Article: Cat allergy? Try tea and sympathy. (treating carpets and furniture with tannic acid to control allergy)

Cat allergy? Try tea and sympathy

Cats are notoriously fastidious. But each cleansing lick of their rough tongues brushes a fine coating of feline proteins across the fur, and the proteins can accumulate for years in carpeting and upholstery. Produced in the animal's salivary and sebaceous glands, these proteins trigger the runny eyes, stuffy nose and wheezing that characterize cat allergy in millions of Americans, including an estimated 30 percent of asthmatics. Physicians, usually advise cat owners who develop the allergy to find their animals a new home and stock up on antihistamines. But allergy sufferers may soon receive an additional recommendation: Treat carpets ...

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