My mom is allergic to my Yorkie! Please help.
 

So we got our baby girl in March 2012, and for a year and a half we had no problems. 2 years ago my mom started wheezing, coughing and sneezing an awful lot. She now has allergy induced asthma. She constantly has a cold and a cough.
She has tried allergy pills, anti histamines and steroids when absolutely necessary but she is miserable. We also have a humidifier for my mom in her room and for the past year, our yorkie has not been allowed to enter her room.
She has had 3 asthma attacks but is reluctant to get an inhaler because many people suggest her not to.
Today the topic of giving away our little girl came up but I can't even bear the thought of doing such a thing. I'm incredibly attached to her..
I'm so confused and i don't know what to do. I've read plenty online. Are inhalers bad for you? Are they cancer-causing????????
Also, do air purifiers help??

An air purifier may help a bit, but not completely. What about desensitization therapy from an allergy doc?

Apparently, with what I've read online.. Immunotherapy desensitisation won't work then you still have the pet and you are constantly exposed to it at home all day. It only works when they expose the allergen to you gradually in increasing doses in controlled environments.

I feel for your mom. I'm allergic to dogs too, and yes that includes my yorkie, but to a much lesser extent. Things I've done to combat this:

-Baths. Lots and lots of baths. Kaji's hair is thick and fluffy. It picks up everything and can hold on to his dander very well. If he is not clean, I experience shortness of breadth. In the bath he goes!! Short hair and a bath with Yorkie Splash and Shine shampoo and conditioner at least every 3 days keeps it at bay. Other dog shampoos don't get him as clean as I need, or give me a rash. Yes.. dog shampoos give me a rash. I'm all sorts of miserable.

-Clean everything! But this is because I sleep with him in bed. My sheets are washed weekly and his beds are washed every 2-3 weeks. He hardly uses the dog beds, so I can get away with washing those less. I'm also allergic to dust, so my room has to be dust free. The rest of the house does too, but I sleep and spend a considerable amount of time in my room which makes it my primary point of concern.

-Short hair. Kaji's holds on to less dander if his hair is short. I love his long fluffy hair. It bounces so nicely when he walks. But, as cute as that is I would like to breathe, so I cut it every 6-8 weeks.

-No carpet. I experienced less symptoms when we had hard wood floors everywhere in the house. Now I bought a new home with carpets and I'm miserable. I can't wait to change the flooring in the house.

It's not perfect but I find doing the above makes things manageable. I still get red eyes and cracked/broken skin occasionally. I keep allergy eye drops everywhere, and special eye washes to combat the dryness. (it's johnson and johnson baby shampoo. My eye doctor recommended it)

Welcome to TY I have asthma as well and take a power inhaler. Did the reaction to the dog happen as soon as you got the dog or after a while and how long after. I am wondering why the humidifier? Humidity is my the worst for me it will send me into an attack, is it a humidifier or dehumidifier. If her Dr. wants her to go on inhalers then she should they will not harm her I and my daughter have used them for years and we are very healthy and there are some with out steroids. I just reread your post so a year and a half no problem with the dog I would say it isnt the dog. Hope that helps a bit

I do immune therapy and it is very time consuming. I have been on it for almost 4 years and have to go religiously for shots. It also does not work right away. When I first started I was on multiple medications to help with my allergies.


It wasn't until I was on the shots for 2.5 years that my doctor said I could get a cat or dog.


I also take a steroid inhaler for asthma as I get a terrible cough that lasts over a month without the medication. I don't have any issues with an inhaler I know many people on them with no adverse effects.


I would suggest going to see an Allergist and discussing your concerns. If you do happen to get tested for Allergy Shots you need to be off all Anti-Histamines for a week. No one told me that when I went to the doctor the first time.


Good Luck.

You said there were no issues for 1.5 years... Did you change anything like shampoo/conditioner, spray, etc... I vaguely remember a similar post to this.

What a sad situation, I wish I could offer some advice, but I can't. I hope you can figure out a way to solve the problem so you can keep ypir pup and yr mom doesn't suffer. Good luck to you all!

Well, the only obvious answer here is to get rid of her... I'm sure there are people out there who will give your mom a good new home.

Sorry, had to throw some comedy in there. I do hope that there is something that can be done to help control the allergens!

There are shampoos and sprays you can buy to cut down on the dander that your pets produce. It is usually not the fur but the dander that comes from the pet's skin that people are allergic to. These products are supposed to cut down on that.
If your dog is out and about getting pollen or grass on the fur that can cause problems for very sensitive people as well.
I really don't know how effective these anti dander products are but it is worth a try. Probably a weekly bath with a good all natural shampoo and conditioner would help. That way you pet won't be carrying around a lot of dust and dander. Using regular shampoos that have sulfates and other chemicals dries out the skin when you use them that frequently and will just increase the dander. Keeping the pet's skin healthy with a good healthy diet and all natural bath products will help both of them.
If your mom touches the dog it is best she washes her hands after contact. That way she won't get any allergen near her eyes that may create irritation.
These are lots of other things you can do like frequent vacuuming, etc. to keep the dust level down. A cool mist humidifier may also help.
One of my son's has allergies so we have been through it. I myself seem to have symptoms of allergy to the cats but an occasional antihistamine helps when I do get symptoms.

Thank you so much for all this help!! Overwhelmed :) :) :)

Yes sorry, I meant dehumidifier not humidifier... my bad

Also, we have only been seeing a GP so far but we are planning a visit to an allergy specialist next week. Hopefully that will help!

In the mean time. I'm cleaning the entire house much more religiously. Vacuuming at least once a day, I already give mischka a shower once a week and the vet has advised us not to give her a shower more often than that, so i guess i can't do anything there...

I've temporarily set aside all carpets that mischka has had access to and stored them in the garage.

We have considered the possibility that it may not be mischka as the symptoms only appeared a year and a half after we got her but its hard to get my mom tested as she has a constant cold, and they aren't able to conduct the test for her when she's still experiencing symptoms.
Did go through something similar? Why must the patient be fully OK to have allergy tests done??

Thanks again for all the help <3
Gina

I wasn't fully ok when I was tested for allergy shots. At the time I was staying with my sister who had two cats and I could hardly breathe. The allergist's office also forgot to tell me I needed to be off all antihistamines for a week. They said they can try and give me the test but it make be a false negative because of the meds I was on. They said the other option was to give me an injection instead of the prick if it comes up negative.


Even with being on meds I was positive for everything under the sun except food. The test for dog was the only one they had to retest me for with the actual serum as there was only a slight bump.


The allergist took one look at me without even seeing the results and said Allergy Shots. She was shocked I have never been on them.


Definitely go see an allergist they are the best ones to answer all your questions and help determine what is wrong with your mom.


I will always be grateful for my allergy shots they have allowed me the past 4 years to live almost allergy free. I have never felt this way my entire life. I have always suffered from allergies an none of the medication seemed to help.

Thank you for the advice aweitzm1!
I'll definitely keep that in mind. Glad you feel all better now! Hopefully my mom will too soon. :)