Allergies

[area20]

I'm not sure where to post this so if there is a better place for this topic let me know!
I am allergic to my rabbit. I would say moderately allergic. I sneeze quite often and sometimes need to step outside for air, but I would never give my bun up for anything! And he will always live inside.
I was just wondering if any of you on here are allergic to your rabbit and what you do to help yourself?
I don't take any oral medication, but mostly because I just don't know if it will even help me. I have a nasal spray that I've used a couple times, but don't know if that has worked much either.

Also what part of your rabbit are you allergic to?
I honestly feel like I may be allergic to hay or urine. I am not sure if it is my bunny himself.

I am also VERY allergic to cats. I don't know if thats just a coincidence or if I am allergic to similar things on the two animals?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I have an extreme allergy to cats but am not allergic to bunnies. That said, I'm allergic to the bedding and hay, so I use gloves and an industrial dust mask.

 

[OneTwoThree]

I'm allergic to cats too but not bunnies. I'm terribly allergic to Timothy hay though (very common). I use a face mask or suck on a menthol cough drop when refilling their box And I give mostly Orchard Grass hay, I'm not allergic to that.

 

[Paddy Ohara]

I am allergic to my rabbit. I do take over the couter allergy meds and nasal spray. I also like to use the saline wash which helps so much even with colds.

The hay is actually worse than the reaction to the rabbit. Luckily for me my girl will only eat orchard grass which I do not react too. If I try timothy hay I cough and am miserable for hours afterwards.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I have discovered that I'm allergic to the alfalfa hay. Luckily Gary is 6 months old now so I switched him over to mostly Timothy, which doesn't cause a problem, and then supplement with the alfalfa cubes. Whenever I touch it it makes me itch. If I don't scrub my hands right away I blister where it touches my skin other than hands and my eyes swell and itch. I was also starting to wheeze after I fed him, so it's good I could switch.

 

[funnybunnymummy]

I'm very allergic to hay. Fortunately, Gus's cage is in the basement, so he can have hay in the house now. At our old house, we had to feed his hay outside (which he totally didn't mind--he loves being outdoors!). I usually just make sure to wash my hands well after touching it.

I'm mildly allergic to rabbit fur. If I get some bunny fluff stuck in my eyelashes, my eyes itch like crazy. But I can totally snuggle him without having an allergic reaction at all. I love the way bunnies smell! :bunnyheart:

I take a nasal spray to keep my allergies under control. One thing to remember, you can't take allergy medication just when you're having a reaction. You need to build up the medication in your system before you'll see any lasting results. So taking a nasal spray once or twice won't do much.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[area20]

Thanks everyone!!

 

[MagPie]

I've found I have a very mild reaction to Timothy hay, but not Orchard. Which is good for me since Harvey isn't a big fan of Timothy either. In fact I think he even got a little sniffly because of it.

I mostly just get a little stuffed up and I did have a slight problem with my eye. But it's gone down since I've phased out Timothy.