Question
I don't know if I have a cat allergy, and I don't want to adopt a real cat to test myself, what else can I to to test cat allergy?
Answer
The most conclusive way to discover if you have an allergy or not is to ask your doctor for an allergy test. There are two types, skin based and blood based. The skin based one, they will prick your skin with the suspected allergen, and see if you react. With blood based, they'll draw a blood sample and test that.
Free ways to try to test it out, is to visit some cats. If you have a friend with cats, or shelters, or even if you live in a location with one of those cat cafes, go there and spend some time.
Keep in mind though that your observations at these locations might not tell the whole story. For instance, shelters often keep their cats in an area with concrete floors and unfurnished cages. Theses types of surfaces do not retain dander, and so for someone with mild allergies, they might not be triggered there, but in a home, you could be due to carpets and furniture capturing the dander much more. It's also possible that there might be another allergen present in these locations that happens to trigger a reaction.
Unfortunately, allergies can also worsen over time, so there is a slight risk that even if you show no symptoms now, later on you develop them. If you suffer from asthma or tend to suffer from a lot of other allergies, it might be better to not get a cat even if you don't show symptoms now.
Answered By - Kai