The HO will not get sick of resorting to plan B.
It may cost them some money, that is all.
But why should cost them, to me, its not their fault.
If i was allergic to milk, i wouldn’t put it in my coffee. Thats essentially the case here.
It comes down to common sense (again)
Common sense is leaving what makes you sick, yes.
Especially if it was something you did without even getting paid for. Even an employer would tell the sufferer to go home!
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An employer would say you shouldn’t have gone to work in the first place surely?
Agree to disagree on this one, its going nowhere
As the sitter doesn’t actually know the cause of their illness and discomfort without a medical professional diagnosing it….all debate is pointless. It could be a multitude of causes either house/pet/travel related and nobody actually knows. Jumping to medical conclusions is never wise. Personally if it was me I’d find a walk in clinic and make an appointment.
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It would help to have more information about the construction dust - you mention having to use AC, so was this construction inside the home? It is still ongoing? Was this something you were aware of prior to taking the sit or at least your arrival? I think that makes a difference here.
@Hallt64 The OP said this is their 10th sit with cats and this is the first time there has been a problem. It is likely something other than the cat. The cat may be a contributing factor, but not the only one.
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She appears adamant that she knows exactly what it is in my opinion
OP acknowledges that it is probably the cat
If a sitter has a known cat allergy, they shouldn’t take a sit with cats or they should be prepared to take meds to relieve the symptoms.
It’s unfair to accept a sit and then leave it for entirely foreseeable reasons. As a homeowner, I would be frustrated if a sitter did that. Maybe in future I need to ask sitters if they have ever had an allergic reaction to cats. If they say “yes”, I will decline them
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Thank you to everyone who had helpful suggestions, I got some antihistamines and sore throat spray and it’s definitely helping, I still feel pretty rough but it’s drained a lot of the congestion. Not looking for validation to leave—I’m not a quitter like that, lol.
To clarify about my history with cat allergies, it has NEVER been this serious. We’ve had 10 cat sits and I’ve lived with cats before, including indoor/outdoor cats. With the indoor/outdoor cats I had to wash my hands after petting them and not stick my finger in my eye. With the indoor-only cats, I literally pick them up and put my face in their fur with no issue. My problem, as far as I can tell, seems to be the closed-air-circulation environment in combo with an indoor/outdoor cat and possibly the construction dust. I seem to be able to tolerate dander just fine in other circumstances, but this particular house is too much.
Obviously don’t accept a cat sit if you have major cat allergies. I’ll probably be more direct in the future about asking homeowners how often they vacuum/clean and ask to see the home over FaceTime before accepting, as well as clarifying how much time the cat spends outside. And for now, load up on antihistamines, keep away from the cat (that’ll be difficult, she’s a darling 
), lock all the animals out of the bedroom, and just suck it up for the next few days…
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