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Twelve Ways To Avoid Asthma While Loving Your Pet.
By David Kane, Thu Dec 8th
Copyright 2005 David Kane Any sufferer allergic to their pet would improve theircondition if they found another home for the animal. Yet manycannot face going through with this and decide to keep the petand suffer. However, you can take steps to make living with yourpet easier. Firstly, understand that a shorthaired animal can trigger asthmaas easily as a longhaired animal. The problem is not hair.Animal saliva, sweat, urine and dander (flakes of dead skin) canact as powerful allergens. Petting, grooming or vacuuming canstir the allergen into the air leaving it to float through theair for hours.
If you cannot bear to part from your pet try these measures: 1. Decide which areas of the house will become your exclusionzones. I recommend you never allow your pet into at least tworooms, the bedroom and lounge. You may want to add other roomsto the list. If your pet once slept in those rooms, wash as muchof the bedding or upholstery as possible and consider buying anew mattress and duvet. Keep the animal’s bed in another room,perhaps a utility room or lobby. For a cat, sprinkle some catnipthere to make the area seem more attractive. 2. Make sure anyone handling your pet washes their hands beforetouching the asthmatic person or entering the pet-free rooms. 3. Keep the pet outdoors as much as possible. You could build ita shed or out-house and make it as warm and comfortable as youcan. Feed the pet there sometimes so that it feels at home. 4. If you allow your pet into the house consider replacingallergen friendly surfaces. Furniture should be made of wood orhave leather or vinyl covers. Carpets should be replaced withcork tiles, vinyl flooring or linoleum. Another option is topolish the floorboards. 5. Regularly air the house and keep some windows ajar when thecat or allergic person is in the home. You could get an HEPA(High Efficiency Particulate Arrester) air filter to keep theair throughout your home as pure as possible, but
it will onlyremove airborne allergens, not those left on furniture andcarpets. 6. If your home uses forced-air heating seal up the air ductsand use portable room heaters instead. This will prevent theallergen entering the pet-free rooms. 7. Do not use fans or fan heaters. These will blow allergensthat settle on carpets and furniture up into the air. Researchhas shown that some pet allergens can take up to six hours tosettle once they are disturbed. 8. When you clean the house use an anti-allergy vacuum cleanerthat filters and keeps allergens. If you need to purchase onecheck that the vacuum cleaner can filter out the allergens. 9. Frequently wash dogs with lukewarm water and shampoo. Ideallyget a non-asthmatic to do this. For cats gently wipe the furwith a damp cloth or use a shower. Unfortunately, while thesemethods will take a lot of allergen off the cat they will notremove all of it. Some research has found that totally immersingthe cat in water will remove most allergens, so you could trythat if you don’t mind all the scratches it will probably earnyou! 10. A non-asthma sufferer should also brush the pet regularlyoutside the house. 11. Clean out pet cages and litter boxes outside the home. Ifpossible get a non-asthmatic to do this job too. 12. If your pet is a tomcat get him neutered. The male of thespecies produces most allergen, but the amount declines afterneutering. Cats vary greatly in the amount of allergen theyproduce. If you have more than one, keep each cat in the housefor a while to find out which one is least allergenic. If your is severe and triggered by pet allergens the bestadvice is to find a new home for the animal. However if yourasthma is fairly mild and you cannot bear to be parted from thismember of your family, try some of the above measures and youmay be able to avoid while loving your pet. About the author:David Kane is the author of ‘101 Top Tips for Relief’ andhas produced a number of resources to help sufferersmonitor and control their condition. Find these athttp://www.asthma-relieftips.com
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