Living With Pets: Where to Start “We see a lot of patients who have been told they have to get rid of their pet, and they ask us to help them find a home,” says Lucy Tan, DVM, a veterinarian at Laingsburg Animal Hospital in Laingsburg, MI. But Tan understands the bind her clients find themselves in. While it’s important that people first work with their doctor to find out how to manage pet-related asthma attacks, Tan says veterinarians have an important role to play as well. “Most primary care physicians are not trained in how people and pets can live together,” she says. “I think for quite a few families it’s a big deal to be told you have to get rid of your pet. It’s worth looking at whether you can live together healthfully.” How to Live With Pets and Reduce Risk of an Asthma Attack As a veterinarian, Tan says she tries first to work with clients to change the way they live with their pets and reduce their risk of an asthma attack. Steps that Tan recommends include:
Vacuuming frequently. Vacuuming can control pet dander and hair inside the house.Practice good hair removal. Grooming your pet regularly and keeping your home and furnishings free of hair will help.Try “liquid dosing” for cats. Diluted doses of the sedative acepromazine have been shown to reduce the proteins in cat saliva that are responsible for many cat allergies, says Tan. However, she cautions that the effectiveness of this approach varies widely depending on the cat and the owner’s specific allergies.Try shampoos and sprays that neutralize dander. Dander consists of tiny scales shed from your pet’s skin. Because these stick to a pet’s hair, many people focus on the hair itself. In fact, it is the proteins in your pet’s saliva that get attached to the dander when your pet grooms that are the true source of your asthma attack. Some products claim to be able to neutralize dander. Tan recommends these products to her clients on a trial basis, but says she is still waiting to hear success stories.Control pets’ access to bedrooms. The best way to prevent an asthma attack is to avoid the allergen, says Tan. Keeping pets out of the bedroom or limited to certain rooms in the house are ways to coexist and still create an allergen-free space for yourself.Keep bedding clean. Dust mites love to eat pet dander, says Tan. “It’s one of their favorite foods,” she says. Tan recommends dust-mite covers on beds and cleaning pet beds often.
If you have tried making these adjustments and still have asthma attacks or uncontrolled allergies, your doctor can help you decide the next steps. “The first thing is always to make sure whether or not the pet is contributing [to the allergy] and to what extent it is contributing,” says Miles Weinberger, MD, professor of pediatrics and director, Pediatric Allergy & Pulmonary Division at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. “I think it’s important that we not create homeless cats and dogs just on the theory that they may be contributing to asthma.” Dr. Weinberger says that while sometimes it is obvious that a person has a strong allergic reaction to a pet, most cases are not clear cut. He will test a patient for a cat or dog allergy and determine what proportion of their asthma is due to a pet allergy before making any recommendations. If you and your doctor find that living with a pet is not a healthy environment for you, your veterinarian can be a good resource for finding your pet a new home, says Tan. Finding a New Pet: Are There Hypoallergenic Dogs? The ideal pet is one to which you are not allergic, says Tan. Yet Tan does not believe in non-shedding or hypoallergenic dogs — all dogs shed, she says, but some just shed less than others. The best way to find a dog would be to spend some time with the one you are considering adopting and find out if it triggers your allergies, advises Tan. Visit with the dog a few times, go home and see how your body feels, and then make a commitment if you are comfortable.
