't know about this... Seems like I've never known anyone personally with cat allergies. The last line of the article says "Even if you don't have cats, you will come into contact with people who do." I'm a crazy cat lady. Cat fur is my must-have accessory. I have yet to see any (so called) adverse reactions to it. But it was an interesting article. Thanks for posting it!

[Trillium]

That's a really interesting article; thanks for sharing it. Unlike VFP, almost every allergic person I know is allergic to cats; cat allergy is extremely common, probably in part due to the fact of the ubiquitousness of cat allergen in our environment. Since cat dander is very sticky, it gets on cat owners' clothes and then is transferred to the workplace, buses, taxis, theaters, schools etc., so it's really everywhere. There was some European study not long ago that found cat allergen even in the homes of those who did not own cats. So it's easy to become exposed and develop the allergy, if you have allergic tendencies to begin with.

[army-girl]

Cheers on tracking us an article (gotta say, haven't seen that one before ). I've never really founded my assumption that cat allergies are really common, I just naturally agree... maybe it's because that's an allergy used in movies and TV often... maybe it's because ragweed isn't common around here... I've pretty much decided in my own mind that it's THE most common allergy so no objections here, cats have my support to fight the good fight for more sneezes.

[Lady Tori]

Yeah, three members of my family developed mild cat allergies in between the time our older cat died and when we got two new ones. Plus most of the people I know at least *claim* to be allergic to cats. Still, I'm inclined to think that sometimes cats get blamed when it's something else that's bothering a person just because the allergy is so common.

[KawaiiKitty]

Weirdness! I always thought that maybe cat allergies were more of a thing that happened on TV because I have never met anybody in my whole life with a cat allergy. Ever. And I pretty much walk around covered in cat and dog hair. And the cat hair was all over my chair at work despite the fact that my cats never went to work with me. And nobody ever complained of any problems. And I don't know about non-allergic people having respiratory problems from cats. I pretty much sleep with my face in cat and the only problem I have is getting the hairs in my mouth!