I love my kitties. I’ve had Isalu for almost 8 years and Mariposa for nearly 4. The problem is, I have been allergic to cats since I was young, but it seems that now it has gotten to the point that even banning them from my room, having air purifiers, buying entirely new bedding, and having someone come in to clean my apartment thoroughly twice a month, I still wake up with sticky red eyes long sneezing fits every day and occasionally break out in mild hives whenever I am around them. I am also not home nearly as much and they don’t get as much affection as they deserve when I am home because of my allergies. I think I’ll never be even close to bringing down the allergens because they have spent so many years in my room. I have to quarantine myself to my room when I get off work because they have run of the rest of my apartment. I can’t limit their space humanely since about 40% of my apartment is my room and the bathroom, 10% is the kitchen and balcony (with no air conditioning possible), and 50% is the living room which is right in between the two other areas (plus the balcony is right outside my bedroom window so I wouldn’t be able to open the window if I did put them in just those spaces). I have tried everything, even shaving them, but that made it worse it seems. It breaks my heart because they are always meowing so sadly to me through the door whenever I am in my room. They are too affectionate to handle the isolation. I am looking at the possibility of rehoming them with someone who can give them the affection and attention that I can’t give them in exchange for getting healthier and being able to breathe and see. They deserve someone who can stand to be around them and I want to find that person. Does that make me a horrible person? 
Are you absolutely sure it’s the cats? I had those symptoms a lot in Taiwan, never figured out why.
You should take care of yourself, but be sure you won’t regret it. It always seemed like you love those kitties. Maybe someone can take them from you for a while just while you get healthy and make sure it’s what you really want?
I guess I could always have someone take them temporarily and see if that’s the cause. I had to leave my house early this morning because my asthma started acting up and my eyes were really bad. I hope I can find a good solution. The other option is sending them to my little sister so I can at least visit them and know they’ll be in good hands. The cat that she’s had since we were in middle school passed away a few years ago and she really misses her.
You should get prick tested (oo-er, matron!) first just to make sure its really the cats and not some weird fungus on your walls or something. I too am allergic to cats, but with my own ones, The allergy goes away after a few days. Or maybe a short course of antihistamines would give your body the boost it needs to shake off the allergy. Its a possibility.
[quote]It breaks my heart because they are always meowing so sadly to me through the door whenever I am in my room.[/quote]Oh god. That pretty much made me choke, it’s so sad. For the kitties but especially for you. My wife is also allergic and we have an army of cats in our house. But she loves cats too much and she prefers to take meds to keep the allergies at bay as much as possible. Her allergies aren’t as severe as yours, though.
Having been with them for so long, I suspect that there might be something else bothering your health and making you more susceptible to flare ups. Either you developed an allergy to something else, or maybe your body is run down for some reason. Maybe you should get a blood test to check things out to make sure there isn’t anything else bothering you. It wouldn’t hurt anyways. That, and the prick tests like sandman mentioned would be where I would go next.
My first thought was shaving, but you tried that already. This is a tough situation and I wish you can either figure it out or come to terms with the harsh reality of parting with your babies. If you end up going that route, we’d be happy to do our best to help you find loving homes for them.
marboulette
That’s a good suggestion.
PS: Just caught the part about sending the cats with your sister so ignore the offer to help find them a home.
marboulette