The conventional allergy wisdom is to avoid your triggers whenever possible, but when it comes to pets, many people don’t consider “allergen avoidance” an option. Over 40% of people with animal allergies will not give up their pets, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reports (and some surveys put that percentage far higher). Here’s what you need to know about animal allergen, and how you can control it.

Animal dander

In a tense situation, someone may have told you not to “get your dander up.” But what exactly is dander? Simply put, if you have animal allergies, dander is your worst enemy. About 10% of people are allergic to dander. Among people who have asthma, that figure jumps to between 20% and 30%.

Dander is a little like animal dandruff — the dead skin cells animals shed regularly. Dander can linger in household air, carpets, and furniture for weeks and sometimes months. It’s tiny and lightweight, and can stay airborne for hours.
The allergy-producing proteins in dander can provoke a variety of symptoms, including nasal congestion, watery and itchy eyes, skin rashes, and headaches. If you have asthma, exposure to animal dander can trigger an episode.

No animal is “hypoallergenic”

In addition to dander, animal saliva and urine can also trigger allergies. Any animal — furry, feathery, or scaly — can provoke allergy symptoms.

• With dogs and cats, dander is the biggest offender. Cats seem to cause more severe allergy symptoms. Cats clean their fur by licking it, and the dried saliva on cat fur can also cause allergic reactions.
• Hamsters, gerbils, and mice produce dander and saliva, but the main source of animal allergen from these tiny pets is their urine.
• The allergy danger with birds is feather dust. A bit of energetic wing flapping can cast a fine layer of feather dust over an entire room and send tiny dander particles into the air. Bird droppings also contain allergy triggers, such as bacteria and fungi.
• Fish, snakes, and lizards tend to cause fewer allergy symptoms, but they’re hardly dander free. All shed flakes of scaly skin. And watch out for molds (another common household allergen) growing in fish tanks.

Controlling animal allergens

Short of banishing your beloved pet from the house altogether, the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver recommends these steps for reducing your exposure to dander and other animal allergens:

Pet grooming

• If you have allergies, ask a nonallergic family member or neighbor to clean litter boxes, fish tanks, or birdcages. If you’d rather take these chores on yourself, wear a particle mask to keep from breathing in dander and other airborne allergens.
• Brush (or have someone else brush) your furry pet once a week — outdoors, to keep dander from rising into the household air.
• A weekly bath can remove most of the dander from your pet. Use a medicated pet shampoo to keep your pet’s skin from drying out (which can lead to more dander).

Household tips

• Keep your pet out of the bedroom. Since you spend most of your time — and do most of your breathing — in the bedroom, it’s the best place to start controlling dander and other animal allergens.
• Clean upholstery and drapes regularly. These “sticky” surfaces can trap and hold animal dander. Vacuum all carpets once a week.
• Wash pet beds and soft toys in hot water (130° F or hotter) once a week.
• If your home has forced air heating, close the ducts in the allergic person’s bedroom, and use an electric heater instead.
• Run an air purifier with a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter in your home. HEPA filters remove up to 99.9% of airborne allergens from the air. You can also use a double-bagged, HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner to rid your carpet of tiny dander particles.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 12th, 2007 at 10:04 pm and is filed under Pets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.