How Allergic Am I?

The original plan was for me to rotate residences and spend each month at a different doctor's home, so I could get to know a variety of people.  But a lot of families in Tonasket have indoor pets, and I have significant allergies to most furry animals.  It's hard to predict which animals I might be able to cohabit with, except through trial and error.  I usually premedicate myself with a double dose of claritin before heading to homes with indoor pets.
Experiment 1: The allergen is a calico cat who immediately singles me out and starts rubbing her fur on my ankles.  When I sit down, she repeatedly climbs into my lap, then onto my shoulder, whipping her tail onto my neck several times.  One hour and 45 minutes into our hearty dinner of roast lamb with butternut squash, I start sneezing.  By the time I make it back to Dr & Mrs H's house, I have broken out into super itchy hives.
Experiment 2: The allergens consist of a black cat and an enormous black Labrador dog.  The cat brushes against me once, while the dog repeatedly licks my pants throughout my visit.  We have a lovely dinner of beef pot pie and spinach salad, but by the time the steamed pudding cake is served (in honor of Epiphany, which comes after the 12th day of Christmas), I have started wheezing.  Back at the house of the H's, I have to take a benadryl, perform a nasal saline rinse, and apply a corticosteroid nasal spray before I start feeling normal again.  I wake up with a benadryl hangover...