Best Allergy Medicine For Allerigc Asthma

The following post was published on May 7, 2015, at healthcentral.com/asthma.

The Best Allergy Medication for Asthma

About 75 percent of asthmatics also have allergies. So that means controlling asthma may also involve controlling allergies--a task that may not be possible without the assistance of one or more allergy medications. Surely you can try to avoid and control them. But these methods don’t work for everyone.

So the next best option is to talk to your asthma doctor about medicinal options. Some of the best options are:

Asthma Controller Medicine. The first step is to make sure the underlying airway inflammation in your lungs is controlled. This will make your airways less sensitive to allergens. It may also make inevitable asthma attacks less severe when they do occur.

Asthma Rescue Medicine. It is of utmost importance that any person with allergic asthma have rescue medicine nearby at all times. You may feel fine now, but you never know when you might be exposed to one of your allergic asthma triggers.

Leikotriene Antagonists. Leikotrienes are chemicals released during the allergic response that produce both allergy symptoms and asthma. Medicines such as Singulair, Accolate, and Zyflo block their effects to prevent and control the allergic and asthma responses.

Antihistamines. Histamine is another chemical released during the allergic response and is responsible for causing many of those annoying allergy symptoms. Medicines such as Claritin, Zyrtec, and Benadryl reduce histamine in your body, thereby reducing allergy symptoms.

Allergy shots. When allergies are not controlled by medicine, this is the next best option your doctor might recommend. This includes a series of shots meant to desensitize your body to the various allergens causing your symptoms.

Other. If the above treatments don’t relieve all your symptoms, there are still other medicines your doctor might recommend, such as decongestants to relieve your stuffy nose to make breathing easier, or eye drops to relieve itchy eyes.

Note:  There is one other allergy medicine that I did not list in the healthcentral post that I will here.  It is Cold Medicine.  I personally think benadryl works best for allergies, although it makes you tired.  The next best medicine is pretty much any cold medicine, such as Sudafed, Sudafed PE, etc.

So, despite the ubiquitous nature of allergies, there are some things we can do to help alleviate symptoms and make breathing easier. It’s always a good idea to work with your physician, and finding the best treatment may be a matter of trial and error.

Further reading

• Dust Mites: The Dirty Asthma Trigger
• Treating Allergies With Allergy Shots
• Ragweed Season is Upon Us
• Fall Allergy Season is Upon US
• Gallant Asthmatics Know and Know How to Avoid Asthma Triggers
• Clean up Your Air For Better Allergy Control
• Why do Allergies Trigger Asthma? What Can You Do?
• Hardluck Asthma: The Best Allergy Medicine is Cold Medicine

Why are food allergies on the rise???

A new study has come out showing that 1 out of every 20 school age children suffers from allergies, with the most common food allergy (in China at least) being shrimp.

Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong studied over 5,000 children between 7 and 12 from the mainland, Hong Kong, Russia and India, and observed the rising trend of food allergy cases.

Obviously there is not one specific reason researchers can point their finger at as being the exact cause, yet they theorize that more children are developing food allergies because they aren't being exposed to enough germs.

That's right, as I discuss in this post, the hygiene hypothesis is an educated guess that says when an infant's immune system is not exposed to certain bacteria in the first three months of life it's immune system gets bored and starts attacking things we'd consider safe, such as allergens.

When we keep our child's environment clean we think we are doing something good, yet the hygiene hypothesis notes we may have taken clean overboard.

Thus, according to the studies experts, " the body's immune system cannot differentiate between bacteria and food enzymes. When antibodies attack food enzymes, it leads to what we know as food allergies."

So what do you do if you suspect your child has a food allergy. It actually depends. First you'll want to identify the food, and this can be done through allergy testing. Yet even if your child comes up positive for a certain food doesn't mean you should eliminate that food from his diet.

I know that some foods showed up on my allergy testing, yet since my doctors observed no significant evidence any foods were triggering asthma, they didn't eliminate any food from my diet. Taking away foods can be challenging, especially if these foods are eggs and wheat or fun foods.

So I was lucky. Yet a few of my asthmatic friends were not so lucky. Evidence showed that certain foods were triggering their asthma and allergy symptoms, and so they had to have certain foods taken out of their diet.

If the reaction to a certain food causes a rash, or difficulty breathing, then it should definitely be taken out of the diet. This might pose a challenge for school aged children because any one responsible for feeding the child must take responsibility for not feeding the child what he is allergic to.

This can pose a problem with school lunches especially if the people preparing the food are not aware of food allergies and prepare food that does not have what your child is allergic to --we'll say peanuts -- in it, for example, on the same surface a food with peanuts was just prepared.

This can also pose a problem in restaurants where food is prepared. You might ask for a food without peanuts, and you might get food with no peanuts in it. Yet you don't know if that food was exposed to peanuts.

Yet with improved vigilance and improved education, no child with a food allergy should come into contact with any food he's allergic to. While this is just one study, it provides evidence to all of us that food allergies are prevalent in our society, and we must do our part to educate ourselves.

Likewise, with the rising number of kids with food allergies, this might provide an incentive for researchers and scientists and those with the power to allocate money to such things, to work to find a cure or at least a better treatment for allergies.

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Is it a cold or allergies

So you feel miserable. You have nasal congestion, and a downright horrible, uncomfortable feeling that has taken your energy and even your sense of humor away. Now you are wondering what you should do for it. The answer depends on whether you have a cold or allergies.

How do you tell the difference? According to EveryDayHealth.com, the answer can come from the answer to this question: Does it cause an itch. If your symptoms cause eye, nose and throat itchiness, then what you have is allergies, because a cold will never cause an itch.

An allergy is your bodies response to common allergens, such as dust mites, cock roach urine, molds, fungus, etc. A common cold is your bodies response to virus's that attack your body

Here are some common allergy symptoms:

1. Difficulty breathing through nose from mucus buildup and swelling of sinus tissue
2. Sneeze
3. Cough
4. Sore throat
5. Headache

Ehow has some tips on treating the common cold. Most colds go away in 3-7 days, yet some will last longer. There really isn't much we can do yet to get rid of a cold, which are generally caused by viruses. Usually we just treat the symptoms.

Some therapies involve drinking lots of fluid to help you moisten your mucus membranes so you can cough up the junk. Some scientific evidence shows that eating or drinking hot or spicy chicken noodle soup helps ease symptoms of sore throat and headache.

Nasal decongestants have been proven to actually trap bacteria, so it is recommended you do not take these unless you absolutely have to.

Flushing your sinuses with a nasal decongestant wash may help with your symptoms. You may also take an expectorant to help move secretions, and this works best if you are drinking lots of fluid, like 8-10 cups of water per day (which is something you should do anyway).

Gargling warm salt water can help ease the sore throat. Keep warm. Avoid other people, and there are a variety of other still not yet scientifically proven methods such as eating honey that may give some relief but do not necessarily get rid of the cold.

Here are some common allergy symptoms:

1. Itchy eyes, nose and throat
2. Sneezing
3. Sore throat
4. Runny or stuffy nose
5. Cough
6. Post Nasal drip

Allergies can be treated with nasal decongestants and antihistamines. Although, more recently, they can be treated with newer meds, and even prevented altogether, by taking leukotriene blockers like Singulair and Accolate. You can also take Zyrtec or Clariton to ease the symptoms. I find the combination of Singulair and Clariton work great to PREVENT allergies, and to treat them when they occur.

Actually, Singulair is more of a preventative medicine, and, when needed, especially around allergy season in the spring, that clariton can both prevent and treat allergies. This is neat, because before Clariton, there was nothing that could be done to prevent or treat allergy symptoms.

Another thing that can be done is to avoid your allergy triggers, such as dust mites and molds, etc. Yet this can often be hard to do, especially when you have to get outside in the spring, or if you work around things you are allergic to. Or if you're poor and don't have money to buy a new, allergy proof home.

So allergies are a lot easier to treat than the common cold symptoms, and the basic way to tell the difference is by noticing: Does it itch, or does it not to itch?

For more information, check out this link about deviated septums that can be caused from chronic nasal congestion due to allergies.

Antihystamines cause weight gain?

So this makes me feel real good. According to the Vancouver Sun, "Antihistamine use linked to extra pounds," people who use antihystamines for allergies are more likely to be overweight.

Learning this, and coming to the realization recently that inhaled corticosteroids like Advair can also cause weight gain, makes me realize why I have so much trouble shedding off the poundage.

It also explains why I gain weight so fast when I stop working out. And may also explain why I'm always hungry even after I just ate.

Although it's also a good excuse. Yet it's an incentive for us asthmatics and folks with allergies to work out more. Because Lord knows I'm not going to stop taking antihystamines.

The article notes that, "Among the 268 antihistamine users, 45 percent were overweight, versus 30 percent of the 599 study participants not on the medications."

While the study notes a link, it does not say antihystamines actually cause people to be overweight. One might think that those who have allergies are more likely to stay at home and away from the allergens, and perhaps are more likely to be sedentary.

I'm just speculating here, although I bet I'm right. It's kind of the same thing with the link between Tylenol and asthma, where Tylenol doesn't necessarily cause asthma, it's just that asthmatics have more pain.

However, the article does note there might be a scientific reason why people who take antihystamines might gain weight:

"Histamine is a chemical produced in the body that is best known for its role in promoting the inflammation associated with allergic responses; blocking histamine is a good thing when it comes to relieving hay fever symptoms, for instance.

But cells throughout the brain have receptors for histamine, and the chemical appears to have a hand in a number of physiological functions -- with appetite control and calorie burning being among them.

So in theory, Ratliff explained, antihistamines could contribute to overeating and slower fat breakdown."

Likewise, the article notes that, "On average, antihistamine users had a higher body mass index (BMI) -- at about 31, which falls into the category of obesity. That compared with a BMI of about 28 among non-users, which correlates to being moderately overweight. BMI is a standard measure of weight in relation to height used to gauge obesity."

More studies are needed, because there are over 50 million Americans with allergies and 30-50% use antihystamines.

Half of all adults develop allergies, study shows

My wife was sniffling and sneezing the other morning, and she said, "I've never had an allergy in my life, and now I'm 30 and all of a sudden I think I'm having an allergic reaction to something. Is it possible to develop allergies as you age?"

My initial answer was not. From my previous research, I figured that if one was to develop an allergy it would be developed when we are small children, as I wrote about in my post, "The Hygeine Hypothesis."

Yet a new study reported at "The Medical News," showed that IgE levels increase as we age. Researchers at the National Center for Health and Statistics "observed a highly statistically significant increase of IgE, a type of antibody associated with allergic reactions."

By comparing this recent study with a similar one done in 1970, scientists were able to determine that IgE levels basically double by the time we reach the age of 55. In fact, the study showed that over half the population developed one or more allergy by the age of 55.

When someone first develops an allergy as an adult it usually goes unnoticed, and is thought to be a common cold. For this reason, doctors and allergists need to be trained to pick up on new allergies, do proper testing, and help people cope with their new allergy.

"Were you sick with allergies yesterday?

As reported here in the Los Angeles Times, Gallup released a poll "while you were sleeping" that showed that 85% of Americans were not sick yesterday with allergies. What might make this poll most interesting is "perhaps, because it has nothing to do with politics."

So 15% of you were sick yesterday, and only 17% were sick last September. That's a percentage about the same as the approval numbers for Congress.

Gallup has been keeping track of who is sick with allergies since 2008, and have specifically been asking, "Were you sick with allergies yesterday?"

The report specifically notes that these results are self reported, and not based on medical diagnosis. So the results could actually be higher or lower, or mistaken for cold or flu symptoms.

To learn how to differentiate between cold, flu and allergy symptoms, click here.

Despite my personal opinion I wrote about here, this fall allergy season (2010) compares statistically with 2008, and is slightly worse than 2009 (see graph).

Overall, the report shows that even during the winter months 1 in 10 Americans are sick with allergies. This shows that allergies may have a significant effect on many of our lives, and is an important "diagnosis" to be funded, researched, and hopefully cured.

Yet despite advancements in allergy treatment and wisdom, there still isn't very much that can be done for many allergy sufferers, including myself. The best way to treat allergies is by avoidance of triggers, yet this is easier said than done as I wrote here.

Do you have allergies? How are your allergies this time of year? What time of year are your allergies worse? Discuss.

Allergy meds linked to obesity, heart disease

This new study shows that allergies might be linked with heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, and this new study shows that antihistamines used to treat allergy symptoms might be linked with putting on extra pounds.

How's that for a double whammy to start your week. Of course I also have another post,"Does Advair cause weight gain," where I explain the concern that inhaled corticosteroids (such as what is in Advair) may also be linked to putting on extra poundage. Plus we all know by now that a nice big black box warning is on Advair linking it with asthma related deaths.

The thing is, though, that allergies cause such miserable symptoms, we asthmatics often have no choice but to take antihistamines like Claratin. Ironically, just prior to writing this post I woke up with the sniffles and popped a Walatin, a generic form of Clariton. What else was I to do, suffer?

If you've ever suffered from allergy symptoms, you'll know it's nothing you want to just take lying down, and sniffling, and wiping, and perhaps even wheezing. Just that downright miserable feeling -- kind of like a bad cold -- pretty much forces your hand at taking some medicine, if available, to ease the suffering.

Likewise, as with any medicine, you have to weight the advantages with the disadvantages, and in the case of antihistamines it's worth it.

However, it must also be noted that allergies/asthma has also been linked with obesity, as you can read here. And obesity itself increases your risk for heart disease, as we all should know by now.

Likewise, obesity is also linked to worsening asthma, as you can read here. Scientists believe that certain chemicals released from fat tissue may trigger bronchospasm.

Plus those with asthma/ allergies may have a lowered self esteem and not adhere to their medicine regime and not take care of their bodies by eating right and exercising as they should.

Yet this also provides us asthmatics/ allergy sufferers another added incentive to eat right and to exercise. Not only will this help us shed the pounds, it will also make our lungs and even our heart stronger.

deviated septum

One of the complications of a lifetime of allergies is a deviated septum. This is where constant allergies, and constant rubbing or wiping of your nose, can lead to one side of your septum becoming crooked over time, and maybe even partially or wholly blocking one of the passages.

The septum is made of cartilage, and is the part of your nose that divides the right nasal passage from the left, as you can see in the picture to the right. As you can see, in the picture the septum is deviated to the left. Since here it's deviated left, it may force the person to breath out of the right nare. If the right nostril is blocked with secretions, then the person is often forced to be a mouth breather.

This is basically what happened to me, your humble RT. I have had allergies since an early date, and my mother even told me stories about how I used to have to stand in the front of the car instead of the back because my noisy breathing irritated my brothers (note, if we stood in cars today at all the people who would frown. It was accepted normal back in the 1970s).

Until recently there wasn't really much one could do for nasal congestion and seasonal allergies other than the typical nasal wash or decongestants or antihistamines. Yet when I was a really little kid my doctors recommended I not take any antihistamines because they believed it would trigger asthma. Do you believe that? To me, allergies is worse than asthma because at least for asthma you can take something, or at least go to the emergency room and get something.

Today, however, there are a lot of things that can be taken for allergies and nasal congestion, such as singulair and accolate and clariton. Still, however, there are warnings on some of these medicines that scare some parents away. I personally think the risks associated with these medicines is far less severe than the lifetime of risks associated with allergies and congestion and deviated septums.

Can you imagine the kid who has a runny nose all the time, is wiping his nose and sneezing, and is generally uncomfortable, at school and getting picked on all the time because of it. Or who has constant headaches and is in a glum mood because his parents and teachers have no clue what is going on. And then the kid has trouble reading and gets put in with the slow kids, even though he is not slow at all but just sick.

See, that's kind of how it was for me when I was a kid. Thankfully, there's wisdom today to notice, treat and prevent such things from occurring. Yet there are doctors and parents who still don't heed all this wisdom. Which is why I started my blog -- to educate.

So if you have constant headaches, nasal congestion, and the likes, you should get it treated right away. If you notice your child rubbing his nose constantly, notice this is a sign of allergies and congestion, and can lead to a deviated septum if not treated.

I remember my mom telling me once she always knew when I was present by all the tissues being left around. Then, when I was 23 and diagnosed with a deviated septum, and had the surgery to correct this, the need for tissues all the time went away.

Then once medicines like Singulair and Clariton came about, the allergies went away too. Amazing isn't it?

Anyway, the surgery wasn't that bad. I basically had to lie on my back for 24-48 hours, and spend one night in a hospital. It really didn't hurt so bad, just a little uncomfortable around the face.

You should know when you have surgery on your nose it also effects your eyes. It makes you cry, and it can make your eyes black and blue too. Although I don't recall my eyes getting black and blue.

Allergies and congestion of the nasal passages can cause complications not just short term but long term especially in kids. So notice the signs early, and prevent and treat. For more information, check out this link.

Is it a cold or allergy?

Sometimes I have the usual symptoms of a cold or allergy, and can't tell which one I have. You know the feeling: It's springtime, pollen is out and about, and yet your daughter has had the sniffles for two weeks.

Hmmm, which one do I have? Well, I've come upon this article which had the table you see below. Perhaps it will be of some use to you some day.

Tips for the challenge of traveling with asthma

There is nothing worse than traveling with asthma. I'm telling you, I've had just about every possible miserable experience a person with asthma can go through. And, for that reason, I think I am more than qualified to create a top 11 list of tips for traveling with asthma.

Before I ever had an inhaler, sometime pre-1980, my mom forgot to take my Alupent Syrup, and as soon as I got to the hotel my asthma hit. Since it wasn't possible to transfer prescriptions to distant pharmacies back then, my parents went to the drug store and gave me cough drops to suck on. I remember almost choking that night.

When I was 11 or 12 (1980-81) my parents gave me the responsibility for my own asthma medicines. Well, after we traveled 10 hours and got to the hotel, I realized my inhaler was empty.

Twice when I was 14 I visited relatives, only to learn I was allergic to something in their homes. Since back then asthmatics were not allowed to take antihistamines (at least according to my doctor), I ended up in the ER of some out-of-state hospital.

Most people if they forget to take their pillows they simply use what is available in the hotel room. When I did that when I was kid with hardluck asthma I ended up ghasping for air all night long. It's possible that's the same night I forgot my Theophylin pills.

When I was older I visited my brother's home with the intent on partying with my brother and some friends, only I ended up with a runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezes because I was allergic to something in his house.

Oh, and I will never forget when mom and dad got caught up in a major blizzard on the way back to Michigan from Florida and we had to spend the night in some low-class hotel. The room we stayed in was a smoking room, and my asthma was awful that night.

So I can give you some great asthma/allergy traveling tips. I am not a doctor. Yet instead of my advice coming from an expert sitting in an office, my tips come right from things I personally experienced as an asthmatic with terrible allergies.

So, to find out what my tips are, click here and I will morph you over to my asthma blog where you can read, "11 tips for traveling with Asthma".

11 Tips For Traveling With Asthma
by Rick Frea Wednesday, May 20, 2009 @MyAsthmaCentral.com

So your job has you weary eyed and ready for a vacation. You decide to pack your bags and travel to... where? It doesn't matter, because wherever you go, when you have asthma you have no choice but to plan ahead.

That in mind, I have compiled 11 tips for traveling with asthma I learned from personal experience. Here goes:

1. Don't forget your allergies: If you're like me, you've spent the night at a family member's home (or a friend's) only to develop a sinus headache, runny nose, watery eyes and wheezes. You learned the hard way you were allergic to something in your relative's home.

The best solution here is to avoid places you are allergic to. Hotels are always an option (see below). However, if avoidance isn't posible, you can try taking over the counter antihistamines. Or, if that doesn't work, you can talk to your doctor about leukotriene blockers like Singulair, if you are not taking it already.

2. Don't forget your Rescue Medicine: Listen, I don't care if you haven't used your rescue inhaler in over a year, if you go on vacation take it with you -- just in case. No excuses!

If you have a nebulizer, bring it with you too. And don't forget the solvents that go with it. They won't do you any good if they are 400 miles away.

In the ER we RTs see lots of asthmatic vacationers, most of them would not have needed our services had they simply remembered their rescue medicine.

3. Make sure your meds are not expired: Before you leave, check the dates on all your medicine. If it's been in the medicine cabinet for more than a year, consider it expired. This is especially true of rescue inhalers like Ventolin. The last thing you need on a vacation is a rescue inhaler that has no potency.

4. Don't forget your Preventative meds: The last thing you want is to travel miles from home only to realize you forgot your Advair or Symbicort. Sure you might be fine a few days, but eventually your asthma may show it's ugly head without this medicine in your system as I describe in this post.

5. Pharmacies can be your saving grace: I used to get my prescriptions filled at Rite Aid because they are located in many vacation spots. I could easily have my prescription transferred to where I was staying. You can take advantage of this too in case you are forgetful. Walgreens, Walmart, K-Mart and other pharmacies offer similar programs.

However, most pharmacies are more than happy to help you out by transferring your meds to their store.

6. Keep a list of meds and a letter from your doc: Just in case you have to make a pit stop in an ER. The letter should state that you have asthma and the list of your currently prescribed medicines. It also helps to list what has worked best for you in the past.

7. Keep your meds with you at all times: I like to carry mine in the same bag I keep bathroom essentials in. Try keeping them in your carry-on bag. That way if my luggage gets lost, I still have these essential supplies on hand.

8. Avoid smoke-filled restaurants and bars: If you have to eat at a restaurant that has a smoking section, ask to be seated far from the nearest smoking table as possible (of course this tip should be followed whether you are on vacation or not.)

9. Avoid alcohol: Okay, so this isn't always easy. Just keep in mind that alcohol may act as an asthma trigger (click here to learn more). At least try to limit your consumption.

10. Don't skimp on hotels: You may have to set your frugal tendencies aside here, because when it comes to a hotel room you must be picky. You don't want to end up in a cheap, run down musty room that once hosted a shaggy dog and a smoker. I've had that room and my lungs didn't like it.

Planning ahead is the best route here. Although sometimes we travelers drive until we are weary and tired of kids screaming in the backseat, sowe pull over at the nearest hotel. Don't be fooled by the discount hotel; you never know what you're going to get.

11. Don't forget your pillows: This is especially true if you have sensitivity to certain materials. Besides, it's nice to have one so you can rest comfortably when someone else is driving.

So there you have it. If you have any tips you would like to share, please feel free to add them in the comment section below.

Asthma rule #1: Take your Singulair as ordered

I know (I know-I know) asthma experts like me preach you should never tinker with your medicine. And I know (I know-I know) we preach you should always take your medicine exactly as prescribed by your doctor.

But I did it anyway. I decided that Singulair is way too expensive at $30 per month, or $1 a pill. And that is with insurance. For those who don't have insurance you get 30 pills for $79, which comes to about $2.63 per pill.

Either way, that's a lot of money. And since there are no generic Singulair type medicines available, my insurance requires me to pay a certain percentage of the actual cost. Otherwise, for prescriptions that are reasonably priced I pay a $10 co-pay.

So, in order to try to spread out my prescription over two months, I decided that since I was feeling so well I'd take a pill every other day instead of every day. For the first month this seemed to be working quite well and I thought I was on to something.

But then over this past weekend it hit me. Thankfully I didn't have trouble with my asthma (thanks to Advair), but I did have a major case of the eye itches, sneezes, and runny nose.

Of course this could have been a coincidence, as it is true that many experts note that Singulair is not an antihystamine to stop the symptoms I describe, but a leukotriene blocker intended to block allergies from causing bronchospasm.

Yet I'm quick to attribute this to my Singulair trial, especially considering last spring I showed no symptoms of allergies for the first time in my entire life.

Some people who don't have as severe of allergies as me (I'm allergic to pretty much everything outdoors) may be able to get by taking a pill every other day, but that strategy won't work for me -- at least during the spring season.

I know (I know-I know) I shouldn't tinker with my medicine, but on occasion I find this is a good thing to do, for no other reason than to prove to yourself that the medicines you are on are working great, as opposed to just assuming (as some doctors do).

It's kind of a checks and balance system I like to use. So now I'm back to taking it every day, despite the high price.

I imagine some of you guideline followers might email me a "Smack!" or a "Kick" in the rump for doing something so stupid. Go ahead and do so, because I deserve it.

"Achoooooooo!"

This topic came up in the comments section of my blog and Amy's blog, and my most recent response became so long I decided just to turn it into a post.

Here's the deal. There is this "really cute cat" down the street from us, and it is "free."

My wife is trying to convince me that Singulair should prevent an asthma flair. Plus, she read somewhere that most people aren't allergic to cats per se, but to their saliva. Cats lick themselves to clean themselves, and that causes the allergic response. So, as per her source, if you wash the cat daily, you shouldn't have a problem with allergies.

Now, the gamble is, once you have a pet in your house, it walks the whole house, and if you do find out you are allergic to it, there's no way you will ever get all of the allergen out of your house. It will be there forever.

That's the argument I hang to when the subject "CAT" comes up. Now she has my 5 YO winking her cute little eyes at me saying, "Please, dadda, please..." It's not easy saying no to that.

(Ironically, I wrote about cats on my other blog just yesterday. Go figure.)

On a side note, we haven't done so well with pets in the past. When we first got married we simply "had to" get a dog. Mind you, I love dogs, but when you live in town, a barking dog can cause a lot of stress for an owner, especially when the neighbors keep calling the police.

But that wasn't the half of it. We had a fenced in yard, and we thought that would suffice. But the dog learned that it could dig a whole under the fence, and roam the town, causing havoc with other dogs. After the police gave me a ticket for this, I had no choice but to find a new loving home for this dog, even though I really liked it other than these two things. I even taught it to walk on two legs.

We "had to" get a hamster once too. But it somehow kept getting out of its cage. About the fourth time this happened I realized that my boy, then four, was opening up the cage every time he went to the bathroom alone.

Well, one day the hamster didn't look so good. We figured it got into the rat poison in the basement. No more hamsters.

We had fish too, but for the life of me (no pun intended), I could not keep fish alive either.

Thank God we are better at raising humans than raising pets.

So, now "we just have to" have a cat.

I'm not allergic to dogs or hamsters, and even though cats don't bother me, the test did show a positive result for cats. So, I'm sticking to that argument.

However, my wife and both my kids ask me at least 20 times a day. All it takes is one weak moment, so their strategy might pay off.

Besides, how can a dad say no to the little girl in the pic.

"Daddy, please..."