Vad kan jag göra för att minska riskerna?

Detta är bara rekommendationer. Beroende på hur allergisk du är får du själv välja vilken/vilka råd du vill och kan följa.

Sphynx och allergier
Långt ifrån alla allergiker tål sphynxar! Det är en myt att rasen skulle vara "allergi-säker". Däremot finns det allergiker som tål rasen, helt eller till viss del. Bästa sättet att ta reda på om man tål en sphynx är att umgås med en eller flera katter ett par timmar och se hur man reagerar. Men inte ens då är det 100% säkert att man tål dem! Som allergiker finns det alltid en risk att allergi uppstår senare och man bör tänka sig noga för innan man skaffar ett djur. En omplacering är hemsk, både för er och katten!

Var och en måste själva ta ansvar för sin allergi och sina val! Så tänk till minst två gånger innan du skaffar katt om du är allergisk!
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Far from every person with allergy can feel safe with a sphynx. It is a myth that the race is allergy proof. On the other hand there are a lot of people with allergy who stand the cat, fully or partially. The best way of finding out if you can stand a sphynx cat is to with one or more sphinxes for a couple of hours and see if you get any reaction. However, it is still not 100% sure that you can still stand them. If you have allergy, there is always the possibility for the allergy to arise later in life, and thus getting a sphynx cat is a big step. Remember that placing the cat in a new home because of allergy is terrible, both for you as an owner and for the cat.

How do you know if you have an allergy?
Allergy is a terrible thing, and many cat lover’s worst nightmare. It is also a tricky thing, since you never know why exactly you are reacting. Let’s start with how you know that you have an allergy. You may have one or more of the following symptoms.
• Asthma
• Burning eyes
• Coughing
• Dark circles under or around the eyes
• Difficulty swallowing
• Dizziness
• Eczema
• Fatigue
• Flushing
• Hives
• Itchy nose and/or throat
• Itchy skin
• Joint aches
• Muscle pains
• Nasal congestion
• Nausea
• Rapid pulse
• Rhino rhea (runny nose)
• Ringing, popping or fullness in the ears
• Shortness of breath
• Skin Rashes
• Sneezing
• Swelling (angioedema)
• Throat hoarseness
• Tingling nose
• Tiredness
• Watery, itchy, crusty or red eyes
• Wheezing

Now to really be sure that it is allergy, you should always consult a physician and ask for an allergy test. You can either do the test via a blood sample or a small dot test. The dot test consists of injection of small doses of allergenic substances beneath your skin. The reaction is the measured to determine how much of an impact it has. You can test for a lot of allergies including cat, dog, dust, pollen, rats etc.

Why do you get allergy?
Allergy is an overreaction for a usually common substance that the body’s immune system reacts to. There is a factor of heritage with allergy and the environment also plays a certain part. Allergenic substances which are proteins enter the body via breathing. The substances provoke the body to start producing antibodies. After that histamine, is released in the bloodstream and causes swollenness and irritation in the airways.

What is cat allergy?
It is the proteins in the cat’s fur, saliva, urine or flakes of skin that cause runny eyes and runny noses and also causes asthma. There is certain information that the color of the cat also is a factor. You usually say that brightly colored cats have less of the allergenic substances, but these arguments are not conclusive. There is also certain information that kittens have more allergenic substances than adult cats. Until the cat is six months old, the kitten is to be seen as more allergenic. Remember that is not 100% sure that the symptoms will show at once. It is quite common that it takes several hours for the symptoms to show. You also don’t have to see a cat physically, in a lot of cases it is enough that you meet a cat owner who has cat hair or skin flakes on his clothes.

Why do I have an allergic reaction sometimes, but not always?
Imagine an empty glass. Pour some water into it and nothing happens, you pour some more and still nothing. You pour again and this time it’s too much for the glass to hold. This is a way to describe why allergic people sometimes may feel normal with a cat, and sometimes feel allergic. In the end it is too much for the body to handle and you’ve overfilled your imaginary glass. What this means is that as long as you stay away from the source of your allergic reaction, you probably won’t feel allergic. This is if you are allergic to cats. If you are allergic to more than just cats, you have to consider these in your imaginary glass too.

Is there medication for cat allergy?
Yes, there is over-the-counter medicine that might make the burden of allergy easier. Ask your local pharmacy. There is also stronger prescription-medicine that your physician may issue.
• Antihistamine, i.e Clarityn
• Nasalsprays
• Eye drops
• Hyposensibilisation. This is a treatment which takes three to five years and is issued by a doctor. The treatment is that you are injected with a small dose of the allergenic substance and you eventually get injected with a larger dose. What happens is that a person who is allergic to a specific substance can now deal with much larger doses of the substance. However this treatment is often very hard to get since many physicians do not issue this kind of treatment if it’s not a matter of life and death. If you for example are very allergic to pollen, the chances of receiving the treatment are larger.

What can I do to lessen the risks?
• Close the door to where you sleep and do not let the cat be in the same room.
• Bathe the cat often, at least once a week.
• Do not let the cat lick you.
• Get a vaccumcleaner with a HEPA-filter.
• Use the vaccumcleaner often.
• Wash all of the cat’s toys which are made in fabric often.
• Ask someone else to clean the cat box and get some fresh air in the room afterwards.
• Cut the cats claws often.
• Get an air freshener unit, preferably with a HEPA-filter.
• Remove wall-to-wall carpets and only use carpets that you can wash often.
• Preferably do not use stuffed furniture, though it’s hard not to. In this case put an easy to wash-blanket over the furniture that you and your cat likes to use.
• Use easy to wash curtains.
• Wash your clothes often.
• Don’t let outdoor clothes hang in the open. Use the closet!
• Open windows in your home from time to time to get fresh air.
• Books, and the like collect dust. Try to use a shelf with doors.
• Get a brightly colored female or a bright neutered male, this is recommended by the U.S Asthma centre and also according to French research.

All of these things are just recommendations. Depending on how severe your allergy is, you yourself must make a choice!