For some reason, I don’t have much of a problem with cat hair, like it just causes itchiness after several hours, but if a cat licks me, I quickly break out in hives.
That makes sense, it’s usually not the hairs that people are allergic to. It’s a protein in their saliva, urine and skin flakes. Hairs could be covered with saliva and/or skin flakes, so in that sense I guess people might still react to the hairs, but a naked cat can trigger an allergic reaction too.
My girlfriend has the same issue. Her doctor told her she was allergic specifically to cat saliva, and since they groom themselves with their tongues their fur has little bits of saliva on them, which triggers a less intense reaction than direct cat licks.
For some reason, I don’t have much of a problem with cat hair, like it just causes itchiness after several hours, but if a cat licks me, I quickly break out in hives.
That makes sense, it’s usually not the hairs that people are allergic to. It’s a protein in their saliva, urine and skin flakes. Hairs could be covered with saliva and/or skin flakes, so in that sense I guess people might still react to the hairs, but a naked cat can trigger an allergic reaction too.
My girlfriend has the same issue. Her doctor told her she was allergic specifically to cat saliva, and since they groom themselves with their tongues their fur has little bits of saliva on them, which triggers a less intense reaction than direct cat licks.