@windwalker @nannette Terri, I’m so sorry to hear that your cough has returned. Terri and Nan, regarding cats, I have a suggestion to all who love them but are allergic. I used to be very allergic to them. However, about 25 years ago, I found 3 feral kittens outside our home in the Colorado foothills. I fell in love with one and adopted her. Fortunately, the vet who spayed her told me about ace promazine drops, which acted like allergy shots for me. At first, I lost my allergy to my cat only, but after a couple of years, I lost my allergy to all cats!! I introduced the drops to my relatives who were allergic to cats but loved them and the drops also worked for them. The drug is mixed into water. Here's info from the Jackson Galaxy website (https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/cat-allergies/): “Acepromazine can be given at ultra-low doses in the cat’s food and provides relief for a great many allergy sufferers. While a single small study on the use of Acepromazine did not find statistically significant results [in reducing a certain chemical shed by cats], in practice, about 50% of people report a complete cessation of symptoms, 25% report that symptoms are improved, and 25% report no change. It takes 2-4 weeks to see results.

To a one-ounce dropper bottle containing 30 ml water, add 5 mg Acepromazine (one 5 mg tablet crushed or half of a 10 mg tablet crushed). Instructions: Shake well before using. For an adult cat, add 5-6 drops of mixture to cat’s wet food daily. For smaller kittens, use 1-2 drops. Because there is no preservative, store the bottle in the refrigerator.” (I never stored mine in the fridge.)

Acepromazine at much higher doses is a tranquilizer for cats. For that reason, some vets will only sell the drops already prepared by them. That can be expensive. However, if you can show articles and convince your vet to give you a prescription of several pills, you can mix up the solution yourself very inexpensively. (I used to get 12 pills at a time, mix up one batch at a time, and save the remaining pills until I needed a new batch. The pills lasted a very long time!) BTW, the very dilute drops had no effect on the cat tranquilizerwise. It reacts with a chemical in the cat's saliva and changes it enough so that most people aren't allergic to the new chemical.