jsmith: Lighten up! I'm VERY allergic to cats but have yet, in 32 years of European travel, staying at places that might have had a cat in residence, ever had so much as a sniffle. By contrast, I have dear friends whose home I cannot enter as they have two cats who seem to leave dander all over the place that I can tolerate if at all for about 10 minutes.BUT I don't make an international incident over it - I take OTC medicine and just don't touch the cat!
Personally, I think Americans have these exaggerated fears of everything from germs to alleries to smoke to whatever. Get over it! Smear Purell on your hands or whatever but get on with your lives. Many of you are like Monk in the channel 13 series, unable to function without a totally sanitary environment. That's just silly.
Dogs and cats aren't unclean. People are unclean! Do you really go on vacation to Europe and worry about this stuff or take special precautions against it? Thatwould be amazing...to me.

StCirq; Your are probably closer to the mark than you think.

A theory gaining backers in the medical community is that there is so much more childhood illness and asthma in the US then there used to be is because many Americans lead "too sheltered a life". All the germicidal soaps, etc mean we don't build immunity to the normal day to day germs that are everywhere. Kids catch everything because they have built no resistance.

same w/ a lot of allergies, etc.

I completely understand people with pet allergies refusing to stay in a hotel that welcomes pets. However, I am quite sure my cat (Achilles) is much cleaner than many a person that stays in a hotel room! ;-)

I would consider a pet friendly hotel or apartment building.But then again I own Benjamin a Maine Coon with hair longer than mine.
Last year while staying in Spain,there was this cat in the building name Tigger.Didn't really belong to anyone but the name was given to him by the residents. Anyways, he would be in the lobby waiting for no one in particular.While waiting for the elevator, he would sit next to you and when the door opened he would jump in,walk you to your apartment and then go back down by the staircase. It was so funny!

Another vote for jsmith to lighten up. I said that if I had allergies, <i>I</i> would get allergy shots (because I love animals so much that I wouldn't let anything within my control eliminate them from my life).

I didn't say that <i>you</i> or anyone else with allergies should do the same. Sheesh. Techy techy.

Another reason why I like staying in places with dogs is because they contribute to my own (perceived) sense of security. Just the presence of a dog (preferably a large one or a Jack Russel ) can deter intruders.

And I know this is not true for every dog, but I have known dogs who seem to have a sixth sense about questionable people and won't let them on the property.

Our dog, for example, can tell an alcoholic or mentally disturbed person from a distance. Perhaps there's a change in body chemistry or scent that she picks up?

And while she has issues with the mentally disturbed, she is perfectly comfortable with people who might be considered developmentally disabled. There's a child with Down's syndrome in our neighborhood and she is so sweet and gentle with him. I find it all so amazing.

It's too bad, elle, that all the parents with asthmatics choose not to provide the proper medical care by just getting an allergy shot for their child. Instead, they watch their children suffer, deprive them of pets and rush them to the hospital when needed. What insensitive parents they are. And how stupid we adults are not to partake of your suggestion for our own benefit.

I'm constantly surprised at how uneduated about diseases we are unless someone in our immediate family is afflicted. You might wish to refer to the following websites :

http://asthma.nationaljewish.org/liv...nment/pets.php

http://asthma.nationaljewish.org/abo.../petdander.php

I hope a few will visit the references to gather a little understanding of the steps people with allergies may have to take and why we avoid hotels that allow pets.

As a landlord once told me years ago when I was looking for an apartment and I had a cat, &quot;I have no problem with renting an apartment to people with pets, because anyone who lets their pets ruin an apartment, would ruin it without a pet anyway!&quot; She and I had a great relationship during the 5 years I lived in that apartment.

Actually, like many others have said, I love B&amp;Bs who have a resident cat. I stayed in one in Charleston, South Carolina and the cat, Annabelle, a ragdoll cat, was in my room for at least an hour after I came back from visiting the city all day. Annabelle is one of my favorite memories of that trip.

As far as allergies are concerned, yes, it is awful and I have allergies to smoke....however, I have a friend who is always talking about her allergies. And frankly, I think it's all in her head (no pun intended) so one time we went somewhere where there was absolutely no dogs or cats. But before we arrived a few of friend and I decided to test her and we told her that there were cats and dogs living in the house. What happened? Her allergies flared up like crazy, she could feel the dogs and cats....then we told her the truth..she was a little upset but she started to realize that part of her allergies were all in her mind.

Interesting posts. I've never known a dog to get drunk. I've never known a dog to have the filthy and dangerous habit of smoking. I've never known a dog to steal anything from a hotel. I've never known a dog to play a TV at full blast for hours and hours after midnight. I've never known a dog to party all night in the room next to mine. I've never known a dog to throw up in an elevator. I've never known a dog to get fresh with my wife. Same goes for cats. 'Nuff said.

&quot;I've never known a dog to party all night in the room next to mine.&quot;

Then you never met my beagle.
(H))

Re allergies, a couple of years ago, the medical community released the news that children raised from an early age (as babies) with pets (I believe it was dogs, and preferably 2 or more of those) had less chance of developing allergies later.

The allergy is from the dander and the larger the dog the more dander. No dogs are completely free for the sufferer but some have less than others.
http://members.aol.com/AHTerrier/allergyb.html

Isn't it great that both pet-friendly and animal-free options exist for both those who enjoy the presence of animals and for those who can't or don't?

I like the relaxed atmosphere that includes animals and the company of those who share that view and would choose that way, when available. I completely understand the point of those who do not feel the same and especially those who physically can't join in. Certainly this is not one of those areas where there's a right or wrong answer. Only multiple choice makes sense in this instance.

And only in the interest of humor - but in the last month, at least one of our animals has 1) thrown up in the car, 2) stolen my remote off of the coffee table when I left the room. Stealing from the hotel would at least get me a new one.

I'm also sure at least one friend's dog has gotten fresh with <i>me</i>

Right on, Clifton. One year our last night in Normandy, the house dog was fond of me and stole my purse. I was taking a picture of the cat when I caught him walking away with it, the owner ran after him. When we left the next morning, I tucked the map on the door on my passenger side and as I loaded the car, the dog stole the map. I thought he was saying goodbye to me and patted him, turned my back and he was gone. Only later on the road when I reached for the map did I know it was missing.

Since virtually every hotel (in the USA anyway) must allow service animals you can never know for certain if there has been a dog in the room now can you? Better not stay at ANY hotel if you're that fussy.

I think clifton's post says what we well-meaning posters meant, so let's close this, and try not to offend a wonderful poster who happens to have allergies.

StCirq--I would LOVE to have a cat (dogs seem too much like hard work), but the simple fact is that I can't if I want to live a normal life. And allergy shots did not work for me with the cat allergy. I'm certainly no hypochondriac. I've never seen the inside of my closest friends' house because they have several cats and aren't particularly bothered with cleaning (one visit to their old house kept me out of work for 2 days). And Benadryl knocks me out.

So don't paint everyone with the same brush when you don't know the circumstances.

I have no problem staying in a hotel with animals, but my husband does have severe allergies to cats. Once we were staying at a small hotel in Santa Barbara, CA and during the night my husband could hardly breathe. He had to get out of the room and walk around. The next day while checking out, we asked if there were any cats on the premises. They said &quot;no.&quot; When we went back to the room to check if we had gotten everything, we saw a cat sitting on one of the chairs!

&gt;&gt;&gt;<i>It's too bad, elle, that all the parents with asthmatics choose not to provide the proper medical care by just getting an allergy shot for their child.</i>

You still don't get it. My comments were not about YOU. They were not about any theoretically asthmatic children. They were about my personal situation and preferences.

And I also have a enough of a clinical background to know the difference between allergies and asthma, so stop trying to lump them together. The etiologies and protocols are quite different. Your attempt to link them makes for a fallacious argument.

I think I'm becoming allergic to narcissism. Wonder if there's a vaccination that would help.

jsmith - plesae don't perpetuate a misconception about asthma that's almost as bad as the belief that kids got asthma because their mothers wouldn't let them cry. Your own comments suggest you need a bit more education yourself.

Asthma is NOT the same as an allergy. Asthma is something mechanical that the lungs and bronchia do, in response to a variety of triggers. There are many asthmatics who also do have allergies, and for them an allergic reaction to something may indeed kick off an attack, so it would make sense to avoid allergens. BUT many asthmatics suffer attacks from all kinds of other problems, including cold air, exercise, stress, second-hand smoke, reflux, pollution, dietary quirks, and any number of odd other miscellaneous triggers.

Parents cannot possibly hope to &quot;stop&quot; asthma simply by giving anti-sensitization shots. IF the child tolerates the shots (and not all do -- there are some dangers to asthmatics in some shots), all they will do is hold off an allergic reaction to something, and that reaction might ALSO have triggered an asthma attack.

It would be wonderful if all it took was an allergy shot to cure asthma -- if it did, many many deaths might be avoided each year.