Allergies suck

I am really not allergic to anything. I could pick a bouquet of poison ivy and drink swamp water and be no worse for wear. I have had some reactions, to irritants such as saccharine and once I had a reaction to gin, but aren't those poisons anyway?

My DH is allergic to pollen and certain flowering plants. My mother is allergic to ragweed and other plants as well. My DH, God bless him, takes medication in the spring and does his best to limit the irritating sniff sniff sniffing. His skin is fine, a little adult acne here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. My mother, grrrr, sniffs constantly. I know it’s rough for her being the allergy sufferer, but God, is it hard on the people living in the same house. Sniffing is like whistling out of tune or humming under the breath, or nose picking; it’s a fine habit as long there is no one around to think – STOP IT!! My sister’s baby is allergic to peanuts and has eczema as well.

With that history in the family, I am not surprised that I have a baby with allergies. Little Baby B has eczema and an known egg allergy, so he and I had an allergy workup today. You know, the visit when they stab your baby in the back with 20 different needles laced with the essence of potential allergens, and let it sit for half an hour to see what happens? Whew, it wasn't fun. I could see the wound marked EGG swell up almost immediately. The PEANUT site also got a little puffy. And, horror of horrors – the site for CAT got red too.

Now food allergies I can handle. If anyone reading this also knows me as a person, they will certainly be thinking – God, she is always reading labels and saying, “But this is hydrogenated! And there is cottonseed oil in this, as well as eggs! Throw these crackers in the trash!” I am all about eating the most natural food available, whenever possible, but I am not unreasonable about it. Why, just today, the boys and I shared a bag of plain M&Ms, and I have been known to chow down an Oreo or two. I totally prefer the Newman’s Os; all natural and so scrumptious and hydrogenated fat free, yippee! But, allergic to cats!?

I am pretty upset about this. How can I keep Baby B away from my cats? There is no organic alternative, no egg free version and no peanut-less cat available. If it were possible I’d be sure to use a squirrel substitute, or a mouse stock base in my cooking to replace the cat. I’d even get a partially hydrogenated animal, if I were forced to. But, unlike the Newman’s Own brand of snack food, or the Annie’s Bunnies we all know and love, there is nothing to replace my sweet felines.

I am not going to do anything drastic. I know a lady, who is not an animal lover, who, when told a story about a dog or a cat problem, invariably offers the same solution, “Get rid of it.” She is quite right, of course; humans should take precidence over cats. But, since I love my cats, I think I'd better not tell her about my baby’s allergy to them; I don’t want to have to try and explain my affection for my beasties. It defies explanation.

I found one of the cats when he was ten days old, or thereabouts. He was half dead, covered with dirt and bugs and had a serious infection in his nose and eyes. His mother had abandoned his sister as well. I took them both to the vet, and although the sister kitten died about four days later, the boy cat survived. I named him Shed, because I found him near the woodshed, and he is now 18 pounds of white silky fur and has one golden eye. The other was lost during his battle with the upper respiratory infection. I bottle fed him for a month and smuggled him into my office so I could feed him every three to four hours as needed. Therefore, having snatched him from the jaws of death, I am not about to get rid of him like he was so much trash.

My other cat, Worf, came with the name. Apparently, Worf is a Klingon on Star Trek and the nicest of a warrior-like race. My cat Worf is black, slinky and utterly beautiful. He has green eyes, a Siamese like meow and little graceful paws. He came to us when he was 6 weeks old, from the vet/orphanage. At the time Shed was 12 weeks old, and now they are inseparable. I would have no troubling finding a home for Worf, he’s very affectionate, but also self-reliant. He kills flies and bees and eats them; he eats mice and moles and has caught a few squirrels too. He single-pawedly keeps the street free from vermin. One of my neighbors commented on how her lawn is so lush and mole free now that Worf patrols the neighborhood. But I would not split them up; after three years of companionship they'd miss each other too much. Shed and Worf just go together; like apricot jam on a turkey sandwich, or a dash of bitters in a glass of champagne.

I am going to try this: My DH said he’d brush the cats every night to keep the loose fur to a minimum and I will vacuum every single day. Together we will do what we can to keep our already clean house even cleaner and see if we can push through to Baby B’s magical age 5. Age 5 is when a lot of allergies spontaneously subside, as long as the person is kept free from irritants. I will also try and keep the baby away from the cats as much as I can, but that will be very difficult.

My poor baby! He loves chasing the cats, tackling them and wrestling them to the ground. Then he will lie sprawled across them, yelling triumphantly at the ceiling. Poor cats, I am sure they love being taken down by a toddler too.