I have a feeling that many cat owners are mildly allergic to their cats without realising it. An allergy to domestic cats has variable symptoms. They can be severe and they can be light. If they are light a cat caregiver might not realise that they are mildly allergic to the Fel D1 allergen which is a protein in cat saliva. It is deposited on a cat’s fur, where it dries and then flies off into the home environment as cat dander coming to rest on furniture where it can trigger, I believe, sinusitis.
Sinusitis is a very common disease in people. Severe sinusitis affects about 12.5% of the population and in various levels of severity it can affect up to 30% of the population. Obviously, there are many allergens causing sinusitis in people such as air pollution outside and inside the home.
And to be clear sinusitis is an inflammation of the sinuses which are in the face of a person, in the forehead and to the left and right of the nose.
Mild sinusitis creates tpressure in the head which is uncomfortable. A person who is mildly allergic to domestic cats might not be sneezing or have watery eyes. The symptoms might be very subtle and they might include sinusitis.
My suggestion is that people who may believe that this scenario is applicable to them should purchase Purina’s LiveClear, a dry cat food which coats the Fel D1 protein and prevents it to a certain extent having the allergic effect on people sensitive to its presence.
It should be a test that people take. A box to tick. Just to see if their sinuses improve when they feed their cat with Purina LiveClear and if they do, they will then reasonably assess themselves as being mildly allergic to their cat.
It is actually quite a nice way to test whether one is allergic to cats. Is Purina LiveClear effective? The reports are that it is at least reasonably effective. Some reports are very enthusiastic and supportive it while others are less certain but my feeling is that it works reasonably well.
I know that sinusitis is quite a debilitating disease. It affects millions of people and it negatively impacts one’s enjoyment of life. I suspect that the main reason why people get sinusitis is because of general air pollution which is quite bad in high population countries such as the UK where there’s lots of traffic.
There is an argument that people with sinusitis shouldn’t live in urban areas. They should go to the country. I can remember a woman saying that her boyfriend who had chronic sinusitis journeying to the African continent where his sinus problems completely cleared up. A case in point proving that general air pollution due to a range of factors but predominantly road traffic can cause severe sinusitis.
But my point, in this article, is that the Fel D1 feline allergen may also be contributing in a hidden way. Whether it is or isn’t needs to be tested. What I have suggested above would test it. You can tick the box and move on if there is no improvement in your sinuses but if there is you can stick with the product.
I have one negative comment about this dry cat food. The pellets are too small. Some people say that this is beneficial for older cats who may have difficulty in chewing it but the problem is that when the pellets are small cats swallow them whole which makes them more difficult to digest. They may irritate the stomach lining. That is another theory of mine. Take it or leave it.
And, of course, you will probably find that there is a general consensus among veterinarians that feeding a domestic cat dry cat food all the time with nothing else is inadvisable particularly if the cat is left alone for long periods during the day. The stress of the latter scenario and the lack of water in the cat food can result in cystitis.
RELATED: The distribution of Fel D1, the cat allergen (antigen) on and in a cat’s hair and skin
P.S. People suffering from sinusitis should also check if they are lactose and gluten intolerant. Both can cause inflammation.
