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“A new way to get rid of your cat, or Folly of the doctor?”

(– Dr Allen Liang, from Breathe Easy, the official magazine of Asthma Auckland, December 1997). A child (not in NZ) was assessed by an allergist because of a recent diagnosis of asthma. An extensive allergy work up showed that the child’s main allergy was to the family tabby cat. A bronchodilator was promptly prescribed and the mother was told to use it if the child appeared to be wheezy or coughing badly. She was informed that the bronchodilator could be used repeatedly in order to achieve control of the child’s symptoms. The cat was also to be banished from the child’s room, along with other measures to reduce cat exposure. A few days later the family took the cat to the vet because she was behaving strangely. She appeared to be nervous, and from time to time was hyperactive and left her food half-finished. The vet, upon checking the cat, felt that she appeared to be all right apart from a fast heart rate, and blamed the nervousness on being rejected by the family. He claimed that this breed of cat was particularly sensitive. However, her condition continued to deteriorate and after progressing to rushing in and out of the house erratically, she was finally run over by a car. Meanwhile, the child’s condition did not improve. At the second visit to the doctor, the mystery of the cat’s demise became obvious instead of the child using the bronchodilator (despite the doctor phoning specifically to instruct on technique!) the mother had been spraying it on the cat, thinking that this would reduce the cat allergy! As the cat licked and preened its fur, it ingested progressive amounts of medication. Bronchodilators are stimulants and the cat reacted with hyperactivity and a fast heart rate. Epilogue: The patient was finally properly instructed about how to use the inhaler. Unfortunately he was found to react adversely to multiple doses and also became overactive. Fearing that her son would be run over in traffic as the cat was, the mother took the child to a paediatrician. The child was started on asthma preventers, the cat allergen slowly reduced with the passage of time, and everyone lived happily ever after (except of course, for the cat!). The moral of the story is: For the mother: Don’t have cats if you have cat-allergic children. For the child: Had he been more aggressive in pulling tabby’s tail when he learned to walk, he might never have had asthma. For the cat: It is better to leave home and find a new family than to have a messy exit. For the Vet: Cats do not suffer from rejection. They OWN their subjects. For the doctor: Make sure that the patient knows exactly what you mean!

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