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Is It Ok To Adopt A Cat If Your Parents Are Allergic: Internet Weighs In

Pet allergies can honestly tear a family apart. Some our pawsome loyal readers might remember the story we did about a severely allergic teenager who was forced to live with her sister's service dog for years. This led her to harbor a ton of resentment, and now she barely sees her family and didn't want to go to her mom's wedding, dramatic right? Today we have a similar yet very different story (the circumstances at least, you'll see soon enough) about an adult woman who lives in her own home, but very close to her parents house. She was wanted a cat her whole life, and held off on getting one because her mom is allergic. Oh, and also, her mom visits her three to four times a week, that's pretty frequently.

When confronted with this dilemma, people on Reddit had a whole lot to say about the situation. We hope you guys scroll down and weigh in yourselves in the comments on this semi-ethical dilemma that this family is facing, but we also hope that if you want to adopt a cat but have a family member with an allergy, that you consider adopting a hairless cat or hypoallergenic breed, they totally don't look like wrinkley old men  with their lack of fur, what are you talking about? But anyway, without further ado, we really hope that you enjoy this post!

Posted by Ellie Dunn
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  • 1
    Font - AITA for considering adopting a cat even though my mom's allergic?

    Hmm, we need way more info here to come to a decision on this issue. Does this woman live with her cat? How allergic is her mom to animals like this? How much would this whole situation impact her mom's life? We'll have to keep reading to find out the answers to these questions.

    Via u/ThrowRAavocado
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  • 2
    Font - I am in my mid-30's. I've wanted a cat all my life, but my mom is allergic. I don't live in the same house as my mom, but she does live in the same neighborhood and visits often (3-4 times per week).

    Ok, if the mom is visiting her daughter this often, a whole three to four times a week, than this could really impact their relationship together. We recommend that the original poster looks into adopting a hairless or hypoallergenic cat and also getting her moms allergies tested to see how severe they are. Sometimes allergies like this go away or get less intense with time.

    Via u/ThrowRAavocado
  • 3
    Font - Tonight I made an offhand comment that after my 14-year-old dog is gone, I may adopt a cat. My dad told me I couldn't do that since my mom is allergic, and I should wait until after my mom has passed to adopt a cat.
    Via u/ThrowRAavocado
  • 4
    Mammal - AITA for not wanting to wait decades more to adopt a cat out of consideration for someone who doesn't even live in my household?
    Via u/ThrowRAavocado
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  • 5
    Font - CrazyBoPeep NTA Get a cat. Don't let people who don't even live with you dictate what you can and can't do in your own home. Your mom can take allergy meds or just avoid the cats or both.
    Via u/CrazyBoPeep
  • 6
    Font - SimplySam4210 NTA Your mom doesn't live there. Are her friends also not getting cats because of her allergy?
    Via u/SimplySam4210
  • 7
    Font - Enough-Towel-2834 If the allergy is severe... YTA. If the allergy is moderate... YTA If mild, I think you're NTA but understand it may affect your relationship a bit. People have varying levels of allergic ranging from mild scratchy throat to a sniffle or full blown hives and clogged head for days. Unfortunately allergies can get worse with time and exposure.
    Via u/Enough-Towel-2834
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  • 8
    Font - ThrowRAavocado OP Yeah, I'd have to see if even having cat hair on my clothes would affect her. If it would be that bad, I wouldn't want a cat in my house. She has neighbors who have two cats and can visit them, but apparently those cats are some kind of anomaly that don't trigger her allergies. They're not even hairless, they're Persian cats.
    Via u/ThrowRAavocado
  • 9
    Font - Kim8mi NTA - You do what you want in your house. Getting a cat means your mom won't be able to visit, and it's understandable that se may get upset, but if your willing to do so and decide for that, they have no say in it. Alas you can still visit your mother instead of her going to your house.
    Via u/Kim8mi
  • 10
    Font - Dan300up YTA if you would that easily forfeit visiting your mother. She obviously won't be able to visit you, and depending on the severity of her allergy, you might not be able to visit her either. CB
    Via u/Dan300up
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  • 11
    Font - honey-smile NAH. If you want a cat, and value that companionship more than your mother's, get a cat. But understand that you will likely be giving up part of your relationship with your mom. Depending on how allergic she is, she may be unable to come visit, or even have you over. Unfortunately, with cat allergies it often doesn't work to just pop an antihistamine, avoid touching your eyes, and/or put the cat in another room. My SO is very allergic, and we can't even have people who own ca
    Via u/honey-smile
  • 12
    Font - LawGrad001 INFO: how allergic is your mom and how positive is your relationship? I'm not talking about how often you see eachother because that doesn't necessarily correlate to a positive or negative relationship. My mom is severely allergic to cats and we have a really positive relationship. If I got a cat- she wouldn't be able to come over to my house at all and I'd really need to be super super careful around her which would probably limit our time together because we wouldn't have the

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    Via u/LawGrad001

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