Our Golden Boy

So I've been sick for a few weeks (head cold) which developed into what I thought was pink eye last week. I'm still not sure on the exactness, but I had a "pink" eye that was itchy and developed some "gunk" in the corner of my eye. Lucky for me, Eric had some eye drops so I began using them. It wasn't bad to begin with, and then got better over the next few days.

In the meantime I stopped taking the allergy medication that was recommended to me. I don't have allergies, but every doctor here says Middle Tennessee sits in a bowl that collects allergens and "everyone who lives here has allergies." I didn't believe them, so I stopped taking the meds. The "pink eye" came back. So I had a PA look at me on Sunday (friend from church) and said, as if there is no other explanation, "You have allergies, take the medication."

Last night I was in a particularly cuddly mood and my husband HATES to cuddle, so I begged and begged to have the cat sleep with us. I still can't believe he caved, but he did. In the first few minutes, Max got STRIKE 1 as he was pouncing on Eric's feet. Over the next few minutes Max got STRIKE 2 as he climbed across Eric's head. I was determined to make it through the night, so I grabbed Max under the covers and held him tight for about 30 minutes (hoping he would fall asleep). Somewhere around 1 am Eric locked Max out of our room. Somewhere around 8am I woke up with my eyes swollen shut. Hmmm...

So I've been doing some research and I truly think I might be allergic to my cat. It's heartbreaking really. But it makes sense. Kittens don't carry as many allergens, they develop as the cat grows... our little Max is just 5 months, and developing those darn allergens. They also say male cats carry more allergens than female cats. I'll be doing some more experimenting... giving Max a bath, doing some extra cleaning, and taking the darn eye drops to see how this develops in the coming weeks. And Eric will be THRILLED to hear that Max can't sleep with us anymore.