Kristine Sorensen of KDKA News from Pittsburgh reports:

Think you can't have pets in your life because you suffer from allergies? Think again. Animal experts say there are ways to make it work.

In fact, studies show that one-third of people with cat allergies actually have cats for pets.

The Toro family of Cranberry is one such family. Even though Kathleen Toro, her husband Renaldo, and their son Matthew all suffer from cat allergies, they have three cats, a dog, a rat and a horse.

So how do they make it work? Medication is key. Renaldo Toro uses Nasonex nasal spray daily and Kathleen takes Claritin.

‘The medications are better than they used to be when I was younger,’ Kathleen Toro explains, ‘the allergy medication that I used to take would make me very, very tired.’

Veterinarian Dr. Mike Hutchinson of Animal General in Cranberry says allergy sufferers can take some steps to rid their homes of pet dander – the small particles that cause the allergic reaction.

Dr. Hutchinson since dander attaches to cloth surfaces, these are harder to keep clean