If you ask the question”should I own a cat if I have asthma?” You’ll probably get lots of different answers, most of them being “no.”  I had  asthma as a child. It had cleared up for many years. When I adopted my cat, Mollie, I began to get asthma attacks once again and some of them were very severe where I had to go to the hospital. Of course I was in denial telling people that it wasn’t caused by my new kitten but everyone otherwise. The cat caused the asthma to flare up  after all these years. I loved my little kitten and there was no way that I was going to get rid of her. I went to my primary care provider who insisted that I get rid of my kitten. I flatly refused and asked him if there was anything that I could do to prevent these attacks. He gave me a medicine called Asthmanex which I inhale once each day. I’ve been taking this medication for over 10 years and have not had one asthma attack. My kitten is now thirteen years old and we live happily together without worrying about asthma. I even adopted another cat several years later.

So I will say,there are ways to control asthma and still own a cat. Check with you doctor to see if there is a medication that’s right for you before getting rid of that cute little kitty.

Remember, your pets count!