Hi L.!
I am 25 years old, and am just ending a five-year stint of allergy shots myself for a slew of allergies (cat, dog, horse, grass(3 types), trees(7 types), mold, dust). My allergies resulted in asthma, and I have to say getting the shots has been one of the best decisions of my life. I have a cat and had a dog (we had to put her down recently because she was 18 years old and sick). Though my allergist said that the best case scenario would be that I should give away both pets (for faster relief from the allergy), he was realistic in saying that he knew it was unlikely I would do that. Over time, (about 8 to 12 months) even with keeping both pets, I noticed that my allergies were much better and that my asthma symptoms had abated. In the last two years I have not once had an asthma attack, and my allergy symptoms are virtually non-existent. I am off all supplemental allergy and asthma meds and am down to just once-a-month for shots. I will be ending them completely in March. It is incredibly freeing to be without medication and without symptoms!
To be honest, for me at least, the allery regimine started "fast and furious"; had shots weekly, and a slew of supplimental meds (pills) to go along with them. The weekly shots pared down to biweekly at a year, and then went to monthly at 3 years. The supplimental meds were reduced at a year, and reduced steadily to stopping over time.
I never limited my exposure to the allergens (except dust). My philosophy was that I wasn't going to let my allergies cause me to stop living life. And I feel wonderful!
I would say if you do decide to get shots for your daughter, I would try to focus less on the fact that she is on a number of medications and focus more on keeping up with everything as usual (even play time with the kitty). Though it does take time for the shots to "kick in" I feel the benefit greatly outweighs the "living in a medicine bottle" feeling (which is only temporary). Now that I am medicine free, I can look back on what life was like before the shots and say "thank God I did that!"
Good luck on your decision!
A.