Animal Allergies

[vegetablesoup]

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Hey guys.

I was wondering if any of you suffer from animal allergies.

I just recently found out I have become highly allergic to rodents, and quite possibly cats and dogs. This is not great since I just had two vet school interviews and am dead set on becoming a veterinarian - but maybe not small or lab animal now. 👎

I get runny nose, itchy eyes, constant sneezing around cats and dogs. With rodents its the same story but also involves weezing, trouble breezing, and breaking out with hives if I work with them or hay. I also work part time taking care of lab animals, which is where I think I developed the allergy.

Do any of you have a similiar problem? What have you done that has helped (ie medications, shots, your future plans, ect.)

Thanks!

 

[banditalfi]

I'm allergic to all animals with fur... and some without fur. One word: zyrtec.

 

[rustysmom]

I am also allergic to all animals with fur.... allergy shots and claritin/zyrtec work for me...

if it was just the fur/dander, I wouldn't get shots - but I am also allergic to pollens, mold, dust, etc... if it's in the air, I am allergic to it.... 🙂

 

[banditalfi]

I am also allergic to all animals with fur.... allergy shots and claritin/zyrtec work for me...

if it was just the fur/dander, I wouldn't get shots - but I am also allergic to pollens, mold, dust, etc... if it's in the air, I am allergic to it.... 🙂

People think it's weird that I want to be a vet and on some level it is. But the fact is that I'm allergic to life: animals, air, pollen, dust, fruits, veggies, etc etc etc. Working with animals doesn't stress my body out any more than daily living... and the allergy medicines on the market are wonderful.

I spoke to an allergist about getting shots and he said there wasn't a lot of research done on people who are constantly in contact with their allergen. Also, they're time consuming and expensive, so I decided to forgo that route and just stick with my (now OTC) medicine.

 

[lailanni]

It's not very similar, but I get a rash when I handle much hay. It's especially bad on my forearms. I just wear long sleeved shirts. Which stinks when it's like 90 out and I'm trying to clean up hutches.

One of our vets has a fur/dander allergey. She's on Claritin when it gets bad, and she says it works great.

So don't worry, you'll be fine : )

Have you tried accupuncture? I know several people who have cat allergies, and after accupuncture they're fine with cats. No sneezing/itchy eyes, etc...

 

[bovine]

I had severe allergies to pollen and to a lesser extent cats and dogs. My allergist recommend shots so I did that for several years and it made all the difference in the world.
When I used the shots and Allegra at the same time it was almost like I had no allergies.
I would definitely recommend trying the shots if your allergies are very bad.

 

[bovine]

Also after several years of the shots I became less allergic to everything, to the point that I rarely take any allergy medication.

 

[pressmom]

I'm allergic to cats. I tried shots 2 or 3 times before for over a year each time and they never worked. But this really inexpensive prescription called R-tanna (generic) or Rynatan (brand-name) works well for me. I've cut down from twice a day to once a day. But it works really well for me and I'm not drowsy. But few meds make me drowsy.

 

[rustysmom]

I had severe allergies to pollen and to a lesser extent cats and dogs. My allergist recommend shots so I did that for several years and it made all the difference in the world.
When I used the shots and Allegra at the same time it was almost like I had no allergies.
I would definitely recommend trying the shots if your allergies are very bad.

I'm on my second round of shots - had 'em from when I was 4-11 years old... and in my early 30s they came back with a vengeance (especially the pollen ones 😡). I've been on shots for 3 years now - last fall, I didn't need to take any meds for ragweed season!!!

 

[vegetablesoup]

Well, the thing is that there is no shot for rodent allergies...which has got me thinking that maybe something I could do as a vet since I'm interested in research. Maybe I could make a rodent shot for allergies if the market calls for it!

But the thing is that I work with rodents in the lab, so it's DOCTORS ORDER'S to wear this thing (PAPR Mask) when I work:
http://www.nbcsafety.com/images/C420-suit.jpg

But thank you for the medical advice. I'll have to bring that up with my doctor. Right now, I've got the Claratin D, an inhaler, and nasal spray. I feel like such a dork! 😳

 

[chipster]

I always knew I was allergic to cats and dust because I get the runny nose, itchy watery eyes, the works. Claritin used to work but since then I've moved on to Allerga (awesome stuff). So when I got into vet school I decided to get tested and I found out that apparently I'm allergic to all animals! Cats, dogs, horses, cows, birds, even cockroaches. The allergy doc even asked me if i was sure i wanted to go to vet school. OF COURSE.
So now I'm getting allergy shots and they are working great! I can even spend a whole day in a room full of cats during feline spay/neuter days at the shelter, all i need is one allegra. Now I just need to make sure that if i touch a cat that I dont rub my eyes or face afterwards. Since you have to wash your hands before and after every patient, it just works out. Dont let allergies stop you!
Only sad part is I can't live with a cat, and I love cats. I did foster kittens though, haha. I just couldn't play with them too long or I'd get allergies, duh. I guess I just can't resist. 😍

 

[wivet2011]

I always knew I was allergic to cats and dust because I get the runny nose, itchy watery eyes, the works. Claritin used to work but since then I've moved on to Allerga (awesome stuff). So when I got into vet school I decided to get tested and I found out that apparently I'm allergic to all animals! Cats, dogs, horses, cows, birds, even cockroaches. The allergy doc even asked me if i was sure i wanted to go to vet school. OF COURSE.
So now I'm getting allergy shots and they are working great! I can even spend a whole day in a room full of cats during feline spay/neuter days at the shelter, all i need is one allegra. Now I just need to make sure that if i touch a cat that I dont rub my eyes or face afterwards. Since you have to wash your hands before and after every patient, it just works out. Dont let allergies stop you!
Only sad part is I can't live with a cat, and I love cats. I did foster kittens though, haha. I just couldn't play with them too long or I'd get allergies, duh. I guess I just can't resist. 😍

No animal allergies (at least anymore!). When I was little, I was super allergic to cats, runny nose, itchy, red eyes, etc just from being in the same room. Now, with the exception of being in a room full of cats at the humane society (which makes everyone sneezy), no problems whatsoever. Very good thing since my kitten loves to lay across my face! But, ragweed, grass clippings, etc... couldn't function most days during the summer without Claritin. Benadryl makes me stupid and zyrtec does squat!

 

[168135]

I don't have any animal allergies, but I have allergies related to the outdoors and allergies related to certain cleaning products. I can't clean the cat cages at the animal shelter anymore because my allergy to the cleaning products caused my face to feel like there was millions of cat hairs stuck to it... my face used to get so incredibly itchy and no over-the-counter medications would cure it... Benedril is the only medication that I have tried that helps my outdoors allergies, but I never got to try it in the shelter. I was handling cat feces and treating cats like they all contained a contagious disease, so having me scratching at my face all of the time was not a good idea.

You could look on the brightside. I know somebody who is so allergic to cats that she could die. Her airway swells up when she is in the same room as a cat. I don't think that it is crazy that you want to be a vet and yet have animal allergies. What would be crazy is if you gave up on becoming a veterinarian because of your allergies.

 

[ManatyGrrl]

I am also allergic to (most) animals! I think that cats are the worst for me and then horses come in at second. I'm also allergic to dogs, but I have lived with them my whole life, so I must have developed some resistance to that one. I did notice that during my time working at an animal hospital, my allergies became less and less severe. I take Claritin (acutally, it's the generic form of it that I get on amazon.com very cheap!) everyday (when I remember, and I can tell when I dont take it) - my biggest symptoms are itchy eyes and my throat gets tight when I am having a reaction, so I keep my inhaler with me at all times.

 

[BruceCaboose]

My fiance and I are both pre-vet and he found out in his senior year after already applying that he had developed severe allergies to dogs, cats, horses, the outdoors, and dust mites. He doesn't get rashes- after exposure some random part of his face would swell to 2 to 3 times its usual size for three days. It was never fun when he had duck lips or a horn on his forehead. Anyway he's on xyxol and gets 3 allergy shots 3 times a week and hasn't had a reaction since -- except for the night before his interview for VA-MD! He'd been off his meds 2 weeks... a quick trip to the pharmacy for a refill had the swelling down by morning and Tech never knew. What I'm trying to say is that its not the end of the world, no matter how allergic you are. They use insulin needles so the shots are relatively painless as well. Don't give up!

 

[Angie09]

I'm allergic to dogs, really allergic to cats, and apparently okay around horses, birds, and rodents. My dog allergies are worst when I haven't been around dogs for awhile and then get reexposed (I have 3 dogs, and if I go on vacation for a week and they're kenneled, when I get back I sneeze and wheeze and have itchy eyes for a few days before it settles down again). I think that when I'm around the allergens consistently, my mast cells and eos all degranulate and there's nothing left to cause allergy symptoms -- so you might actually find out your allergies improve in vet school. (Not extremely likely, but hey -- worked for me) 🙂

Allegra did squat for me; Zyrtec did very little; Claritin (OTC) does great. I don't take anything most of the time, but on the occasions that I do need something, that's what I use. A steroid nasal spray works amazingly well, too, since the runny nose and sneezing were what bothered me the most. My doctor said Claritin wasn't really effective against my type of allergies, and recommended the other two first, so don't just go with whatever they tell you -- if you're not improving after a month or two, switch to another drug and see what happens.