MANAGING A PET ALLERGY
by Dr. Rachel Addleman, DVM, DiplABVP,
CVA
Veterinarian and Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Dr. Addleman has
advanced training and Board Certification in feline medicine. She practices
in Houston, Texas and can be found at
AnimalFixer.com
I
met Todd on a group hike held at Temescal Canyon in Los Angeles. It
took only a few minutes to establish that I’m a veterinarian and he’s
allergic to animals. At the time I was in my twenties, and with an
endless parade of eligible men in the big city “allergic to animals”
equaled “deal breaker." I think his eyes started watering just talking
about my cat. In the end, we became good friends. Todd met my cat and
standard poodle many times, but his congestion would start in the
hallway before he even walked into my condo.
Todd and I once discussed whether or not you should re-home a pet if
your spouse was seriously allergic. He was very thoughtful, and said he
would re-home the pet. I said I would re-home the spouse. Children
are often allergic to pets, too, and there are things you can do at home
to manage a pet allergy so you can keep both the pet and the child.
I met Todd on a group hike held at Temescal Canyon in Los Angeles. It
took only a few minutes to establish that I’m a veterinarian and he’s
allergic to animals. At the time I was in my twenties, and with an
endless parade of eligible men in the big city “allergic to animals”
equaled “deal breaker." I think his eyes started watering just talking
about my cat. In the end, we became good friends. Todd met my cat and
standard poodle many times, but his congestion would start in the
hallway before he even walked into my condo.
Todd and I once discussed whether or not you should re-home a pet if
your spouse was seriously allergic. He was very thoughtful, and said he
would re-home the pet. I said I would re-home the spouse. Children are
often allergic to pets, too, and there are things you can do at home to
manage a pet allergy so you can keep both the pet and the child.
Contrary to popular belief, people are not allergic to animal fur.
Specific proteins in the animal’s saliva and sweat trigger allergies.
Hair and skin flakes, called dander, are just the vehicle that delivers
the saliva and sweat allergen. "Hairless" animals still have normal
sweat glands and grooming behavior which is why "hairless" animals can
still cause symptoms. Urine can also be a culprit for allergies. Poodles
and a few other breeds don’t shed, and while there are no true
"hypoallergenic" breeds, dogs with that type of hair do seem to pose
less of a problem then other breeds.
Maintenance bathing to remove the allergens on the skin is a lot easier
on a short or hairless breeds, too. Frequent washing helps reduce the
deposition of allergen on the skin of cats and dogs. One study suggested
that using a distilled water or special allergy shampoo has not been
shown to be any more effective than just rinsing the pet with tap water.
Subjectively, I find using distilled water as a final rinse to a regular
shampoo seems to help more then just plain bathing, but the main idea is
to rinse the animal weekly.
If someone is allergic to a pet, I recommend keeping the pet out of the
bedroom. More people are allergic to cats, and cat dander tends to hang
in the air longer than other allergens. Within thirty minutes of just
entering a bedroom, a cat can significantly increase airborne allergens.
Following weekly washing of a cat, the allergen load is reduced to less
than one quarter. Ventilation and furnishings in the room also influence
the allergen load. Carpet accumulates cat allergen at approximately 100
times the level of a polished floor.
There is some debate, but children exposed to animals before their
immune systems are fully formed at age two are unlikely to become
allergic. Even if there are known allergies in the family, after the
first year of a child’s life, there is no strong evidence to recommend
avoiding animals to prevent allergy development.
As for my allergic friend Todd, he met Liora, who had no pets. Liora was
a vegetarian, not a veterinarian, and his perfect fit. They married at a
vegetarian Moshav -- or village -- in Israel. That first year they
welcomed their firstborn, “Sebastian," a black standard poodle (Liora's
ideal was a golden retriever, but it was a compromise). Todd's allergy
symptoms are all but non-existent with a poodle, and there is no way
they would re-home the dog, which proves that finding the right person
can help with allergies, too. Their daughter, Charlotte, loves growing
up with Sebastian and hopefully will have no allergies.