Furry pets are among the most common and potent causes of allergy symptoms. However, fur usually is not the only animal allergen.
While it will require some extra work, it is possible to live with a pet allergy and continue to keep your animal as a member of the family. Pet allergies are caused by reactions to proteins found in the pet’s skin cells, saliva, or urine and are usually triggered when people are exposed to these proteins. While dog and cat allergies are the most common, any pet can cause allergies. It can be difficult for some people to determine whether the symptoms they are expecting are a common cold or if they are actually allergic to dogs or cats.
When it comes to diagnosing pet allergies, most are pretty obvious — symptoms occur soon after exposure. But sometimes the allergy is subtler. Skin tests or special allergy blood tests can be done, if necessary, to confirm a suspicion of an animal allergy. One way to confirm a pet’s significance as an allergen, is to remove the pet from the home for several weeks and do a thorough cleaning to remove the residual hair and dander. It is important to keep in mind that it can take weeks of thorough cleaning to remove all the animal hair and dander before a change in the allergic patient is noted.
Some guidelines recommend that people with allergies or asthma avoid keeping pets, especially cats. If a doctor says that you or your child’s allergies or asthma is aggravated by dander, you ultimately need to find a new home for your pet. However, there are several ways in which you can cut down on pet allergens.
The best course of pet allergy management is to avoid exposure to the animal, this is not a realistic scenario for people that love their pets and see them as members of the family. Luckily there are medications and treatment options that can help relieve pet allergy symptoms and allow allergy sufferes to live with a pet allergy and avoid getting rid of the family pet.
You can reduce dander in your home by keeping your pet outdoors as much as possible. At the very least, you should bar pets from bedrooms where people with allergies or asthma sleep. Children with allergies should also avoid petting or touching animals. If they do come to contact with a pet, they should wash their hands thoroughly.
Restricting pets to rooms with wood floors, cement floors and tile floors may also help. These type of flooring traps less dander than carpeted surfaces and is easier to clean; keeping pets off the carpets, rugs, upholstered furniture and beds can reduce exposure to dander.
Keeping pets out of cars or restricting them to the backseat area, if possible is also a good idea.
Having any type of environmental allergy is no fun, but an allergic reaction to pets can put a real damper on things, especially when you consider that over half of Sri Lankan households include at least one pet.
The best course of pet allergy management is to avoid exposure to the animal. However, this is not a realistic scenario for people who love their pets and see them as members of the family. Luckily there are medications and treatment options that can help relieve pet allergy symptoms and allow allergy suffers to live with a pet allergy and avoid getting rid of the family pet.
Pet allergy symptoms include nasal congestion, runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, and sometimes wheezing or difficulty in breathing. Many people will blame pet hair for their allergy symptoms, but in actuality animal hair is not a meaningful allergen source on its own -- but other allergens like dust, pollen, and mold can collect in a pet’s fur, so it’s important to regularly bathe pets that allergic people will be exposed to.
While pet allergies are best controlled with avoidance, it is not entirely necessary to re-home treasured pets in the case of a pet allergy. Environmental changes, medications and allergen immunotherapy are effective strategies that can help pet allergy sufferers to treat their symptoms and live with a pet allergy while still keeping their best friend around.