I am! I am allergic to cats and dogs and probably other animals I don’t even know about. My allergies to cats are so horrible that my chest tightens up and I find it hard to breathe. Luckily dogs do not affect me quite as badly although it does depend on the dog’s hair.

When I visit someone’s house, I can tell within five minutes if they own a cat or a dog (without actually seeing the pet). How bad I feel lets me know which one it is. If I really find it hard to breathe, it is always a cat. A little tightness in the chest tells me it is a dog. If I am going to a house that I know has a cat or dog, I take some allergy medicine first.

I love dogs so much that I do have one even though I am allergic to him. I can only own dogs with very short hair. When I got my dog Ranger, it took some time to build up a little immunity to him. I cannot bathe him because his wet hair will cause my arms to break out in hives. I also have to be very careful not to touch my eyes after petting him. I just have to be aware of the fact that if I play with him too much (which I do sometimes because he is so sweet), I will suffer the consequences.

I know that a lot of people are allergic to animals yet choose to own one anyway. People love pets and would rather get allergy shots than live without one. Just how many people suffer with these allergies? Findarticles.com had an article Pet peeves: how to live with your pet through allergy season that provided some good statistics:

"It’s hard to believe tiny flakes of skin could cause millions of Americans to sneeze, but that’s exactly the case. Approximately 34.6 million American households include dogs, and 29.2 million American households have cats, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Center for Information Management. Combine that sum with an estimate from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology that more than 14 million Americans suffer from animal allergies, and the conclusions can make your eyes water."

We choose to have our furry friends despite the allergies they cause us. They are just too dear to choose otherwise!