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.

One short term answer is to use an anti-allergy treatment. Allerpet/C can be applied directly onto the cat and works by cleansing the coat of saliva and dander, preventing the latter from becoming airborne. Take a look at www.allerpet.com for more information.

A new allergy technology called Cleanaer has been awarded the British Allergy Foundation’s seal of approval.

Cleanaer from Aerstream Technology works by dispersing charged particles into the air that bind onto the allergens and remove them. The allergens are replaced with a perfumed fragrance.

A starter kit is priced at £49.99. Cleanaer is available from Boots stores and online from www.cleanaer.com

Are you a cat owner who battles with allergies? Perhaps you are allergic to your own cat? Write and tell us how you cope at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it