Advice for allergy prevention? (certain breeds, etc)

[Usako]

I'm thinking of getting a rabbit, but myboyfriend is allergic. He gets itchy, watery eyes, a stuffy nose and atight feeling in his chest whenever he comes into contact with cats, sowe tested rabbits by exposing him to the pet store bunny. He had thesame symptoms after "sniffing" the bunny for a bit. (I, however, fellin LOVE with the cute little black ball of fluff and wanted to take himhome right then and there!)
We don't live together, just spend a lot of time together, so Iwouldn't want to make myhouse an off-limits area for him. Iwant to be able to spend time with my boy and my bunny! I'm afraid thatif I get a rabbit, I'll be torn between the two of them.

I'm trying to find out if a certain breed of rabbit is better forpreventing allergies. I know that with cats, Rex breeds are betterbecause they don't shed as much, and have shorter hair to deposit thedander proteins on to, so that some allergy sufferersbelievethe cats to beallergy-free. Does this carry overinto Rex-fur rabbits? ObviouslyAngora rabbits would present aproblem, but are Satin or Rex better than normal fur?

I've thought that if the rabbit was kept out of certain areas, thatwould render them allergy-free. Does anyone have any first-handexperience with rabbit allergies and isolation working as a preventivemeasure? I'm allergy-free myself, and have never had to deal with anallergy-sufferer before. Any advice or help would be appreciated.

 

[naturestee]

Did the pet store bunny have access to hay? Many people are more allergic to the hay than to the rabbit.

I'm not sure if breed makes a difference, but I know you can beallergic to some rabbits but not all. As for allergy-freeareas, that might not work very well unless you clean a lot and use anair purifier. But the room would have less allergens, maybe enough tobe okay depending on how strong his reaction is. Anti-allergen Febreeze helps, at least with my dust/hay/seasonalallergies. Does he take medicines like Claratin?They help a lot!

My brother's fiancee is allergic to my rabbits. I lived in anapartment where the bunnies could not go in the whole front half, shewould stand near the door and still start getting symptoms. Inow live in a house where the bunnies are upstairs but not in thebasement. The stairs to the basement are in the garage, notthe house, so the only connection is through the hot airvents. We were hanging out in the rec room in the basementand she didn't get too many symptoms but did still get asthmaproblems. Keep in mind that Tracy is extremely allergic tothe majority of cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits... and her asthmadoesn't help. She is okay with a few individual cats and dogsas long as there is regular cleaning done.

 

[Usako]

The pet store bunny (a cute little Lionhead) didhave hay bedding,but I don't know if BF has a hay allergy.He's the type to immediately blame it on the animal, though, and hiscat allergy makes me suspect it might have been the poor bunny. Atleast he likes rabbits, opposed to cats, which he dislikes.

I've talked to him about taking Claritin or Benedryl or something, buthis solution is just to avoid the situation entirely. It's veryfrustrating...

I currently live with a cat (my roommate's) and as a result, he's neverat my apartment. We discussed allergy shots, but he's afraid of needlesand there isn't an allergist in town, we'd have to drive to the cityand it would cost a lot of money.

My parents have a cat, and I got my BF to hang out with me there whilethey were out-of-town. I made sure to cover the couch with clean sheetsand he managed 14 hours before getting any symptoms, and even then theyweren't very strong.

 

[naturestee]

I've heard that most people who get allergicreactions to rabbits are actually allergic to the hay. If youkeep the rabbit's hay in a hay rack and keep the bag/box of hay in acloset or otherwise stored away, it should help. And beingallergic to cats does not mean they're allergic to rabbits. Iknow Proxima Centauri is allergic to cats but not his bunnies- youcould pm him. He has mini rexes. I don'tknow if that makes a difference for him or not.

I take Claratin for much of the year, and I don't get any side affectsat all. Plus it's cheap and it works well. Maybeyou could tell him that? I also have a prescription nasalspray for late summer/fall (you can take both at once, I checked withmy doctor), but that gives me nosebleeds. Life stinks withoutit, though.:?

 

[sparklyyy]

Hi there,

My dad and I are both allergic to just about everything, and haveasthma. Neither of us were tested for rabbits, but we bothtested positive for dogs and cats, and I am very allergic to Timothyhay. My allergist told me that, pertaining to dogs, I'd havemore of a reaction around larger ones thatgo to the bathroommore, that drool heavily, and have longer hair.I'mfine around my friend's small Jack Russel Terrier with smooth hair, andmy neighbor's c o c k a p o o with tight, curly hair. Maybe aRex would be good for allergy sufferers? My dad and I justkind of... deal with the rabbit situation in the house. We'vehad rabbits for seven years and I suppose we just sort of got used toit.

This may be kind of an intense suggestion for your boyfriend, but: Ifhis allergies are so severe that they trigger real discomfort orasthmatic symptoms, maybe he'd consider getting an inhaler for oncedaily use or allergy shots. I'm on Advair, Nasacort, Allegra,and Zyrtec! I also get four allergy shots a week!One is for dogs, one is for cats, another is for weeds and hay, andanother is for dust and mold. This makes everything moretolerable for me.

Erin

 

[BACI]

I have asthma and am an asthma educator so I maytell you more than you want to hear.1. Shorter hair is better,less dander and less shedding2. Vacume and vacume often (hepafilter vacumes are best), do it before he gets there, the allergens canlast in the air for up to 4 hrs3. Hepa filter air filters onhousehold furnace (purple label filtrete) change once a month.4.Keep all supplies in containiers with tight lids (just to besafe) some people are allergic to alfalfa hayand not timothy and the other way around.5. Your roommate couldbathe her cat to decrease the dander or change kitty litter brands.Most people that are allergic to cats are allergic to the kitty litterthey track all over the house despite matts outside the litter box. (itcan be done, I bathe my cat once a month)6. they also make a spray foranimals (cats/dogs) to make them allergy free.... beware I amhighly allergic to that spray so he may be too.7. Get a bedroomair cleaner, they work wonders 8. Have him take Tavistbefore he comes over if it comes down to that. Tavist does not make youtired like benedryl and works for 12hrs.9. You could take him tothe shelter with you to try several rabbits and see what triggers hisallergies.Some other forum members mentioned the rex's havingthin hair, hard to clean up which might be a problem as well, but Idon't have one so check with them.good luck and sorry this is solong.

 

[LessThanAnNa]

Has your boyfriend been tested for hisallergies? I'm allergic to cats, dust, trees, and smoke.. I was testedyears ago after developing a severe reaction one day to my cat (that Ihad been living with for several years already.. allergies are weird).We were worried about how rabbits would affect me.. but it's acompletely different type of fur. He may have been allergic to the hay,or it may have been self-projection. Have him go to a doctor and gettested. It's a quick and simple test, and it's always good to know whatyou're allergic to!

 

[Usako]

Do you know about how much it costs for anallergy test? Being as how we're both college students, and the onlyallergist is in the city, not at the campus clinic, it would beout-of-pocket.

Thanks everyone for your advice so far! I'll take all this into consideration.