5 Tips for Living With Cat Allergens

As we explained in our article “The Truth About Cat Allergens”, cat allergens are caused by a protein in your cat’s saliva, called Fel d 1. This means that any cat, hairless or otherwise, produces allergens and can spread them throughout your home.

So how do we minimize our exposure to cat allergens, while still being able to enjoy the company of our family feline? How do we reduce the amount of environmental cat allergen, while allowing our cat to enjoy their home and human family? 

Establish Cat Free Areas 

Designate your bedroom — and possibly additional rooms in the house — as “cat free”. Your cat may find this off-putting at first, but they will happily adjust if they have several sleeping areas that are specifically “theirs” in alternative areas, at different heights, throughout your home. While we know that cat allergens can travel even into areas that cats aren’t allowed, this can only be part of your plan to reduce cat allergens in your home.

Give Your Cat An Outdoor Space 

While it is not recommended to allow your cats to roam freely outdoors, you can supply safe outside enclosures; known as “catios”, these enclosures often connect with a side or basement window, allowing your cat to happily and safely spend protected time outdoors. Some cats (like the adventure cats we featured in July (link to: Adventure Cats blog) even take to exploring outdoors while wearing a harness and leash, or in specially made backpack carriers.

Bump Up Quality Time With Play

Cats love to snuggle, which can be a challenge if cat allergens are a concern. You can easily replace sitting together on the couch with playtime. Or even teach your cat to do tricks! Cats are surprisingly easy to train; even more so than dogs. Look at Didga (link to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNiL9Hv2V5Q), a domestic shorthair who was rescued from a shelter. She holds the world record for being able to do 24 tricks in one minute. Try getting your own feline companion to retrieve toys, play “toss the treat” or get them to do “high-fives”.

Keep a Cleaning Schedule

Obviously, cleaning, washing and vacuuming regularly is a requirement when sharing a home with a cat — make this a daily priority and it will help reduce potential allergens. 

Try Purina® Pro Plan® LiveClear™ Cat Food

The most ideal situation would, of course, would be to cuddle with our family feline and not worry about cleaning, dander and allergens. That’s where Purina Pro Plan LiveClear comes in — the first and only cat food that has been scientifically created to reduce the allergens in cat hair and dander, by neutralizing the allergen in your cat’s saliva as they eat. It is a complete and balanced diet that your family feline will love. LiveClear will reduce the number of allergens on cat hair and dander by an average of 47% starting in the third week of daily feeding, allowing us to thoroughly enjoy the unique and valuable bond we have with the special cats in our lives and our homes. 

Playtime, “catios” and lots of cat beds are still recommended, but with the help of LiveClear we can reduce our cleaning hours and enjoy more of our feline time.

Want to learn more about cat allergens? Check out the replay of our Facebook Live Event “Hypoallergenic Cats & Other Myths”.

This article was written by feline specialist Dr. Liz O’Brien DVM, DABVP and sponsored by Purina®.