This report first came out in 2005, brought by investigators at the University of Edinburgh’s Hospital for Small Animals, in Scotland. The story spread worldwide but very little has been published concerning this matter ever since. Even though this is not news anymore, there are still very few people aware of the chances for cats to be allergic to their own owners.

 

Humans are often sensitive to the cats’ dead skin and saliva but the opposite happens as well: cats can also show allergy towards human saliva and dead skin. Many people’s lifestyle can also cause asthmatic episodes on their cats. The smoke from cigarettes and the dust around the house are prone to cause soreness on the felines’ lungs and aggravate their asthma.

 

Coughing, squeaking and short breath are some of the typical symptoms of asthma on cats, which is acknowledged for almost a century now. An average 0,5% of cats (one out of 200) suffers from asthma, but the Hospital for Small Animals’ investigator and vet that reported the news states that the numbers tend to rise. Nicki Reed believes that one of the main causes for this is the general isolation of the cat inside the house. Amongst the most affected cats are the oriental breeds, such as the Siamese.

 

Regardless, people’s lifestyle and dead skin are not the only things to cause allergies on cats. Lung soreness can frequently be caused by the type of components used on the cat’s litter box. According to Reed, a sheet of paper is way more advisable and less problematic for asthmatic cats than the loose, dusty substrate.

 

Significant steps have been taken towards the study of feline asthma, namely by employing on cats the same methods that have been discovered for human asthma. If you suspect that your cat is showing some symptoms of asthma, you should take it to the vet right away. Cats that develop allergies towards their owners and their lifestyle can still enjoy the house they share and keep their quality of life if treated correctly.