Kiernan Shipka Is Allergic to One of Her 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' Costars
Kiernan Shipka might be prepared to cast a spell or two as the star of the upcoming The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series, but there's one fellow cast member she wasn't quite able to charm IRL. As Kiernan shared in a new interview, it was her four-legged sidekick that she had some trouble getting along with.
While chatting with Vulture about her role in the planned Netflix reboot of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Shipka said she's actually allergic to Sabrina's talking pet cat Salem.
“The cat is the one cast member I don’t get along with," she said.
Fans first met Salem back in February, when the show's creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacas introduced Twitter to "Greendale's latest resident."
According to Shipka, there are actually five cats portraying the role of Salem on the show. And, it turns out, she's allergic to at least one of them. In fact, she says she found out about her allergy when she developed hives after picking up one of the cats.
Pet allergies can be serious (and sometimes spooky) business.
As SELF wrote previously, an allergy to animals stems from the immune system's reaction to proteins found in their saliva and dead skin cells. Being around those allergens can cause symptoms including nasal congestion, sneezy, itchy or watery eyes, and a cough in someone who's sensitive to them, the Mayo Clinic explains. And, if you come into direct contact with an animal you're allergic to, your skin may react as well, causing itchiness or a rash (like hives).
Although those symptoms are generally well managed by over-the-counter medications, they can become more serious. For instance, if your pet allergies are also one of your asthma triggers, you might also experience a shortness of breath, wheezing, chest pain or tightness, or difficulty breathing—symptoms that may require medical attention.
At the most serious end of the spectrum, someone might develop anaphylaxis, a condition in which the airways close that can be deadly if not treated quickly. (Luckily, pet allergies are not one of the more common causes of anaphylaxis, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.)
So, being forced to work with an adorable yet allergen-shedding feline friend probably wasn't Shipka's favorite situation—with good reason. But hopefully she picked up some good antihistamine potions along the way.
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