Allergies from Cat?

Usually it's the cat dander that causes allergies. Dander is the dried salivia from the cat washing itself. Have hubby take a damp cloth and wipe down the cat daily to reduce the amount of dander. I agree that pets are "people" too. They are a part of the family. Getting rid of them is like having a family member die I have a very difficult time with this.

Cat dander can be anywhere! Floors, walls, clothes, heating ducts, furnace.
We have cats, and I am allergic but not as high as you. Does your furnace pull air from the basement? If so it is pulling the hair and dander from the cat downstairs and spreading it everywhere in the house. That is our case. I vaccum every day and I try to wipe down the cats with pet "wet wipes" at least once a week, which seems to help.

I disagree with your family, pets are so much more then that. I can not bare to get rid of our two cats even though I am allergic (developed just within the last two years) and they still have at least 8-10 years still to bring joy to our lives. How old is your husband's cat? Most cats live 10-15 years... maybe once the cat moves on then replace the carpets and do a deep clean on the whole house (may be hire professionals).

This is a hard one... how does husband feel about it? I would talk with him too.

I once saw an ad in Canada. The woman was offering her husband (nice photo) and the cat. The cat was also offered separately. No re-homing fee needed for either party.
Cat dander floats in the air from room to room.
First of all take up all the wall to wall carpeting. If you have severe allergies or asthma the mold under the carpeting and the padding is terrible for you. It comes up and out with every step.
A dozen years ago my mother was in and out of the hospital with breathing problems for a year and a half. Each child took a turn caring for her. I told her you are getting one present from us and one only. All you can choose is the style and the color. Then in late November we emptied her room, the closet, threw out everything moldy. The carpet guys came to remove the wall to wall and it was unbelievably moldy under and throughout pad and carpet.
She got a new rug from my husband and me and NEVER has had trouble breathing since. It's been 10 years.
If you see yourself in this story act. Your energy and your health depend upon it.
I also want to say that I spent 29 years of my life with severe life threatening asthma. I found a brilliant homeopath and took the remedy he gave me. I have not had asthma for four years. My homeopath studied in India with Rajan Sankaran.

I have to say that as a person who is very allergic to cats - I could never live in a house with a cat. Why would you do that to yourself? And your husband needs to understand that. The cat has got to go. And it's not just the basement - the air in the house circulates through vents and the dander gets around. So, unless you want your asthma to get worse, you need to say goodbye to the cat. Your husband should support this - after all, we are talking about your health. And there is a chance that your kids can have allergies, too but they haven't developed them yet (let's hope not).

Next - carpets. If you have carpets with hardwood underneath - pull them up. Carpets are so bad for allergy suffers. Or, pull the ones up in your bedroom and put hardwood there - it's where you spend 1/3 of your life sleeping. Do you cover your mattress with allergy-proof casings? Do you have a HEPA vacuum? Is your house dust free? Have you had your vents cleaned out - I can't tell you how much dog and cat hair was in my vents when I bought my house. It's about $300 to have them cleaned out.

There is a lot you can do to help yourself but the cat HAS to go. Your husband will get over it. Maybe you can find a home close by that will take it - then your husband can visit.

Allso, I use Allegra everyday and find it is working really well!

Asthma and Allergies are 2 different things.
When you are not home... you still display symptoms... right?
It is because... you have allergies/Asthma... and it does not just go away pronto... when you are on vacation. It still... is triggered by other things. NOT only the cats/pets.
And, your allergies/Asthma seems Chronic....

Don't you take medicine for it? You have an inhaler...but what else????
If you do not take appropriate medicine... your Asthma will get worse....

I have Asthma.
My Mom has Asthma... got it later in life... from having a cat around in the house.
I... would not think... of having an indoor pet... at all... because I have Asthma.
Dander/fur/fluff... gets EVERYWHERE in a home.... ALL over.

Your Husband, should think more about your medical Health.
Did you know, Asthma is deadly??????

Do you vacuum every week? Both my husband and son have cat allergies and we have a cat (not as severe as yours). We have hardwood floors, which helps. We swiffer, dust and vacuum every week, change the bedding on the sheets weekly, change the furnace filter often. We also keep the cat out of our bedrooms. Other than that I'm not sure what you can do. And you're right, the cat is not just a cat, but a member of your family.

You can also try an air purifier with a hepa filter if you don't have one. My father in law's allergies are not as bad as yours, but his allergies used to act up when he visited us, but have been fine since we added two air purifiers. We have 3 cats. Having your husband wipe the cat down with a damp cloth a couple of times a day may also help to pull off some dander and saliva on the cat. There are a few products out that I know you can put on the cat, I think they are wipes, that can help and I have know at least one family where they made a huge difference. They had had one cat and dad was fine, got a new one same breed, etc and dad was horribly allergic to the new one. With the wipes he could be around the cat. You can try having the cat shaved down if it is long haired, but that does not always help. If the cat is not used to grooming, it may not cooperate very well for it. I have heard about 50/50 if shaving helps with allergies. Good luck and it is great that you see the cat as part of your family and are looking for solutions.

get a hepa vacumn and a hepa filter to get rid of the dander. there is also a spray to help with the dander. I can do short hair cats but long hair cats do me like the cat is doing you. also it may not be the cat have a mold test run if its mold in the house its going to be invisible worse case scenerio pull the carpet up and it will get rid of the dander. and get your ducts cleaned and duct filters.

From what you write, I'm thinking that you have allergies that involve cats, but are not limited to cats. It would make sense to call your allergist's office and ask about the carpeting and anything else that came with the house (drapes, etc.). Pick their brains and get lots of suggestions. If you end up replacing things and it helps your health, it'll be money well spent, but make sure it will be worthwhile to do first.

I have some friends who had to take out all the (relatively new) carpeting at their house simply because there had been animals in the house previously. They went with hardwood floors instead.

Since I'm a cat-lover, I'd hate to see you turn out your four-footed family member unless it was absolutely the guilty party (and then you DO have to find it another home), and from your post I'm not sure of that. So I'm rooting for the carpeting to be the bad guy. (Non-animal lovers just don't understand this sort of thinking, so don't expect them to.)

By the way, I found some online articles about cat dander. One of them is:

http://cats.lovetoknow.com/Removing_Cat_Dander

Hope this helps.