While I like cats, I'm mildly allergic and can't stand the smell of their litter box. As a result I'm dog only.
My father had allergies to cats as well. Up until the time I was 11 all we had was a dog, and that dog had been there with my parents as a puppy before I was born. The rule from my dad was that there would be no cats.I developed severe allergies and had to put my pets up for adoption—2 airedales, a husky, and 3 cats. I miss them like crazy.
But we ended up renting a home from some missionaries that were going to be gone for a year in 1982-83. The house was rural and came with a cat. I guess since it wasn't his cat and it was an outdoor cat my dad was able to accept it.
But it was rural and cats are cats and in between them and me bringing home 'strays' by the time we moved in 1983 that house had 23 cats. I must stress that this was rural and while some of them came inside, the majority of them were all outside cats. I am not the cat lady (guy).
We did take one cat with us, the granddaughter of the original cat. That was 1984 and she lived until around 1997/1998 I think. By that point my dad had given up on trying to enforce his rule - despite still being allergic. But that cat was still an outside cat so I guess it was okay somehow.