Most of you who regularly read my blog know that I’ve been going to school to become a veterinary technician and have been since 2005, off and on. Off, because I took a semester off to live in New Orleans for 3 months to do animal rescue post-Hurricane Katrina.
So, flash forward a year and a half and I’ve been going part-time to school and working part-time. It’s a two year program, so I finished half of it. Over the course of several months, however, I start to develop some sort of allergic reaction to something. It was so bad, that it causes me to develop eczema and moderate asthma (enough so that I have to use a “rescue” inhaler sometimes).
Of course, it took me forever to make it to the doctor, but I finally went in for a blood allergy test. I get my blood taken and my doc sends them to some lab somewhere for testing. She tells me she will call with the results when they come in. Three weeks later, on the way out of town during Memorial Day weekend, I get a call from her. The top three things that I’m allergic to:
#3 – Dust
#2 – Dust mites
and now for the kicker….
#1 – Cats
So, you see, I had to put my dream of becoming a veterinary technician on permanent hiatus. Sure, there are treatments for allergies to cats, like getting regular shots to build up an immunity, but that only applies to ones own felines, not patients I’d be treating. At home, I’m mostly okay, because of two very powerful air purifiers and a Roomba who does my bidding. 😉
Since it’s asked of me often when someone finds out… no, I will never EVER get rid of my cats. A few tweaks in my environment and a couple of shots are more than worth the love and enjoyment they give back in spades.
Tags: allergy, asthma, blood allergy test, cats, dust, dust mites, eczema
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