Is this an allergic reaction?

Cat allergic reaction?

• How long does cat allergic reaction appear!?? We got our 2 indoors cats as kittens more than 4 years ago. It was in jan2012, my stepson who is 15 years old seems to having some sort of reaction as what his mom kept telling my husband. She did mentioned that whenever she gets her son home, he seems to start having running nose, breathing heavily. But we have not seen much reaction from our son when he was in our home, all these years since we did tried out best , not to let him touch, near or go into their bedroom too! So, my questions is "is it possible to have the cat allergic reaction after hours leaving our home??" , it is possible to have a cat allergic reaction after not having any for few years..??" or "perhaps its a non- cat allergic he's is developing cause it is spring season right?"..... Currently, the cats are confined in the garage and not allowed into the house. I tried cleaning the house as much as i could, wiping everywhere i could with soapy washcloth, to hopefully, wipe the dander away?? I love my stepson and wants him to have his stay with us, most comfortable and enjoyable. But my love my cats like my own children too :( I miss having them in the house! Should my stepson get an allergy test done? How can we convince his mother to have one done?? Do reply...would love to hear suggestions..!

• Answer:

  There is something called a "delayed hypersensitivity reaction." These are symptoms of an allergic reaction that can appear anywhere from a few hours and up to 72 hours after exposure. Other symptoms may preceed the delayed symptoms. The ones that you see 72 hours later are usually the dermatitis reactions from exposure to poison ivy etc. Ordinarily, most cat allergies are usually from breathing the airborne antigens from cat dander. It has been my personal experience, and my observation of other people with cat allergies, that symptoms usually start after a few minutes of exposure. I am a little suspicious that he is always fine at your house and never gets symptoms until after he arrives home. Do his symptoms begin only after he arrives home regardless of how much time he spent at your place? In other words, if he spends just an hour at your house or stays several hours or overnight, do his symptoms occur only after he returns to his mother's house? If this is the pattern no matter how long he stays at your house, then I would suspect that he is reacting to something at his house and not your cats. I don't want to arouse unnecessary suspicions, but if his mother does not like him coming over, she might be saying he is allergic to your cats to justify terminating his visitation at your place.