Wife Claims Delta Prioritized Cats Over her Husband’s Severe Allergies

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Recently, a family purchased first-class tickets for a Delta Airlines flight. Unfortunately, once they were on board, it wasn’t long before another passenger came onboard with a pair of cats. As it turns out, the father of the family had serious cat allergies, which is why the family alerted Delta Airlines’ representatives about the issue. However, insufficient measures were taken, which is why the father started feeling watery eyes as well as a scratchy throat within no more than six minutes. Since the flight would’ve taken multiple hours, the family saw no point in risking anaphylactic shock, which is why the father had to stay behind for the night while the rest of the family proceeded forward. Delta Airlines has stated that it has contacted the family to offer an apology for the inconvenience that it has caused. Meanwhile, the family has stated that they failed to follow procedures by listing special needs when it came to their accommodations. However, they did point out that the section for filling out said information was very small, meaning that it is very easy to miss it on the relevant webpage.

On the whole, this is a reminder that people should make sure to speak up about any special medical problems that they might have that might result in a need for special accommodations when they are flying. The sooner that they speak up, the better their chances of traveling in a smooth and uninterrupted fashion instead of seeing their flight disrupted in the same manner as the father of the family.

What Causes Cat Allergies?

It is interesting to note that cat allergies can be broader in nature than what most people would expect on initial consideration. For instance, when people are allergic to cats, that means that they are allergic to some kind of allergen that is produced by cats. Generally speaking, this means one of two feline glycoproteins, but there are other possibilities as well.

For most people, cat allergies can be unpleasant but won’t stop far short of being potentially life-threatening like in the case of the above-mentioned individuals. Most of the time, the symptoms will be limited to coughing, wheezing, itching, a tightening of the chest, and similar symptoms, but in particularly serious cases, it is perfectly possible for sufferers to experience their airways closing up from inflammation. When this happens, medical intervention is a must because it is a life-threatening problem.

Unfortunately, people who suffer from cat allergies have a serious problem in that their struggles are not particularly well-known by the members of the public. Simply put, there isn’t a great deal of awareness about the issue of cat allergies in the same way that there is a great deal of awareness about the issue of food allergies. As a result, there are cases when their concerns are not addressed appropriately by other people around them, who may or may not have a good understanding of just how serious said concerns can be. Moreover, there just hasn’t been a comparable effort to accommodate their needs in the same way that there has been for food allergy sufferers, meaning that it is even likelier for them to stumble into problematic situations for no fault on either their own or that of other individuals.

Due to this, a lot of cat allergy sufferers have to watch out for their own needs and interests, which can be done through a number of methods. For example, the simplest and straightforward method would be limiting their exposure to cats, though this can actually take a number of forms. For instance, there is the option of washing hands after coming into contact with a cat before touching any part of their own face. Likewise, there is the practice of regularly cleaning carpets and other places that can retain cat hair, which can remain potential threats for months and months on their own. Other solutions range from medication, which may or may not work for all of the cat allergy sufferers out there, to using various methods to reduce the amount of hair shed by cats. One example would be feeding cats a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids to provide them with a healthy coat with minimal dander, while another example would be seeking out hypoallergenic cat breeds. Currently, there is still disagreement over which breeds count and which do not, but the most often-cited breeds are the Siberian and the Balinese.