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MIL vent
...because my sisters and friends IRL aren't sharing my outrage fast enough 
Okay, so MIL has been convinced for years that DH's allergy meds
are going to kill him (he takes Zyrtec D bc he's allergic to cats, trees, mold, pollen, dust, and a handful of other REALLY common things). Whatever. So now, he just got diagnosed with
some new fun stomach stuff. Some of it can aggravate asthma, so that's
part of why he has attacks maybe once a week (mild).
Now she's convinced that it's our cats that are causing this, and we should really consider getting rid of them. (Allergy side note - allergies can vary based on the type of cat. Most importantly, you can get used to a particular cat(s), and that cat's dander won't bother you anymore, or at least not to the same degree - he doesn't even always remember his meds at home and he's fine)
Yep, she's serious.
Never
mind the fact that no doctor has made any connection between any of
these new things and his allergies. And the fact that his allergies
when we're at home are now quite calm. And the fact that he says his
allergies are much better now than they were when he was a kid - you
know, when she was in charge. And you know, totally forget the fact
that we love them. They're just cats, you know.
But we should totally consider getting rid of the cats, and it was really selfish of me to force him to live with them.
This has been a running joke in our house for the past week, because OMG.
So
now, he just got off the phone with her, because it's her birthday and
he had to call. She was back on it. She wants him to live for a month
without the cats and see how he feels.
SHE SERIOUSLY JUST OFFERED TO PAY FOR HIM TO LIVE IN A HOTEL FOR A MONTH.
There are no words.
Re: MIL vent
Lordy, she must hate cats! Does she think the cats are causing the stomach problems?? I've never heard of anyone's cat allergies manifesting as stomach problems.
Probably best not to leave you MIL alone with the cats... or allow her into your house when you're not home... I'd be afraid of her...doing something...to the cats, if she's that obsessed about their potential dangers.
By the way, has your husband considered allergy shots? I'm allergic to all that stuff too (minus the cats, thank goodness), and the allergy shots seem to be helping a lot.
Also, my husband was super super super allergic to cats, and he lost his cat allergies completely after being forced to live with two cats for about 6 months (he was living with a friend at the time). He took medicine for it and was able to survive living with them. Then we decided to get our own cat, he discovered he no longer needed the medicine at all! He can even be around other people's cats now... pretty amazing difference.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
I honestly don't know what her logic is connecting the two. But she's convinced it's their fault somehow.
I don't think she'd do anything, but I've told DH he needs to be FAST on the responses when we see them in two weeks otherwise there's no way I'm going to be able to be civil.
He did the shots for a while, but had some issue with them - I can't remember what. If he ever had a serious problem, that's probably what we'd do again.
We've definitely seen the same effects with our cats. He had an adjustment period when we got our first cat, and again with the second, but that was TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO. So we're fine now.
I'm sorry; that's really outrageous. A lot of people have no concept of what it means to commit to an animal and that you simply don't get rid of a pet.
I think your DH just needs to tell her that you two are committed to the cats and that you simply will not get rid of them, so she needs to stop talking about it. And then, when she brings it up again, tell her "Mum (I envision him saying Mum because he's British
), I told you the cat discussion is closed. Would you like the pepper?"
That said, it isn't entirely crazy for her to have theorized that the issues are connected. Our bodies are sort of crazy, interconnected machines, and I sometimes think Western medicine doesn't pay enough attention to how everything works together. OF course, I still don't think you should get rid of the cats.
I'm reasonably sure the dust/mold/pollen/tree/grass issue is WAY worse than the cats anyways.
She's freaking nuts.
FWIW, several sources in the medical community have told me immunotherapy (allergy shots) actually aren't all that effective for animal allergies.
Many people don't get the idea that animals aren't disposable.
She's being ridiculous.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Thanks for making me feel sane, guys!
I'm just so glad that DH is on my side and knows she's totally nuts. It's going to be ...interesting... when we see them next.