Your pet’s dead skin flakes, urine, feces, saliva and hair can
trigger asthma. Dogs, cats, rodents (including hamsters and guinea
pigs) and other mammals all can trigger asthma in individuals with an
allergic reaction to animal dander.
Proteins in the dander, urine, or saliva of warm-blooded animals
(e.g., cats, dogs, mice, rats, gerbils, birds, etc.) have been
reported to sensitize individuals and can cause allergic reactions or
trigger asthma episodes in individuals sensitive to animal allergens.
The most effective method to control animal allergens in the home is
to not allow an animal in the home. If you remove an animal from the
home, it is important to clean the home (including floors and walls,
but especially carpets and upholstered furniture) thoroughly. Pet
allergen levels are reported to stay in the home for several months
after the pet is removed even with cleaning. Isolation methods to
reduce animal allergen in the home have also been suggested by
reputable health authorities (e.g., keeping the animal in only one
area of the home, keeping the animal outside, or ensuring the allergic
or asthmatic individual stay away from the animal) but the
effectiveness of these methods have not been determined. To the
contrary, several reports in the literature indicate that animal
allergen is carried in the air and by residents of the home on their
clothing to all parts of the home, even when the animal is isolated.
In fact, animal allergen is often detected in locations where no
animals were housed. In these situations, it is assumed that the
allergen was carried in on people that have animals or on people that
have been around animals or people with animals.
Often people sensitive to animal allergens are advised to wash
their pets regularly. Recent research indicates that washing pets may
only provide temporary reductions in allergen levels. There is no
evidence that this short term reduction is effective in reducing
symptoms and it has been suggested that during the washing of the
animal the sensitive individual may be initially exposed to higher
levels of allergen.
Thus the most effective method to control exposure to animal
allergens is to keep your home pet free. However, some individuals may
find isolation measures to be sufficiently effective. Isolation
measures that have been suggested include keeping pets out of sleeping
areas, keeping pets away from upholstered furniture, carpets, and
stuffed toys, keeping the pet outdoors as much as possible, and
isolating sensitive individuals from the pet as much as possible.
