Living With A Pet You're Allergic To: Is It Possible?

Do you suspect you are allergic to your beloved cat, dog, or other pet and are you wondering what to do now? Though many people will strongly advise you to rehome your pet as soon as possible, the fact is that many pet owners do manage to live relatively symptom-free lives together with the pets they love. How do you do it?

The Science Behind Pet Allergies

First off, let's debunk the very pervasive myth that people who are allergic to pets experience an adverse reaction to their fur. Pet allergies are allergies to their dander, and more specifically a protein within it. Pet dander is made up of barely visible bits of skin that build up within their fur, and which they shed as they go about their business. A pet's urine and saliva also contain allergens. The pet will inadvertently spread bodily cells that contain allergens everywhere it goes — to your bed, your couch, your walls, your clothes, everywhere.

If you are allergic to a pet, you may experience:

• Sneezing and nasal congestion
• Coughing
• Breathing difficulties
• Red, watery and itchy eyes
• Urticaria, more commonly called hives

If You Find Out You Are Allergic To A Pet You Already Have

• Use HEPA filters all over your home. These are designed to eliminate tiny particles to which many allergic people react, including dust, pollen, and yes — pet dander, from your living space. 
• Avoid using decorative items in which pet dander can build up. These include curtains, pillows, and carpets (a big one!).
• Be meticulous about housework (or rather, make sure someone in your family who isn't allergic is), washing fabric items such as couch covers and bed sheets regularly and hoovering daily (try an automated hoover as well). Wipe down walls frequently.

• Wash your pet, too — once a week.
• Discuss treatment options with an allergist who understands that you would very much like to keep your pet. While limiting exposure to your allergen is indeed the most effective method of staying symptom-free, you do have other options. Steroidal and antihistamine nose sprays, antihistamine pills, and even allergy shots are among those options.
• Finally, keep one room in your home completely pet free, so you have a place to go when things get rough.

Pet Allergies: How Do Allergy Treatments Work?

Using Antihistamines For Pet Allergies

Your body starts producing chemicals called histamines when it comes into contact with things you are allergic to. These histamines are what produces those notorious symptoms — sneezing, coughing, wheezing, and redness. Antihistamines are medications that either put a halt to histamine production or reduce it. 

While often very effective, antihistamines can produce side effects in some people. They include drowsiness, blurred vision, nausea, confusion, and in children mood swings. Before taking an antihistamine, even if it is available over-the counter, talking to your allergist is a good idea, as they can advise you on which antihistamine is most suitable in your situation. Make sure to tell your allergist about other chronic health conditions and medications you use.

How Allergy Shots Work

Though allergy shots are indeed referred to as allergy vaccines as well, they are much more involved than your annual flu shot. Better called immunotherapy, they are well suited to people who didn't have success with over-the-counter allergy treatments and who are exposed to the thing they are allergic to on an ongoing basis, as you are when you are a pet owner with a pet allergy. Allergy shots aim to reduce your reaction to your pet by slowly making your body get used to the protein to which you are allergic. 

Know in advance that having allergy shots is an involved and time-consuming process:

• In the initial stage, you will need shots once or even twice a week.
• Later on, that can be reduced to once every two weeks to a month.
• After about six months of maintaining that schedule, you will graduate to needing a monthly maintenance dose.

Should You Get A Pet If You Are Allergic, Or Someone Else In Your Household Is?

Though anti-allergy medications and shots can indeed help many people who are allergic to pets live with them harmoniously, it is important to acknowledge that these treatments are not fool-proof: they do not come with a guarantee that you will have no symptoms whatsoever. They are very much worth a shot if you are already living with a pet you love and who depends on you to sustain them. Should you welcome a new pet into your home knowing that you are allergic, though? 

The answer is "probably not" and "not without talking to an allergist at length first". Consider pets to whom you may not be as allergic, such as breeds that shed less, or pets to whom you are definitely not allergic, as confirmed by your allergist, instead.