How vain are you?

Barbe, can you see it now?

yorkie, YES I can see him!! What a sweetie!!!!!

Caryn, apparently those colour of cats produce a different kind of dander. When I met my DH I had a cat and he said he was horribly allergic, so I said, Love me, love my pussy! He did and was amazed so we researched why he didn't react and found that out about the orange and brown fur. My Dad had Himalayans which absolutely killed my DH! His eyes were like golf balls and weeping. They were brown cats. Here's something from the internet (WebMD):

Cat allergies are twice as common as dog allergies. But contrary to what you might think, it's not the fur or hair that's the real problem. People with cat allergies are really allergic to proteins in the cat's saliva, urine, and dander (dried flakes of skin).

she.is.totally.neato!

barbe, please post pics,too,ok? when you are not too busy with them!

gardengumby,

I am so allergic to cats that I joke that I sneeze if I even see a photo of a cat. My nose becomes completely stuffed up and my eyes swell. My late sister had a cat who, mostly, stayed in her apartment, she would put him outside when I came over . She never understood that cat dander was everywhere!

Caryn

I get it totally.  One time we flew to El Paso.  I got terribly sick on the airplane.  My face swelled up, I got welts all over it, got terribly dizzy and had asthma. Unbeknownst to us was that the lady in the seat across from me had a cat with her - until about 3/4 through the flight I saw it out and on her lap!!  Airplanes no longer serve peanuts because of food allergies, but they somehow do not realize that people who have bad animal allergies could become seriously ill and possibly even die because of pet allergies. 

 I simply don't understand the attitude of people and their animals. I appreciate animals - and would love to be able to have one. It's a fact of life that I cannot. I cannot go into someone's house who has their animal inside.  When we had animals, they were strictly outside. Never in the house.  I don't CHOOSE to be allergic, but I don't want to have to deal with peoples animals everywhere I go.  I have to admit that I am really bothered when people bring their animals into stores (especially grocery) and restaurants.  

My own personal assumption of why so many food allergies is that most women don't nurse their babies - therefore the babies don't get the protection from Mom's milk - but that's just my assumption, based on nothing other than intuition.

Selena - you are GORGEOUS!

~ ~ ~ 

I've had cats my whole life, and had to put my last one down several years ago. I miss them every day!

All throughout my BC dx, I kept imagining them (sisters, Gracie and Lucy) snuggled up against me on the bed, keeping me company.

Sadly, DH is not a pet person, cat OR dog. Too allergic to both. But he never complained about my kitties... after all, I already had them when we got together. And he understood my anguish when I had them put down.

Today our house is clean, there are no litterboxes to deal with, no vet bills, no worries about someone coming in to take care of them if we travel.... but I miss them.

On another thread, a member mentioned fostering furbabies from the local shelter... I would LOVE to foster some kittens, but too afraid DH would suffer... and then at the end, I would not be able to give any of them back...

And Animal Control would be on my doorstep, ready to cite me for having 75 cats in my house...

So for now, when we're out, and I see a cat, I yell "KITTY!" and go over and pet it and rub its ears and belly, and have to be satisfied with that. 

kathec - once we spent the night in a motel that had a resident cat in the office.

DH and I came back from dinner, and walked thru the office. The cat was on the couch. I told DH to go ahead back to our room, and I'd be there when I was finished with my "Kitty Fix".

After about 45 minutes of snuggling and purring and belly rubs, I went back to our room. Man, that cat was spoiled! And I was happy!

Here are some of our promised Istabul pics.

DH and me in front of second wall into sultan's palace

Magia Sophia

Outside Blue Mosque

Inside Blue Mosque

Istanbul street dog - Turkey has a unique and wonderful way they treat street cats and dogs. The animals are picked up, vaccinated and spayed, then returned to the place they were picked up. A special tag is placed on their ears to identify which have been vaccinated. The people take care of these animals as if they were pets. Food and water are placed everywhere for them. Many people allow the cats inside their homes (most Muslims don't like having dogs inside), and shelters are built for both dogs and cats to protect them from the elements. Free veterinary clinics exist where people can take the street animals when they are sick. The animals are very tame. I saw cats rubbing against people and purring. The dogs are fat and mainly sleep. Just amazing!

Italian Tower, which has a spectacular view from the top. We couldn't go up though because there are only steps, far too many for me to climb.

GREAT pics!!! Thanks for sharing!

Wow!  And the towels.  How were the towels?

YorkieMom, thanks for posting the pictures.  I definitely had a "wish I was there" moment. Any advice to the rest of us as we plan our vacays???  Like were there any shoe, clothing, makeup, hair choices you made that both appealed to your vanity and....gave you comfort, easy to travel with, etc.?

MsP

Yorkie, thanks for sharing your pics!  They brought back a lot of great memories!

Yorkiemom, that is so terrific you got to go! thanks for sharing the bit about the animals, too, i wish we did that too! I love the inside picture of the mosque that you took!