pet dander and allergies?
June 15th, 2007 by admin
daized_rain asked:
Is cat and dog dander the same or different? My son is allergic to dogs but the doc told me that my son was allergic to cats and that dogs were fine. I asked another doctor about this and he told me that cats just have 7x more stronger dander than dogs. So that sounds like it’s just a pet dander allergy and has nothing to do with weather its a cat or dog. But then why do you get tested for cat and dog allergies instead of just dander. Can anyone help me out with explaining this?
Thanks for the help. My son shows symptoms of dog allergies not cat allergies. The allergist told me the complete oposite though. That he was allergic to cats and not dogs. I was trying to find out how he got these results or if the test is just wrong.
Is cat and dog dander the same or different? My son is allergic to dogs but the doc told me that my son was allergic to cats and that dogs were fine. I asked another doctor about this and he told me that cats just have 7x more stronger dander than dogs. So that sounds like it’s just a pet dander allergy and has nothing to do with weather its a cat or dog. But then why do you get tested for cat and dog allergies instead of just dander. Can anyone help me out with explaining this?
Thanks for the help. My son shows symptoms of dog allergies not cat allergies. The allergist told me the complete oposite though. That he was allergic to cats and not dogs. I was trying to find out how he got these results or if the test is just wrong.
- Posted in Pets
June 17th, 2007 at 8:50 am
There are separate tests for being allergic to cats and dogs. More people are allergic to cats because of their constant grooming. Dander is shed skin particles. You can be allergic to one without being allergic to the other.
June 18th, 2007 at 12:47 am
It’s different, yes.
The allergy of “cat-dander” is actually a misnomer. The reaction in humans is triggered by a PROTEIN that is in the saliva of cats. Because they groom their furr with their saliva so frequently and the microscopic release of such, it causes some (many) people to trigger an excessive autoimmune response. The reason why dogs don’t trigger so many symptoms, is they have different protein combinations and that they don’t groom as often and like cats do.
The trigger is the protein, not the dander (but yes, the dander is infested with this protein)
Some people outgrow their allergies (and almost all allergies are an overreaction to “foreign” proteins of other living organisms), others get worse over their life time (it all depends on the exposure, auto-immune response and other unknown factors of an individual’s body). Read up and learn as much as possible.
June 18th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
follow up with the allergist for specific answers.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
The thing that is misleading about pet allergies is that it isn’t actually the fur they are allergic to. It is their saliva. So the reason he may seem to be more allergic to cats than dogs is because cats lick themselves, so the saliva drys on the fur which then gets spread around.
Bathing your pet often, vacuuming EVERY day, keeping pillow cases washed, and using a air filter will help. I have the Ionic Breeze from the Shaper Image (not that you can go there now with the Bankrupcy, but try to find an equal quality one). When I got ours, my sons not only stopped reacting to his cat allergy, but his asthma was gone, too. Literally. He used to take a ton of albuterol, claritin, singulair, etc. With the air cleaner and using a vacuum with HEPA filters, this was eliminated…
Good luck
June 21st, 2007 at 8:56 am
You can CURE the allergies from any air born irritant with a teaspoon of LOCAL honey each day. Your body works with the local honey to to develop immunities like a polio vaccine drink. Your child will never have an air born allergy again after a couple of months taking local honey. This herb has no side effects like decongestants and antihistamines which dry out your body causing sinus problems and, over time, kidney deterioration. It will NATURALLY get rid of the allergic reaction to pet dander and you won’t need shots or over the counter medication-you won’t get cold and flu symptoms either as the local honey takes effect.
June 24th, 2007 at 11:56 am
The scratch test for allergies are not reliable test. You can have the dr take a blood panel to find out for sure what he is allergic to.
They say that my daughter is allergic to cats but she doesn’t have any problems with our cats. Also my daughter is not allergic to dogs but when the dogs go outside and roll around in the pollens then she can’t play with the dog because she will have an allergic asthma attack. Solution for that my brother washes the dog before we come over. Then she can play with the dog.