Kids + asthma + pets?

[Lochie]

Anyone have any experience or advice? Would be much appreciated! My son is newly 5, over the summer he has had a persistent cough, which usually peaks during the night time or when he is very upset. The doctor has said it could well be asthma but cannot assess properly as he is too young. He has been prescribed an inhaler and a spacer, which does seem to help (not immediately but within 10 mins lets say). He has never been in a situation where I have been concerned that he cannot breath. Neither my husband or myself or our daughter have asthma.

Previous to this we have been promising our kids that they can have a cat when we move into our own home (we have been renting but will be moving into our own home within the next month or two). Both kids are really excited about the prospect of a cat (and secretly so am I!). However, I am now hesitant due to this situation with my son?s possible asthma. I?m just wondering if anyone who has kids with asthma has had pets too, and if so, have they exacerbated the condition? I don?t want to make things worse for my son and then have to re-home the cat! I'm happy to watch and wait but the seed has been planted in my children's minds so need to let them know whether a cat is a possibility in the near future (or not!)

[Belle]

Hello!

I'm surprised the GP said that as thought it was around 3 they could diagnose? J was diagnosed at 4, but I suppose one clincher for us was that even the blue inhaler wasn't sufficient so he was then put on a daily steroid inhaler, which he still takes. The fact he improved on that was a fairly clear indicator. One of the things which led us to seek a diagnosis was a quite dramatic reaction to friends' cats - when staying overnight (short term exposure seems fine). I'm asthmatic and I have to say cats are one of the worst things for me... is it worth waiting a little longer or maybe staying with people with a cat/borrowing a cat to see?

[pripolla]

Can you ask for a referral for an allergy test?

[amydown]

Was going to suggest allergy test too - I recently suffered from persistent cough and test revealed severe allergy to house dustmites and cats. We sadly had to rehome our cats. I was prescribed an inhaler and asked to come back for asthma test but since rehoming cats and making bedding changes and a new sofa, my symptoms have pretty much disappeared.

[Mands]

You could always get one of those hairless cats if the kids are allergic to cat fur. Also a good air purifier will help.

[Lochie]

Hmmm, thank you for the thoughts. I think the doctor I saw said a persistent cough in children could be for many reasons including allergies or asthma, so I may well seek an allergy test out. I can't remember why he said it was harder to diagnose at a younger age - something to do with them needing to be old enough to puff into the spirometer (?) or something? The doctor at our previous surgery (we've recently changed) said he thought that asthma is over-diagnosed in children. I don't know why but with both doctors there seemed a reluctance to concretely diagnose asthma. I am pretty sure it is though as it comes and goes, is worse at night and also is bad when he gets upset (I had read that emotional distress can exacerbate asthma).

Yes I do know a few people with terrible pet hair allergies, to the point they literally start streaming as soon as they enter a house with pets, so that is something I definitely don't want to happen if we got a pet.

Thank you for the hairless cat suggestion @Mands but they give me the heebie jeebies!

[SBot]

I am 35! For my 11th birthday I got a kitten, and developed asthma the same day though no one put two and together until I left home at 19 and my asthma disappeared!!!

I do still get wheezy around animals so it's not technically asthma more of an allergy!

[EDmummy]

If you can arrange, have your child stay in a house that has a cat for a few days and see if there's any change. I grew up with cats and it was only after I left home did I realise that there could be life without bunged up nose, itchy eyes and severe asthma. I loved my cats but it was truly horrible feeling so ill for most of my childhood. How about a (truly) hypoallergenic dog.

[amydown]

Also worth noting that cat allergy symptoms don't always include runny nose and itchy eyes. As I mostly just had the coughs and not other synptoms, I didn't think I had cat allergy but my blood test told a very different story!

[Lochie]

Just googled 'hypo-allergenic dogs', never realised there was such a thing! Think i've opened Pandora's Box now oh dear!

[Saffron]

My brother has asthma but is not allergic to cats. My SiL is allergic to cats but does not have asthma.

Some types of asthma are more correlated with allergy, i.e. atopic asthma. And other types do not appear to be directly exacerbated by allergens, i.e. intrinsic asthma.

Cough is not a classic symptoms of asthma. Wheeze is the classic symptom, so your GP may be reluctant to request tests for such a young child without more symptoms or classic symptoms of asthma. The younger the child, the more difficult to diagnose, the more likely to get a false negative/positive if other symptoms are not clear.

Allgery testing might not help either at such a young age, as children sometimes outgrow allergies as their immune systems mature. In addition, allergy tests are not 100% accurate. They do sometimes throw up false negatives/positives.

So on balance, if the only symptom is cough, then I can see why the GP might be reluctant to order tests which will be difficult to interpret and possibly invasive or unpleasant for your LO.

Watchful waiting is often the approach taken in such cases. This means that you and your GP agree to monitor persistent symptoms and be aware of new symptoms.

Some breeds of cats and dogs do produce less allergens than others. I think the suggestion to have some playdates in the homes of people with pets is a pretty good idea. We have cats. Their hair is on EVERYTHING. Sigh.

[Mustard]

The Devon Rex breed is supposed to be more hypoallergenic than others.

[GinaG3]

I had problems with my breathing when I was younger, mainly wheezing and coughing. I had the asthma checks when I was about 7/8 and was monitored regularly, having readings done by a nurse etc. I was prescribed an inhaler and spacer which worked somewhat but not fully. We had a dog and 2 cats at the time. I started to notice a pattern myself in the wheezing, one time we went on a school trip to a animal education centre and it was lambing season. I really struggled that day and had a small 'attack'. I then started to notice when I was stroking the dogs or even sometimes just walking past them I would feel wheezy. I came off the inhaler for some reason or another and never was prescribed it again. I've noticed even in adulthood and during my teenage years that I am normally fine around animals but ones that shed a lot of hair can bring on wheezing and tight chest. I can stay at my mums house and I'm usually fine with her 2 Jack Russell's but won't be the same around more hairy dogs. I think cats are an issue for me as they seem to loose more thin hair than dogs. When we are 10 my brother was born, he was severely allergic to all pet and animal hair, our dog had died and we had got another one, my mum was forced to give him up to our grandparents because of the issues my brother had (skin related not breathing as I recall but very very severe), my own issues at this point did seem to become more bearable as did my brothers. My brother grew out of his allergies at around 7 and I grew out of mine at puberty, I'm now 24 and don't suffer with breathing difficulties or asthma around animals anymore but can still get puffy eyes.

[treehugger]

Do be very careful on this one. Husband and son both have serious allergies to cats. Son, who has asthma, will have a bad attack if he goes to a friend's house with cats. It then turns into a chest infection and he is generally poorly for 2-3 weeks. I think the best suggestion is to let your son have a sleep over a few times before you launch into buying a cat.

[Lochie]

Thank you for your advice and experience, it is so useful. I am going to approach with caution. We are staying with extended family over Xmas for a few days and they have a cat, so it will be a good opportunity to see what happens. I may well tell them to purposefully not hoover up any cat hair before we visit so I can really tell if it exacerbates the cough.

I hope it doesn't but we'll have to see!

[Saffron]

Ah, that's a bit of a tricky one, because any allergen or irritant has the potential to irritate a cough that's already present. This can be due to the fact that the lungs have become sensitised, but this may only be temporary if your LO is not truly allergic or asthmatic. For example, some minor viral infections can sensitise the lungs and leave you coughing for months even after the virus is completely gone -- and even if the infection itself had few original symptoms.

You really need to look for additional symptoms in your LO in the presence of animal allergens if you have reason to believe there may be an allergy (ie, family history of allergy). These symptoms might include runny/itchy eye or nose, red sore eyes, or wheezing.

Also, if there's no history of allergy, research has suggested that just owning a cat doesn't make you more prone to developing asthma. Actually, meta data analysis from 2008 suggested that children in homes with cats were slightly less likely to develop asthma.

If your forays into fur-bombed homes turn up inconclusive, have you thought about fostering a cat yourself? This would let you house a cat for a short time without having to commit to longterm ownership. Animal shelters frequently need short term foster careres for a variety of reasons. Then if you decide you'd like to keep the cat, this would make an easy transition for you. Maybe speak to Battersea or CHAT about their foster programs?