Allergies to Animals
Animal allergies are often a respiratory allergy and rarely a skin allergy.
Indoor pets can spread allergens throughout your home. Some common pet-related allergens include animal dander (dead skin or scales from animals), urine, and dried saliva. Cats in particular spread dried saliva, but other small animals such as mice and gerbils can spread it too. Hair is often not the problem. Short-haired animals are no less of a problem than long-haired ones.
Does your child miss school due to allergies? If so, you're not alone. Seasonal allergies are believed to affect as many as 40% of U.S. children. On any given day, about 10,000 of those children miss school because of their allergies. That's a total of more than 2 million lost school days every year. Even if your child doesn't miss school, allergies can get in the way of a productive school day, so managing allergies at school is an important part of caring for your child's health.
Read the Managing Allergies at School article > >
Animal allergies produce symptoms of:
- Hay fever (allergic rhinitis), such as itchy, watery eyes; sneezing; runny, stuffy, or itchy nose; headache and fatigue; dark circles under the eyes; and postnasal drip.
- Wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing. These symptoms may mean a person has an allergic asthma condition.
When allergies are worse around pets, there are some things you can try to reduce your allergy symptoms.
- Keep the pet outside of the house or at least out of the bedroom.
- Bathe your pet once a week.
- Ask a family member who does not have allergies to clean your pet's litter box.
- Keep a caged pet, such as a gerbil, outside your home in a garage or shed.
- Consider finding your pet a new home if your symptoms are severe.
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