Ask Dr. Rob: Love/Hate and Spit
From Amanda, I got the fascinating question:
Why do I insist on having three cats even though I’m allergic to the wee beasties?
Thanks for the thoughtful question. I am always happy to do whatever I can to mend fences between species. Clearly you have a love/hate relationship with the feline type. Your reference to them as “beasties” betrays an ambivalence that probably runs quite deep. I would suggest a visit to either Dr. Deb or to Shrink Rap - two psychiatry blogs - to sort out these issues. They may help you discover your “inner cat.”
But what of this insatiable desire to be with them, and what of the allergies? You would be interested to know that it is actually not the wee of these beasties you are allergic to, it is the spit. Yes, cat allergy is actually from an allergen present in their saliva. Since cats are fastidious about grooming themselves by licking their fur, the antigen is transferred to the hair and dander, and then shed out for all to enjoy.
So why have cats developed spit with antigens? To understand this, we must first explain the subject of allergies.
Your body likes to pick a fight with things, and rightly so because there are many things that would love to take over and make you their personal incubator. Viruses and bacteria are constantly trying to find places to reproduce and spread their DNA throughout the world, and the warm cozy environment of your body fits the bill quite well.
So at the annual virus convention, they try to decide just where the next convention will happen and so send scouts to check out different venues. A virus comes to your body and gets checked in at the front desk. When they get in a room (cells of your body) and start acting like a classic Rock ‘n Roll band, throwing couches out the window and disturbing other guests, the hotel security (White Blood Cell) is called. Security does its best to throw out the unruly guest, but generally causes damage as apprehending the virus often involves a chase and fight scene like something out of a Jackie Chan movie. Many of the symptoms you get from a virus or bacteria is actually caused by the spin-kick stunts of the white blood cells as it tries to rid your body of the unruly guests.
The next time a virus tries to check in at the front desk, the front desk staff (or Antibodies) recognizes the virus as the same one that caused the fourth floor to be closed for several weeks and so calls security again. This way, the virus gets escorted off before it can cause any serious problems.
Now, for some reason, some people’s bodies are really bothered by antigens from cat spit. Even though the dander from cats acts as a very good guest in the hotel, the front desk gets really upset and calls in security, causing all sorts of damage.
Scientists are unsure why cat spit became “public enemy number one” for some people. One theory is that our ancestors were simply grossed out by cat spit and demanded an immune response. Others postulate that the ancestors of the modern-day cat could spit very long distances, much like spitting cobras. Support for this latter theory comes from the existence of a small sect of “cat charmers” in southern Pakistan. The theory goes that the current “hiss” that cats make when they were angry was accompanied by a spit that would cause its victim to have the sudden urge to chase after strings and small shiny things.
So why, despite your immunological aversion to cats (and psychological, as previously discussed) do you continue to surround yourself with them? There are a few questions I must first ask you:
- Are you nuts?
- Do you surround yourself with trained assassins, bent on killing you at first opportunity?
- Do you collect Precious Moments figurines?
- Have you ever gone to the musical “Cats?”
- Do you often play music from the group “ABBA?”
It seems to me that you are the type of person who says: “I deserve all of the bad things that happen to me.” Just the fact that you are a regular reader of this blog makes that point painfully obvious. You have it in for yourself, and regularly engage in activities that make your life harder.
My suggestion? Get a goat. They are very soothing (just ask any feisty race horse) and can scare away any “beasties” that come your way.
Thanks for the question.
I am starting to run out of questions to answer, so please send your interesting questions to me at dr.rob.questions@gmail.com.
July 1st, 2007 at 9:52 am
[…] Nile Virus Link to Article allergies Ask Dr. Rob: Love/Hate and Spit » Posted at Musings of a […]
July 1st, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Thank you for answering, Dr. Rob! H have responded to your questions here.
Hee. Thank you again!
July 1st, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Uhm… that “H” was to be an “I”.
I wish I could edit that. Bleah.
July 1st, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Interesting. I loved the way you described the whole process. I always thought it was the dander on all animals, not their saliva, as in the case of cats.
July 1st, 2007 at 10:59 pm
CA, I was somewhere along those lines (thinking they were two separate allergies). Definitely educational, despite my obvious mental issues (not that I really question that… I have three cats, KNOWING I’m allergic. Doh!)
July 2nd, 2007 at 6:19 am
Here’s the deal: You ARE allergic to the dander, but that is because the dander is covered in the antigens from the saliva. It is one and the same. Makes sense?
July 2nd, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I don’t know why someone would keep a (some) cat(s) when they are allergic, but I do know that a statue of 1618 forbids the inhabitants of Ypres the pleasure of hurling a cat from their tower on the second Wednesday of Lent, as had been their honored custom for years.
I wonder if the cat landed on it’s feet?
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Rob, yeah, it makes sense. The dander and saliva are a package deal, ergo, there can’t be separate allergies. Right?
And Tony, the reason why I keep three cats even though I’m allergic is a) my elder son is a major animal person but we couldn’t do a puppy just now (younger son is still too young plus time involved), and b) I am clearly insane.
Hope that clarifies matters
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Rob,
The topic of cat safety has left me feeling very conflicted. Being such a staunch advocate of evidence based catology, excluding catological scatology which I believe has been infiltrated by a near religious post-modernistic dogma, I am unsure of what to make of domestic felines based on the latest round of scientific findings:
1. Have you ever seen a domesticated cat and Osama Bin Laden in the same place? I haven’t and neither has a team of catologists out of Norway who have studied this phenomenon for the past 5 years. Their conclusion? It’s more of a question than an answer really: Might Osama Bin Laden be a large cat, perhaps a previously unknown species with very human like qualities along the same lines as Bigfoot, who you might recall was long thought to be Slobodan Miloševi?.
2. Domestic cats are a powerful remedy for treating the common cold. At least that is what a study from catologists at Hollywood Upstairs Medical School(HUMS) believe they have proven. Within 7-9 days of exposure to cats, nearly 100% of cold sufferers were symptom free. I buy this one because it builds upon earlier findings that cats are natural and thus safe and effective. I wouldn’t be suprised to find that this study doesn’t get the media recognition it deserves because cats are entirely unpatentable and thus would not be appreciated by Big Pharma.
3. Recent epidemiological data out of Western Northeasternshire England has shown that as the number of domesticated cats living in urban areas has risen over the past 100 years, so has the incidence of a number of medical maladies such as senility, prostate cancer, menopause and liver spots to name just a few. On the flip side, this increase in domestic cats also seems to be related to an increase in the average lifespan in developed nations. Are you beginning to see why I’m conflicted?
July 4th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Amen to that, Clark. Cats clearly do cause quite of bit of confusion and (dare I say) ennui in many individuals. Several wars are reported to be cat-related. Some even speculate that the whole cat allergy phenomenon is nothing but a hoax to hide their real intentions of world domination.
Yet they can be pretty dang cute.
Tough to argue your points this time, buddy.
July 4th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
We outlawed cats in Belvidere some twenty years ago. Everybody knows that they serve as familiars for witches and warlocks, which southern Nebraska is full of these days. They also spread a number of diseases such as cat scratch fever and feline distemper. Many have postulated that they were actually serving as spies for the turkeys. Good ridence I say.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
[…] Mind who also has a hair-raising (or is that fur-raising?) post about cats and allergies entitled, Love/Hate and Spit in his always-informative column, Ask Dr. […]
July 9th, 2007 at 7:19 am
As a person who loves both cats and cobras (yes, I’m crazy), I laughed so hard I nearly choked. Awesome.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:27 am
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