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Allergic Mother Loses Attempt to Prohibit Kids' Contact With Cat
New York Law Journal ^ | 04/30/2008 | Vesselin Mitev

Posted on 04/30/2008 2:21:51 PM PDT by MrLegalReform

A woman who claimed that she is allergic to her ex-husband's cat cannot prevent their two children from visiting their father's home, a Long Island, N.Y., judge has ruled.

(Excerpt) Read more at law.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: allergic; cat; custody
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To: MrLegalReform; Slings and Arrows

Kitty Ping!


21 posted on 04/30/2008 3:48:27 PM PDT by oprahstheantichrist (Stop calling them "liberals," they're Bolsheviks!)
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To: VictoryGal
How does this woman live??? The whole world is filled with people who own cats.

I agree it's a damn shame, so many cats and so little time. Need new shovel.

:^)

22 posted on 04/30/2008 3:55:32 PM PDT by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
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To: Gay State Conservative
People die from allergic episodes.I saw it during my 20 years of working in a big hospital’s ER.Is the mother playing a game here? Possibly.But if her allergic episodes can be documented then I think getting rid of the cat is a viable option (of last resort).

I know people can die from allergic episodes. I've nearly done it myself. I adore cats, but am extremely allergic to them. But so what? If the kids are exposed to cat dander, all they have to do is clean up when they get home. Clothes go in the washing machine (hot water and hot dryer, please), and kids go in the bathtub.

I'm not going to discuss the merits of the woman's position here. Yes, it's suspicious that she decided she was allergic to her ex's cat as soon as he stopped paying the mortgage. He may have left her and the kids high and dry financially, forced to sell the family house in a terrible market and with no decent place they can afford to live on whatever income she makes. We can't really comment unless we know both sides of the story. But I do know that it would be exceptionally cruel to kick the cat out because of the allergies of someone who doesn't even live with it. That is not an option, even an option of last resort. She needs to either wash her kids or take a Benadryl.

23 posted on 04/30/2008 3:59:29 PM PDT by ottbmare
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To: beaversmom; Slings and Arrows; Glenn; republicangel; Bahbah; Beaker; BADROTOFINGER; etabeta; ...
I can't have children - the cats are allergic.


24 posted on 04/30/2008 4:28:49 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("Code Pink should guard against creating stereotypes in the Mincing Community." --Titan Magroyne)
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To: Slings and Arrows
IM IN UR HOUS

AGAVATN UR ALRGEEZ

Could I get you ta put me on the Kitty list?

25 posted on 04/30/2008 4:44:05 PM PDT by uglybiker (I do not suffer from mental illness. I quite enjoy it, actually.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

BULLSHIT! If she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t have to set foot anywhere near HIS house.

Take this damned allergy Nazism crap, and stuff it where the sun doesn’t shine. The earth doesn’t stop spinning just because somebody has a malfunctioning body.

I’ve nmanaged well over 50 years with asthma, without imposing my problems on others.

BTW, I spent nearly 20 years in critical care: Status Asthmaticus; COPD; lupus; ARF/CRF patients, with badly compromised immune systems; post transplant patients, HIV/AIDS patients you name it. Once back on the street, it was THEIR responsibility, not everybody else’s, to safeguard against exposures.


26 posted on 04/30/2008 4:54:26 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (The Great Obamanation of Desolation, attempting to sit in the Oval Office, where he ought not..)
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To: Lx; Slings and Arrows
Allergic reactions to cat dander and/or cat saliva inspire one of the most common reasons people cite for disliking cats. Some humans who are allergic to cats—typically manifested by hay fever, asthma or a skin rash—quickly acclimate themselves to a particular animal and live comfortably in the same house with it, while retaining an allergy to cats in general.

I love cats. I put a cat door on my garage for mine. He slept on the roof of my covered Vette in a little padded cathouse. He lived outside, ate a combo of tuna, canned cat food and crunchies, and we played with him every day. Never had a field mouse problem. His formal name was Boogerhead, but we called him Cat. He lived a long and happy life, for a tamed feral tom. (Yes, we took him to the vet regularly.) The kids especially loved him, and my dogs protected him.

On the down side, I couldn't touch him without immediately washing. My eyes close up, I get a rash and fever, and have serious asthma attacks from being around the wonderous little critters for any amount of time. If I didn't touch him, it wasn't too bad. This isn't a 'take a Benadryl' kinda thing.

It's a Benadryl, Albuteral, oral steroids and an epipen kinda thing, and no, I haven't gotten used to cats. Sadly, I can only be in someone's house who owns a cat for about a half hour max, if I don't touch the cat.

27 posted on 04/30/2008 5:05:57 PM PDT by glock rocks ( Woof.)
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To: ApplegateRanch

Exactly!


28 posted on 04/30/2008 5:06:46 PM PDT by glock rocks ( Woof.)
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To: uglybiker; glock rocks

I almost named my first cat “Allergen.” Luckily I ended up going with “Zia” instead.

uglybiker, yer added to da list.


29 posted on 04/30/2008 5:18:40 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("Code Pink should guard against creating stereotypes in the Mincing Community." --Titan Magroyne)
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To: MrLegalReform

I smell a skunk. LOL Could be that the little Mizzus is still trying to control her ex-hubby? What a little bwitch?


30 posted on 04/30/2008 5:20:49 PM PDT by NRA2BFree ("The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves!")
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To: MrLegalReform
I have a good friend who is (or was) highly allergic to cats. But that didn’t stop her from feeding and eventually taking three neighborhood stray cats into her home.

She had a few really bad reactions and even once went into anaphylactic shock. Her doctor told her to get rid of the cats as she could die and she was crazy if she didn’t. I, even as a cat lover, also thought she was a bit crazy for taking such risks.

But over time her allergy seemed to lessen with the constant exposure. She is still careful about petting the one cat left, washing her hands frequently after handling him and not brushing him in the house, vacuuming with a heppa filter, etc. but otherwise has no real problems anymore.

I have cats. They even sleep in my bed with me. I have co-workers and family members who are very allergic and if they come to my house, they pop a Benadryl and are usually fine as long as they don’t handle the cats or stay too long. But when I go to their houses or to my office, I’ve never had anyone have an allergic reaction from me just because I have cats in my home. Then again I vacuum and wash my clothes regularly and don’t typically leave the house covered in cat fur and dander.
31 posted on 04/30/2008 5:26:56 PM PDT by Caramelgal (Rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words or superficial interpretations)
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To: ApplegateRanch
Wow! Where to start? First question...apart from Status Asmaticus what do any of the ailments you mentioned have to do with a possible cat allergy? Do such allergies cause renal failure...acute or chronic?

AIDS....COPD.....SLE...transplants...totally irrelevant.

Either the mother does or does not have an allergy to the cat in question.If she does then perhaps bathing the kids and washing their clothes before they come home will solve the problem.If these measures don't help then it's 100% reasonable for the mother to ask the court to either order the father to ditch the cat or forfeit his visiting rights.

If the father is reasonable he'll choose parting with the cat.If he wants to play games then he'll fight such an order.If she's faking...or exaggerating...her allergy then she's the one playing games.

And,for the record,some day I might tell you the story of Maria Rodriguez (not her real name)...a woman who was all-too-well known in the ICU and the ER of the large hospital for which I once worked.Long story short....allergy caused asthma....scores and scores and scores of ER visits and ICU admissions over a period of years.Finally,she expired during one of her ICU stays...in her 40's.Don't know if the allergy was cat related,but....

32 posted on 04/30/2008 5:35:59 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Women swooned in Mao's presence too.)
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To: Gay State Conservative
What they have in common is suppressed or impaired immune systems, making a hell of a lot of things in the normal environment potential poison to them, including that runny nosed kid at the store.

My point is that one hell of a lot of people cope on their own, and do not expect the world to conform to their needs.

It is NOT REASONABLE to even seek, let alone obtain the type of order you seem to think is perfectly logical.

The kids can bathe when they get home; they can drop their clothes directly into the laundry, without bringing them into the house proper.

It is control, pure & simple, perhaps on both sides.

And if the ex-hubby, then what of the neighbors? How about the cats at or around businesses? Where does it end?

Again, it is her problem, not anybody else's.

I've lived with & around allergies all of my life, so I have no sympathy for those imposing their troubles on others...and that includes The Dreaded Deadly Peanut Allergy.

It is up to individual to interact with Society on Society's terms; not for Society to conform itself to every individual's needs/wants.

If you are an example of what passes for Conservative in “The Gay State”, then the Libs have already won.

33 posted on 04/30/2008 5:52:44 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (The Great Obamanation of Desolation, attempting to sit in the Oval Office, where he ought not..)
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To: BlueLancer
And she has no close friends, other relatives, or co-workers who have cats?

And the kids don't visit any friends that have cats.

None of her neighbors have any cats, either.

I know of several towns that have "library cats"; she'd be SOL checking out books on how to fake an allergy.

34 posted on 04/30/2008 6:15:58 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (The Great Obamanation of Desolation, attempting to sit in the Oval Office, where he ought not..)
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To: ApplegateRanch
If you are an example of what passes for Conservative in “The Gay State”, then the Libs have already won.

Conservatives here in the Gay State believe that the wellbeing of a human person comes before a housecat.*Every* *single* *time*! I thank God that you were never my doctor."Suck it up,GSC,if your wife wants to smoke those smelly cigars in spite of your just having had a lung transplant that's her right.You just time your breaths around when she exhales!"

35 posted on 04/30/2008 6:30:37 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Women swooned in Mao's presence too.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

Can she get a court to order all of her coworkers at her office to dispatch their cats too?

Sorry, but no. Sure, allergies are real. But those with the allergy need to figure out how to live in the world, not expect the world to adapt to them.

...And don’t even get me started on peanuts in schools.


36 posted on 04/30/2008 6:35:56 PM PDT by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
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To: SpaceBar

Simple solution. My son is HIGHLY allergic to animals. When my daughters come in contact with them outside the house, as soon as they come home, they go right upstairs, and change their clothes, and throw them in the dirty laundry hamper.

Never been an issue.


37 posted on 04/30/2008 6:37:54 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: wendy1946
Must have had at least a dozen of them tell my mother I was allergic to cats when I was a child; if I were allergic to cats, I’d be dead.

Not true at all. Allergies don't always kill.

38 posted on 04/30/2008 6:39:16 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Gay State Conservative
Yup! Definitely a control freak. Her well-being at her home, has nothing to do with his having a cat (or peznut butter; or braqzil nuts; or corn oil; or perfumes etc.) at his home.

Your example defies reality. If Momma demands to smoke that way, the door (and a divorce lawyer) are right over there; feel free to use them.

Maybe the real solution is for him to take custody of the kids, and leave it to her whetheer she wishes to visit with them or not.

39 posted on 04/30/2008 6:40:45 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (The Great Obamanation of Desolation, attempting to sit in the Oval Office, where he ought not..)
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To: Gay State Conservative
Yup! Definitely a control freak. Her well-being at her home, has nothing to do with his having a cat (or peznut butter; or braqzil nuts; or corn oil; or perfumes etc.) at his home.

Your example defies reality. If Momma demands to smoke that way, the door (and a divorce lawyer) are right over there; feel free to use them.

Maybe the real solution is for him to take custody of the kids, and leave it to her whetheer she wishes to visit with them or not.

40 posted on 04/30/2008 6:40:52 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (The Great Obamanation of Desolation, attempting to sit in the Oval Office, where he ought not..)
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