dog allergy

[mamashark]

so, allergy testing for my 5 year old son today showed he's allergic to both cats and dogs. We have a dog...This might explain the itching he's experiencing and maybe help mediate the sensitivity to clothing that he experiences. He also had a lot of thick mucus in his nose in spite of the fact that he's able to breathe without a problem. That said, I was rather surprised. I didn't expect pet allergies, we were looking at food because of behavioral issues. 

 

So my question - my 2 daughters experience near constant congestion and are rarely able to breathe out of their nose. No dr. has ever suggested allergy testing, but now I'm wondering how prevalent pet allergies are between siblings and whether or not their symptoms are from our dog too?? The Dr. has always suggested allergy meds without even caring what's causing the allergies.

[alisoncooks]

Our youngest had (what we assumed were) seasonal allergies for YEARS.  When they flared, she took a Benadryl.  Then our dog died (we'd had him her entire life), and her allergies lessened, but we honestly didn't really notice or think about it.  

 

Then we started hanging out at the home of a family with 3 dogs, and it was like she had an explosion of sneezing and itching.  *duh*  We finally put it together and realized that the poor kid had been allergic to our dog all that time. (oops)

[mamashark]

The Dr. told us to just put him on a daily dose of antihistamine but I'm not too crazy about that idea, and I'm wondering if (as hard as it might be), getting rid of the dog would clear up all three kids of their symptoms.

[Loowit]

We had to rehome our dog when our youngest was about a year old.  His allergies were really bad and he had asthma on top of it.  Despite being on a lot of medications it was still a problem.  Rehoming our dog was hard, but it helped DS a lot.  We did allergy testing for environmental allergies and found he was allergic to cats, dogs, dust mites, grasses, and so on.  Being able to eliminate the dog really helped lower the amount of allergens he was having to deal with on a daily basis.  He also had allergy shots when he was a bit older and is now longer testing as allergic to dogs or cats, but still very allergic to dust mites, grasses, and weeds.

 

The really ironic thing was we got a dog when I was pregnant with youngest because I had heard that having pets in the home can help lower the risk of allergies.  He is my one that has a ton of allergies, both environmental and food.

 

Another thought is that it isn't always allergies.  My middle has non-allergic rhinitis.  Meaning that he doesn't have an immune system response, but he still gets runny nose, red watery eyes, etc. when he is overwhelmed with things like dust, pollen, dander, etc.  He was treated with the same antihistamines as youngest for a while, but doesn't seem to have issues unless it is high pollen season or things where there is a lot of "contamination" in the air.  So while the immune system isn't involved, it still helps to avoid triggers.

[AK_Mom4]

There are some things to try before rehoming to see if it will help. DD16 is allergic to our dogs.

 

We keep her bedroom door closed all the time (less flying dog hair).  A good HEPA air filter running in her room all the time.  Frequently wash her bedding.  Showering at night to get stuff out of her hair during shedding season.  Frequent brushing of the dogs (by me not her) to cut down on shed and dander.  Frequent vacuming in the common areas and a Roomba that runs around at night picking up even more dog hair. 

 

She is also allergic to dust and a couple of types of pollen.  Allergen covers for her pillows and mattress have made a huge difference in managing those allergies.

 

[mamashark]

There are some things to try before rehoming to see if it will help. DD16 is allergic to our dogs.

 

We keep her bedroom door closed all the time (less flying dog hair).  A good HEPA air filter running in her room all the time.  Frequently wash her bedding.  Showering at night to get stuff out of her hair during shedding season.  Frequent brushing of the dogs (by me not her) to cut down on shed and dander.  Frequent vacuming in the common areas and a Roomba that runs around at night picking up even more dog hair. 

 

She is also allergic to dust and a couple of types of pollen.  Allergen covers for her pillows and mattress have made a huge difference in managing those allergies.

 

 

This biggest problem with these ideas is that we live in 900sf. we can keep the dog out of the kids room, but we have one common area that we all share with the dog because that's the only area of the home other than the kitchen and my and my husband's room. so I can vacuum all day long but the dog is a heavy shedder and we won't be able to keep them apart much.

[AK_Mom4]

This biggest problem with these ideas is that we live in 900sf. we can keep the dog out of the kids room, but we have one common area that we all share with the dog because that's the only area of the home other than the kitchen and my and my husband's room. so I can vacuum all day long but the dog is a heavy shedder and we won't be able to keep them apart much.

 

We have this problem too.  One big room full of dog hair.   Brushing the dog daily really helps, but when our two blow out their coats, it's a mess.

 

What we found was that if DD wasn't SLEEPING in dog hair all night, that made a huge difference.  Also, washing her hands after touching the dogs helped.  It also helped when we got her to stop lying on the floor in a pile of dogs.