I just received some terrible news!

[Lobodeb]

Hello.

As many of you know, my hubby and I just gave birth to our lovely son 7 weeks ago today. He's a beautiful baby (I know, all moms say that) but evidently, he was just diagnosed with Eczema. Not terrible, I know. I was a little worried when I heard it could lead to asthma, however. :eek: Anyway, I digress.

The reason I'm so upset is that my son's pediatrician said that we may have to rehome our cats. :( Our son my have an allergy to them and they are aggrevating his Eczema. I am beside myself. I said to my husband that maybe we can call the vet to see if there's something we can give the cats to help reduce their allergens (long shot, I know) only to be accused of loving our cats more than my son. :mad: My husband suggested this! Can you believe it?

This may sound terrible (and if you think so, I would appreciate a little sensitivity right now) but we've already decided to rehome Payton. My mom is moving to Chicago to be closer to her new grandson and we all decided that he would be better off with her. She's retired now and has more time to spend with him than I do. I got him from her in the first place. I can still see him all of the time and I know he'll be in a loving home with his cat meowmie.

However, my poor Sammy has been through so much, it breaks my heart to think of "getting rid of" him. He's a true sweetheart and doesn't bother the baby in the slightest. It also disturbs me how my husband is so quick to "disgard" him. He has been with us for 6 years now.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm devisatated.

Edit to add:

This isn't definite yet (thank God), we are going to try one round of treatment and if his skin clears up, we'll all be fine. If it doesn't we'll have to have him tested for cat allergies and take it from there. Please pray that this treatment clears it up.

Thank you!

[icedtea]

Oh my goosh! poor you! Children and pets are in two different categories, they are loved differently. I hope for you and your family and pets sake that the eczema clears up. My brother has eczema and it has never bothered him. His is no better or worse than it was years agol. hes had it since he was a little boy.

Good luck, and if it turns out that your cats must be rehomed, try to give them to people you know.

[dab_20]

Oh I'm sorry, this must be such a hard decision. When your husband suggested that you love the cats more then the baby... you can't even compare loving pets and loving children... that's two different loves! (Hope you understood that... lol)

I hope his allergy test comes out clear!! I've also got eczema... I didn't know it could lead to asthma.

Rehoming Payton is the best you can do for your son right now... and since he's going with your mom it's better then living with someone you don't even know.

[Jessika]

Is there a possibility of limiting the cats access to only a few rooms (rooms that your son is not frequently in) to help reduce the change of aggravating his allergies??

[Catty1]

Well, wait and see what the tests show. I had eczema once, but didn't know it was an allergic reaction to anything.

As for what your husband said - the words sound cruel, yes, but I am sure he is upset about everything too, and maybe that's why he reacted as he did.

Glad that Payton is going to your mom. And maybe Sammy will be able to stay with you.

I did develop a slight chronic sniffle when I got my first medium-length hair cat a few months ago. I just bought a Bionaire ionizing air filter - was only about $50 CDN. These work well on many things, including cat dander.

Really helped my sniffle. Usually cat allergies are to the dander.

Ask your doctor - nice ionized air would be great for your human cutie-pie anyway!

HUGS and GOOD LUCK

Catty1

[pnance]

I'm so sorry to hear this might be a possibility....prayers that the treatment works.

[Pawsitive Thinking]

You may find that as your baby gets bigger he will become more tolerant to the cats.

My daugher had asthma but was surrounded by animals and just grew out of it in the end. She certainly had more benefit from being around them than being kept isolated

Give your husband a sly kick from me for being an insensitive lump!

[jenluckenbach]

This very situation would be my BIGGEST fear about bringing a child into my home! :eek: I am so sorry you are faced with this.

Rehoming Payton sounds like the right thing to do for him, so allergy or no allergy I would say this is the right thing to do.

Now that you will have only Sammy, dealing with possible allergies should be easier. Start with air cleaners for the home. I understand they work wonders. Bathing kitty and using anti-allergen products between baths will GREATLY reduce the dander. If you cannot do the bathing, set up a schedule with a pet groomer who should be able to give you a redyce price for REGULAR appoinments. The anit-allergen products are then easy to use at home. And keep kitty out of baby's room (where he sleeps).

Most of all, best of lucky keeping kitty and keeping your son healthy.

[mruffruff]

Would it be possible for Mom to take both cats, maybe only temporarily? It's possible that your son will be able to tolerate the cats better when he gets a little older and you could take the cat (or cats) back. You could still see the cats and they would have each other to transition the changes. If Mom can't afford two cats, maybe you could help her out.

I'd hate to separate the cats if I didn't have to. One more thing to stress them.

[catmandu]

I Pray That Your Mom Can Take Both Cats,as It Would Notbe Good To Seperate The Companions,especiallyas They Haveto Adjust To A Brand New Home.
You Are Doing Your Best In A Difficult Situation,and Are Trying To Do Your Best For Payton And Sammy.
We Hope That Your Son Is Not Allergic.

[Karen]

Give Sammy and Payton a bath, which will cut down on dander, and then just don't let them into the room where Hugo sleeps.

The excema could be from anything, and may have something to do with the cats, and may not. It could be the soap you use, even baby soap has scents in it that can annoy sensitive skin. My family all has ridiculously sensitive skin, and my sister had terrible excema as a kid. Lady's Human also had excema when he was a kid, yet both of them have much, much, much milder asthma than I do as an adult.

The asthma is inherited, in our case, from both parents. As are our allergies.

Pediatricians often suspect pets first, when that may or may not be the allergen causing the problem.

My sister and mother could not (and sister still cannot) use soap. What?? You say? Ma swore by Pear's "soap" which is glycerine, not soap. My sister uses Lowilla.

[moosmom]

My first thought was what Brody's Mom said. Anyway your Mom can take BOTH Sammy and Peyton???

What your husband said about loving your pets more than Hugo was so insensitive.

I'm glad you're exploring all the options before deciding what to do. If you lived closer, I'd be more than happy to take Sammy.

[Maresche]

I'm sorry to hear that Lil' Hugo is having issues with Eczema, but I've glad to hear that you're going to do the testing before rehoming your cats. Payton's new home with your mom sounds good, though; you can visit often. I really hope the cause of his exzema turns out to be non-cat related.

When we were "interviewing" pediatricians for Mimi, we asked every doctor about their opinion on pets with children. If they didn't seem positive on the issue, we crossed them off the list. One was surprised that I was pregnant and we hadn't gotten rid of our cats yet. It just proves how uninformed some doctors are.

[Husky_mom]

I know how you feel, i´ve been there too, my kid was "diagnosed" with allergies due to animals, and since i have dogs, it was like i CANT get rid of them, i LOVE my kid but i dont believe its the dogs, how come after almost two years he developed allergies to them and he plays with them but not that much, the dogs are bathed and parasite free so how could this be.......
besides children raised in an animal atmosphere develope more antibodies rather than allergies, so i stand for my dogs and bottom line the dogs where not the problem, and he just had a reaction due to weather shifts.

if mi kid were really allergic to my dogs i wouldnt get rid of them, and by that it doesnt mean i love my dogs more than my kid, i would just not let them get together for long periods and have a bit more precautions so my kid didnt get worse, i really hope your case ends well and you can be able to keep your cats........i really sympathize with you (my hubby has always said i love my dogs more than him ;) (my hubby))

[lv4dogs]

My thoughts are with you & your family. It is such a hard decision and I pray it is not one you are forced to make.
May the treatment work or the allergy tests show that he is not allergic to the kitties.
I understand completely about your mom taking custody of Payton. After all it is her cat. :p Like you said he's going to a great home & you will get to see him often.

I have bouts of eczema once in a while & never knew that it could even be allergy related. My Dr. has never once said anything about allergies & he knows how many pets I have.

HUGS

[Lobodeb]

Thank you all for your kind words and support.

I was relieved to see that this morning, after putting his hydrocortisone cream on him last night, that the rash appears to have almost disappeared. This brings me so much hope. Once again, PT prayers work wonders!

My son's pediatrician was very sympathetic to our cat situation. She must have seen the shock on my face when she told me rehoming them might be necessary. She told me she has cats too and would hate the thought of giving them up. I know she's not being close minded.

Let's hope that this continues. In the meantime, I will look into air purifieres, kitty baths, etc.

Thanks again. I knew you'd be able to point me in the right direction!

[Maresche]

My son's pediatrician was very sympathetic to our cat situation. She must have seen the shock on my face when she told me rehoming them might be necessary. She told me she has cats too and would hate the thought of giving them up. I know she's not being close minded.

I'm glad to hear that and I hope I didn't sound snotty. I didn't mean it that way.

Hydrocortisone is a miracle worker. It's great that it helped so much!

[~*MS.MISSYH*~]

Don't give up hope. My sister had the same problem with her son and it turned out his soap was making him break out.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p9c97f06dd166838d3966a1aea31e7dda/f018daf3.jpg

[Van10]

I hope that you won't have to rehome your cats. . . :(

All paws and fingers are crossed for you and your little boy.

[carole]

What an awful predicament for you to be facing, of course your son's health is important but i sure know how you feel about your kitties too.

I too agree with the others, the eczema is probably due to other things rather than the cats itself, my daughter has it too, and honestly i have not noticed it flare up when around the cats, i found for her to keep moisturizing her skin with a good moisturizer and baby oil was helpful to keeping the skin from drying out too much and then using the cream, lots of babies and children suffer from eczema, it is a very common and annoying ailment, especially in a young baby, but hang on in there.,sometimes they do grow out of it,and i am sure it is NOT the cats, here's hoping.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Glad to hear it seems to be clearing up with just the cream - whew! Hopefully it continues to get better and Sammy can stay home. :)

[Donnaj4962]

I am so glad that the cream is working... and I hope and pray that it continues to. I would hate to have to make a decision to rehome my girls. I can only imagine the look on your face when your prediatrition told you that! (But I am sure she has seen it before and will see it again! :rolleyes: )

Keep the faith that all will continue to get better!

[Lobodeb]

I'm glad to hear that and I hope I didn't sound snotty. I didn't mean it that way.

Oh, no! Not snotty at all, I just wanted to point out that our pediatrician isn't anti-cats.

Thanks again, everyone. I'll keep you posted.

[Cataholic]

I'm sorry to hear that Lil' Hugo is having issues with Eczema, but I've glad to hear that you're going to do the testing before rehoming your cats. Payton's new home with your mom sounds good, though; you can visit often. I really hope the cause of his exzema turns out to be non-cat related.

When we were "interviewing" pediatricians for Mimi, we asked every doctor about their opinion on pets with children. If they didn't seem positive on the issue, we crossed them off the list. One was surprised that I was pregnant and we hadn't gotten rid of our cats yet. It just proves how uninformed some doctors are.


Truer words have never been spoken. I have never heard of exzema being cat related. Jonah has exzema. Neither of his pediatricans (we switched) ever mentioned this as a concern, and both knew/know I have a house full of cats. What has helped is the cetaphil soap, the aquafor lotion, and NO powder on my boy. I ONLY use special lotion on him....and watch the baby wipes. I rinse mine before they touch him.

Please don't rush out and do anything drastic....I think some more research might be in order. My girlfriend's son has asthma...and she has 5 cats, 3 dogs, and he has gotten much better as he ages.