Hives and allergies

[hyphenate]

I've been dealing with large, bright red patches on my legs for over a week now. They come, they go, but they always accompany insect bites.

I wasn't sure what kind of bite I was getting, thinking them to be those tiny spiders or mites or something, only to find out it was the dreaded flea. Which is something I hadn't considered, since my cats are indoor cats only. However, Oliver likes to go down the back steps to explore, and my friend who lives downstairs had left his door to his apartment open, and his cat did have fleas and does go out.

So now, I have to live with not only horrendously itchy flea bites, but the proliferation of an allergic reaction in the form of hives to the bites. It's been hell.

This kind of allergic reaction isn't exactly new though, as I lived with it extensively as a child. My dermatologist asked me if I had asthma as a child as well, but I didn't, although I was far more sensitive than many kids to certain foods in particular.

Interestingly enough, I never had this severe of a reaction to flea bites in the past--either the bites are getting worse, or it's one of those allergies which slowly reinstate themselves in a person.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Body turns on ya as you get older, IMHO

same with me. No-see-ums produce bad itches, swelling, incredible for such invisible little buggers.
I use the hydrocortisone spray the vet sold us for our dog's itches.
I can buy it much cheaper from Pet Product catalogs that OTC at a drug store.
That stops itching immediately, then I take the good ole 50 mg. Benadryl for the longer lasting hives.
I get hives from things/foods I never used to get.

[Warpy]

2. I get the same reaction to them

and it didn't matter if the cats all had flea collars, they still picked up fleas that lived just long enough to hop off indoors and lay eggs.

My cats used to live outdoors in the summer months, but that was before I lived in coyote country. Now they live 100% indoors and the closest they get to outdoors is their noses pressed against a screen. I don't use flea collars and they remain flea free.

I had a pair of socks I drenched with pennyroyal oil that I wore on top of other socks. That discouraged all but the most determined fleas. At the end of the summer I bit the chemical warfare bullet and flea bombed the house twice a week apart. That got rid of the infestation and the following summer the cats were evicted for the duration.

You are unlikely to have a generalized allergic reaction from the bites, but you are going to have to clean both cats and home of fleas and their eggs. Flea collar the cats and stuff them into their carriers to remove them from the house for a few hours, flea bomb the place twice as I did, and you should be OK.

If you don't do this, you can resign yourself to flea bites year round as fleas continue to thrive in rugs and floors, laying their eggs in any crack and crevice they can find. Microscopic to us is an open barn door to a flea.

Good luck. The only thing worse than flea allergy is chiggers.

[mopinko]

3. does a steamer work for this? bedbugs

like many places in the country, chicago is being hit with an influx of bedbugs. they also hide in rugs, mattresses, and any stuffed furniture, and in between floor boards.
i am told that the best way to get rid of them is a steamer. although someone out there supposedly has a microwave heater that you can seal up in one room at a time, raise the temperature to 140 degrees (i think) and it will kill everything, eggs and all.
i will let you know if i hear anymore about that. the folks at my alderman's office are looking to bring the guy up here.