Treatment for animal allergy begins at home

All animals can cause allergies, no matter what size or breed they are i.e rabbit allergy symptoms, dog allergy, cat allergy, etc.  Animal Allergy is caused by “dander” (proteins that are in the animal skin and saliva).  Animal fur or hair carries animal dander but is not a source of the allergy itself.

Animal dander is very “sticky” and you can be exposed to animal dander even if you don’t own pets – people who own pets bring little bits of animal dander with them.

If you have an animal and you are allergic to it, the best course of action is to find a new home for the pet and then have a non-allergic person do a thorough house cleaning to rid your home of the animal dander. However, even with a thorough cleaning, animal dander can remain in the home for three to six months after the animal is removed.

If you cannot part with your pet, you can decrease your exposure to the animal allergy/dander by keeping your pet out of your bedroom (and keeping the bedroom door closed at all times) and thoroughly cleaning all the surfaces in the bedroom regularly.  In the rest of the house, carefully clean all rugs and upholstered furniture with a HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner regularly (once a week at least), and wipe down wood floors and other surfaces to remove the pet dander.

For more detailed information on pet allergy avoidance, please visit the Allergy and Asthma Foundation:  http://www.aafa.org/