Combat Pet Allergies While Keeping Your Pet

There’s nothing like curling up with a furry friend on a chilly night. But no matter how much we love our pets, there may be allergy problems that come with them. Fortunately, there are strategies to reduce pet allergies without giving up our four-legged family members.

What Causes Allergies From Pets?

Allergies related to our pets commonly come from either their saliva or the dander that’s on their skin. Typically, people find their allergies worse around cats, but it’s possible to be allergic to dogs, as well. Some pet allergies may be severe and should not be taken lightly in that case. But most are just bothersome and not dangerous. 

Pet Allergy Symptoms

Typical symptoms of pet allergies include sneezing, watery eyes, runny noses, and a scratchy throat. People with significant pet allergies may also find that their skin itches where they touch the pet, and in extreme cases, an anaphylactic reaction may occur. These serious levels of allergic reaction may require quick or even emergency medical treatment.

But if you're in the more mild category of allergies, the good news is, there are things you can do to both limit or mitigate your allergies, and keep your beloved pet. Try the following.

Restrict Your Pet’s Travel on Rugs and Soft Surfaces

One strategy to reduce our allergic reactions to our pets is to restrict where they can travel in the home. That may mean keeping them out of a bedroom or sitting room and away from food preparation surfaces. By keeping one or more rooms of the home off-limits to pets, it may be easier to reduce their effects and contain the allergens.

Having hardwood or tile flooring may also help to reduce allergy issues from pets. Soft surfaces, such as carpeting, trap allergens like pet dander. These allergens may then remain in the home longer and continue to be the cause of allergy problems for hours or days.

Keep Your Home Clean and Vacuumed

Besides removing carpeting in the home and reducing pets’ access to soft surfaces, keeping a clean home may make a difference for pet allergies. When there is less dander and pet saliva in the home, there are fewer allergens to cause sneezing and other issues. Wiping down surfaces and cleaning frequently may mean allergies are better controlled without further intervention.

If carpet or rugs are required in a home, vacuuming them often may also reduce allergy concerns. Frequent vacuuming reduces the dander that builds up in soft surfaces like carpet and may make it easier to live with pets, despite the potential for allergies that our four-legged friends can create.

Avoid Kissing or Hugging Pets

The idea of not hugging or kissing pets may seem foreign, but it may be necessary to keep allergies at bay. Patting or petting is easier because it allows for frequent hand-washing. It also keeps pets away from our faces, and that may help with nasal allergies and the itchy, watery eyes that often come from pet dander. 

Those who want to continue hugging or kissing their pets despite their allergies should wash their faces immediately afterward and keep the interaction brief to reduce the allergic reaction potentially. However, there may still be some reactions due to coming in contact with dander and saliva.

Talk to Your Doctor

For some pet allergies, working with a medical professional may be the way to feel better faster. That may also be important for those who want to hug and kiss their pets or have many soft surfaces in their home. Allergy shots or other medications may reduce the reaction the pet causes and allow sufferers to spend more time interacting without allergy problems.

For those who may be choosing pets while knowing they have allergies, there are lots of options that are less likely to cause allergies such as pets that have hair versus fur, or those that are altogether hairless.

Our pets are important to us, often becoming like family members. Keeping them away from soft surfaces and reducing physical contact may help keep allergies at bay, but it may also not be realistic for some people. By working to minimize allergens and getting medical advice for ongoing management, we may have more of an opportunity to hug, cuddle, and spend quality time with our pets for years to come.

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