Can Asthma Patients Have Pets?
Only about 10% of all pet owners have allergies, but at least 30% of people with asthma are allergic to animals. If your child has asthma, consider whether your pet can produce allergens that trigger asthma symptoms in your child.
Your pet's fur may not be the cause of which worsens your child's condition. Allergies are caused by the body's reaction to proteins found in animal dead skin flakes, saliva, urine, and feathers. Although animal hair itself is not a problem, the protein that attaches to the feathers when the animal licks itself can be a trigger for asthma.
Animal hair can also be a hotbed of dust mites, pollen, fungi and other allergens. Animals living in cages produce droplets that invite fungi and mites.
You may have heard that some types of dogs and cats that do not produce flakes, will not cause asthma. But all warm-blooded animals produce protein fragments that cause allergic reactions.
Here are some tips that can reduce the effect of pets on asthma:
- Vacuum with often. Vacuum can control dead skin cells and animal fur inside the house.
- Practice good feather removal. Caring for pets and keeping the house and furniture free of feathers can help.
- Try "liquid dosing" for cats. The liquid dosage of the sedative acepromazine shows the reduction of protein in cat saliva that plays a role in many allergies. However, the effectiveness of this method varies depending on the cat and the owner's allergies.
- Use shampoos and sprays that neutralize the dander. Dander contains small pieces of animal skin attached to the fur. Protein from the animal's saliva attached to the dander is the real cause of asthma attacks. Some products promoting their products can neutralize dander.
- Limit pet access to the bedroom. The best way to prevent asthma attacks is to prevent allergens. Keeping pets outdoors or restricted to a particular room is a way to keep animals and keep an allergen-free area for you.
- Clean the animal bed. Dust mites love to eat pet dander. Use dust mite shampoo and clean the animal bed regularly.
Remember, even if you have given your pet to someone else because it often triggers an asthma attack, your condition may not improve immediately. It takes up to 6 months to reduce allergen levels in a house without pets. Although a pet has been expelled, your child still needs asthma or allergy medications that were used before.
When visiting a home with pets, your child should take allergy medication and always take medications that immediately relieve asthma.
