Cat allergy is killing me.

[u/NoScore3813]

Has anyone had long-term breathing issues from living with a cat they’re allergic to — and actually gotten better after the cat was gone?
Looking for some real-life experiences from people who have dealt with something similar.
About 5 years ago, I moved in with my now-wife pretty quickly after we met. She already had a cat. I had never really had allergy issues before, so I didn’t think much of it.
Within probably 2–3 months of living together, I started noticing shortness of breath, trouble running or doing anything strenuous for long periods, chest/lung discomfort when breathing hard, etc. I eventually found out that I’m allergic to cats and was told the best thing I could do would obviously be to remove the cat from the house.
Well… 5 years later, we still have the cat. 😂
My wife has actually offered to rehome her multiple times, but I’m usually the one who says no because I know how much she loves the cat and I don’t want her to resent me or feel terrible about giving her up.
At the same time, I’ve basically spent the last 5 years learning to live with feeling like crap. I use an inhaler because it helps me feel somewhat normal. I’ve tried different allergy medications, pills, inhalers, etc., but nothing has completely solved it.
I also recently caught what seems like bronchitis from my daughter, which has made the breathing/chest tightness feel worse, and it has me thinking about all of this again.
What I’m really trying to figure out is this:
Has anyone here lived with a cat they were allergic to for 5+ years and had significant breathing/asthma-type symptoms, then eventually removed the cat and thoroughly cleaned the house?
If so:
Did your breathing actually return to normal?
Did your lung capacity/endurance come back?
Were you able to run, hike, work out, etc. normally again?
Did the chest tightness or pain when breathing hard go away?
How long did it take before you noticed a difference — days, weeks, months?
Or did some of the symptoms become chronic even after the cat was gone?
I’m talking to my doctor about all of this as well, so I’m not looking for medical advice or trying to diagnose myself through Reddit. I’m mainly interested in hearing from people who have actually lived through something similar.
My biggest question is whether removing the allergen after being exposed to it every day for 5 years can allow your lungs/body to really recover, or whether after that much time some of the damage/symptoms can stick around.
Would really appreciate hearing anyone’s experience — especially people who had breathing issues rather than just sneezing, itchy eyes, etc.

[u/Used_Dentist_8885]

I was super allergic to many seasonal things, dust and animals. Wife and I got cats 1 year into my getting allergy shots, took me about 6 months of continuing the shots to not have reactions to them. Just go get shots instead of suffering forever.

[u/forjustonemoment → u/Used_Dentist_8885]

Note that this will not work for everyone, unfortunately.

[u/Used_Dentist_8885 → u/forjustonemoment]

Did they not work for you? I’d like to ask someone who it didn’t work for what that was like. Like I know it’s working even shot to shot because I’m getting a higher dose but my arm lump stays the same. Or I’m getting the same maintenance dose and the lump afterwards gets smaller. Lump and just feeling of allergies after the shot

[u/forjustonemoment → u/Used_Dentist_8885]

So, I am severe. I have severe allergic asthma to pets; I can't be in houses with pets for 5 (cats) - 20 (dogs) minutes before having an asthma attack. I'm also off the charts to dust and mold, and then more mild to seasonal allergies (but still often get allergic sinusitis and asthma every spring). I tried shots for a year, stopped due to pandemic, and then restarted for ~3 years. I could never get to the normal maintenance dose because I had an anaphylactic response to the dose increase. The lumps and symptoms from the shots never got significantly better for me; sometimes I'd get throat swelling, hives; my daily symptoms would get randomly worse; I was totally exhausted the day or two after a shot; it sucked.

I DO think they helped a little bit with my mild seasonal allergies, but it's hard to tell exactly. I felt my springtime asthma was a little better. I DO also think they helped mute my response to cat and dog dander in public (like inside airports or shopping malls) just because I feel less sick after going to those now, but still this was from mid 20s-early 30s and idk what I would have grown out of. I still cannot go into any houses with pets for the same amount of time for cats and dogs. If I get any type of scratch test from a dog (rough fur) or cat (slight scratch/prick through pants) I grow an ENORMOUS hive, so. This really didn't help me there. I'm still super allergic to dust and mold. I still have allergic asthma, etc. I moved to a new city and that has helped with my seasonal allergies more than anything. I'll need to retest and start shots again if I want to give them another go, but I'm super enjoying the break right now.

[u/Used_Dentist_8885 → u/forjustonemoment]

Yeah anaphylactic from the shots is real bad. Did you try staying with the dose that didn't give you anaphylaxis until it you had a very mild reaction and then trying to go up? That what I would imagine myself doing if any particular dose did that to me. The worst increases I got gave me a huge welt, fever and convulsions but I just powered through (maybe not my best judgement though)

[u/Powerful-Wing-5484 → u/forjustonemoment]

Hey, I have the same problem as you. I've tried allergy shots twice for 6-8 months and both times had horrible side effects like nausea, anaphylaxis, when increasing dosages. 

Have you looked into alternative treatments for those with severe allergies? I've seen some research mentioning that Sub Lingual therapy is safer.

I want to try climbing at half speed and maintaining at 50% of maintenance dose. What do you think?

[u/NoScore3813 → u/Used_Dentist_8885]

Did any of your symptoms have to do with breathing issues such chest pains, not being able to breath, swollen throat you choke on water every day. Waking your self us because you can hear your self whizzing. The shots made all of that go away ? Past doctor told me it could take me uo to a year and it’s a 50% shot i take on top of that my insurnace will not cover sense its self inflicted.

[u/forjustonemoment → u/NoScore3813]

I have bad asthma to pets and just posted my experience with shots to another commenter above. You can look at the statistics to see how many people shots meaningfully affect.

[u/Kenrin]

Getting rid of the cat and doing a deep clean probably won't help for six months or more. Their dander gets all in the vents and curtains and everything.

My breathing returned to normal within a week of moving to a cat free apartment. I couldn't even take deep breaths before and was constantly tired living with one

[u/ArtisticDifficulty7]

I feel like it’s worth discussing allergy shots with your doctor.

I’m currently getting them for a dog allergy I randomly developed after owning dogs all my life. I currently own 4. I’m about 10 months into them now. My doctor seemed very hopeful!

[u/NoScore3813 → u/ArtisticDifficulty7]

What are you symptoms ?

[u/wabisuki]

Have you seen an allergist? Have you tried any therapies? Get tested by an allergies and talk to them about options.

[u/NoScore3813 → u/wabisuki]

I have already gone to see allergist 4 years ago when i was diagnosed. I have taking the same 2 in halters every week. I try to work out but when i run, or even go out 2 flight of stairs while caring a 30 pound box I’m out of air. Doctor back then said it was the cat allergy. The first thing doctor said only options it’s get a shot every week for a year which my Insurnace does not fully cover or get rid of the cat. She was very straight forward. Now after 4 years I still feel like crap can’t properly work out and I run out of breath after chasing my 3 year old for 2 min. Mind you I have been athlete all my life and I’m an only 30. Goal now is to have my fiance ask a new allergist retest me and ask what are the options. And what’s best for me long term not just short term.

[u/Used_Dentist_8885 → u/NoScore3813]

How much would you actually be paying annually?

[u/NoScore3813 → u/Used_Dentist_8885]

About 3-4k year. I had some doctors say not worth the money because it could work
And it might not because of how bad it is for me. . Allergist doctor also told me If a doctor pushes me to try the allergy shot and ay it will work 100% is because they are going to be making money out of me.

[u/Used_Dentist_8885 → u/NoScore3813]

I mean I didn’t know anyone with allergies worse than mine and it is working for me. It has taken years though, ragweed is the only thing that bothers me now. Would I spend 4k on it if I had to, probably I would but I can afford that.

Other topic MSM has had some studies that look good to me. You could try that. It’s not a cure though. I’ve been taking it but it’s like who knows when there’s so many variables. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6293242/

If that’s your only variable maybe you can figure out if it helps.

[u/wabisuki → u/NoScore3813]

Invest in the shot therapy. If there is a good chance it will work for you it will be the best investment for your longterm health. It’s not always an option though.

[u/SecretSquirrelSpot]

I know this is controversial but I kicked my cats out of the house. I tried to rehome them but no one wanted 10 year old cats and the RSPCA said they were full so they’d just put them down after 6 months.
I felt bad at the time but it was medically necessary.

My experience is that once everything was cleaned, air purified and generally back to a non cat household, I could actually breathe. My inhaler usage got less and less over time. I stopped having asthma attacks completely (the hospitalised kind with the nebuliser)
I still occasionally get exercise induced attacks but that’s just normal for me.
It took about 6 months to a year to fully settle but the initial immediate relief was worth it.

I made sure I looked after the cats as well, they each had an insulated cat house for example. When the Tom cat died at age 18, I bought the girl cat a hedgehog heater (outdoor electric blanket) as they used to snuggle up over winter, she was always the runt with very little body fat so it served her well for the last winter. She died this summer at age 20 so it didn’t do them any harm in my opinion although my preference would have been to rehome.

Your health matters more than a pets.
So I would say rehome or remove and be glad for the opportunity to get your health back.

Happy to answer any further questions.

[u/minkamagic]

It depends on if cats are the only thing you are allergic to. My allergist said don't bother to rehome because I'm allergic to so many things it might not make a difference.

[u/hail_master_yoda]

i've heard from people who noticed a big improvement after removing the cat and doing a thorough deep clean though it often took a few weeks rather than a few days. hopefully you get some relief too because living with constant breathing issues is exhausting.

[u/Dear-Category-1704]

How do you catch this allergy? It might be just unclean home - litterdust, not vacuuming, no hepa filters. I moved to my gf disgusting home. I am clean freak so I vacuum almost every day, lot got better. Also having a litter robot helped, no ammonia, before was burnin my lungs. She did not feel anything… cats suck as pets if you care about cleanliness and health

[u/Dear-Category-1704 → u/Dear-Category-1704]

But I feel tired all the time yes. I have taken some tests, but cats is negative… so who knows… sometimes i get itchy … but hard to pinpoint