Owning pet animals when you have pet allergy is a real difficult situation. In most cases, people can’t even think of parting with their pets. How to deal with such a situation? Can pets and allergy patients stay together? The answer is yes, provided adequate measures are taken to prevent or minimize the spread of allergens from the animal.
Causes And Solutions For Pet Allergies
The first step to find out if your pet is causing the allergy is to get it tested. Get blood and skin tests done. Once confirmed, you can think of ways to avoid your allergy. But before that, let us see the causes and symptoms for pet allergy.
Flakes from your pet’s skin, known as dander is the culprit in most cases. Animal saliva and urine also trigger allergy. Even if you don’t have a pet at home, these allergens can be transferred from people who are in contact with pets. Symptoms such as itchy eyes, running nose, rashes, asthma and hay fever are common among people allergic to pets.
What Can You Do?
You need not get rid of your pet if you have pet allergy, but you should maintain a safe distance from the animal. Don’t allow your pets to the bedroom, bathe your pets regularly, and clean your hands after touching them. Never allow your pets in your vehicles, if it has seats that cannot be washed. Buying high efficiency air filters such as HEPA filters), cleaning your walls, woods and carpets, washing your sheets, mattresses and pillows regularly (avoid furry blankets, if possible), avoiding objects that attracts dust can also help minimize the spread of allergens.
Try Them
A pet lover can easily build a rapport with any kind of pet. If you have a dog that sheds very often, the risk of allergy further increases. So, try to go for dogs that have short hair which sheds less. Some dogs that do not shed or shed very less hair includes Cairn Terrier, Cesky Terrier, Chacy Ranior, Chi-Poo, Chinese Crested (hairless), Dandie Dinmont Terrier and the like.
In the case of cats, it’s the saliva and the skin that poses a problem. You can choose cat varities such as Siberian and Russian Blue breeds, LaPerm, Sphynx or Cornish Rex which are less likely to cause allergy as they are hypoallergenic.
Medications such as antihistamines, corticosteroids, decongestants, immunotherapy, and shots are available for treating pet allergy. But a total cure is unlikely in most cases. You can only bring down the allergy effect with medicines. The best thing you can do is to avoid close contact with the pets that give you allergy. If you want your pets with you and keep allergy at bay, you should do as your doctor tells you to do.