Are you allergic to cats?

Sadly there's a sizeable part of the UK population with an allergy to cats. According to charity National Allergy UK, one in four people in the UK suffer from some form of an allergy, with pet allergies affecting 10% of the population.

What causes the reaction? Well, it's not actaully down to the cat's fur, but molecules of protein (allergens) which come from microscopic skin cells, shed as dander, the cat's urine and skin glands cause the response.

These particles are easily inhaled and during an allergic response the chemical IgE is released by a person's immune system and this in turn triggers the release of histamine, creating cold-like symptoms.

Obviously if you react badly to pets then it makes it very hard to be a cat owner, and visiting cat owning friends and family can be problematic. We at Your Cat know how frustrating it can be to have friends who can't visit!

Allergy clinic Imutest, however, have come up with a revolutionary way of testing if your allergic reaction is actually caused by cats.

The Imutest Cat Allergy Test Kit is a home test kit which detects high levels of IgE allergy antibodies from a drop of blood taken from a simple finger prick in just 30 minutes; a similar process to a hospital test.

The kit is priced at £19.95 and is available online at www.imutest.com.