I need some suggestions!

[Karen]

Do you have carpets? Hardwood or other smooth flooring is better, traps less dander. Do you have a vacuum with a HEPA filter?

When I am at my sister-in-law's house, we move a hard wooden chair into the living room so I can sit with everyone and chat, and still breathe. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how much she vacuums - and she is a meticulous housekeeper - if I sit on one of the upholstered chairs or couches, I am miserable and snuffly. Wooden chair - fine! Not only do her kitties not bother with hard chairs when comfy surfaces are around, but when you wipe one off, the dander is gone - nothing for it to sink into.

Just my two cents!

[Edwina's Secretary]

I am allergic to cats. I have built up a resistance since having the Es. But there are things that help. One is Claritan. I took it daily for a few years. Now I only use it occasionally.

Back to the handwashing. I never touch my face -- especially my eyes -- unless I have washed my hands well.

[Taz_Zoee]

Bruce's brother was allergic to cats. When he married his wife (almost 15 years ago) she had a couple of cats. She was not going to get rid of them, so he had to deal with it. He is fine now. I'm not sure what his reactions were to them in the beginning, but now he doesn't have a single problem.
Maybe if his symptoms are not "that bad" he would become not allergic to them.

Congrats on the new relationship and I hope you can work things out.

[IRescue452]

Develop a love for pleather furniture. Get an air purifier.

[Pinot's Mom]

My husband is allergic to cats. He's one of those people that when you do the patch tests on their skin, he's allergic to EVERYTHING. When we first got together (27 years ago) he used to get terrible attacks. He went to an allergist ages ago and started on the shots - he's fine. We've had cats for at least 20 of the 27 years; no problem. The shots are painless and he'll get to a point where he only gets them once every several weeks. He may even find out there's something else he's reacting to when they test him - allergists are the best option!

[emily_the_spoiled]

You can also try and keep the bedroom a "cat free" area, so that he doesn't have problems at night.

[Moesha]

I don't know what kind of dwelling you live in, so this may not be a viable option for you. My brother in law has severe allergies. He comes in my house and his eyes run a lot because of my kitties. He has this problem in other places as well. In his previous place, they weren't allowed to have pets inside. They adopted some kitties that came up as strays. The kitties did come inside periodically but not to stay for very long. He and my sister have recently moved into my brothers old house. They brought their 2 kitties and have them inside now. In addition they have adopted one that was hanging around there between the time my brother moved out and they moved in. The cats and also the wood stove don't bother his allergies hardly at all. The only thing that they can attribute it to is that my brother had an ultraviolet filter installed in the central heat/cooling system. The say that these filters work very well for allergens and that's the only thing he can figure since now he has 3 cats living inside his house. He comes over here and still has a reaction. I will see if I can find a link to the product online. I know my neighbor sells and installs them.

[carole]

I too am allergic to cats,and have de-sensitized myself by having four, of course i never knew this would happen, i still have the sneezes at times and if i touch them then touch my eyes, wow look out, swollen,itchy eyes are ahead, i don't have real problems with breathing though.

Just take all the others suggestions in mind, to be honest i do nothing except take an antihistimine now and then, Lexie sleep on the end of the bed every single night, i just decided to throw myself in the deep end i guess, and it has worked for me, my tolerances have built up and i am way less allergic than i used to be, so don't give up hope.