Pet allergies and relatives with pets

EliseB0323 · January 2012

If your kid is allergic to pets, how do you visit family members who have pets?

DS is allergic to cats. My sister has two. The last time he was at her house he had an asthma attack within 15 minutes of walking in the door. Obviously he can't hang out there. Usually we see my sister and her family either at our house or my parents, but they are moving out of state in a few months.

cbidt*sgirl · January 2012

This is so hard. I am the one with the allergy and it really is miserable for me to have to stay in a house with cats. People get so offended and don't understand but you really can't subject your kid to that. I would make arrangements to meet at playspace, restaurants etc so you can see them but not stay. Even if that means getting a hotel room nearby

beckbech · January 2012

Do you see an allergist? DD1 has a severe dog allergy and my ILs have a of. Obviously, we can't keep her from them and they live 10 minutes away. Her allergist has us give her Children's Zyrtec before we visit them. It really helps, she can spend the night there again. They also keep the dog out of the room she sleeps in and my MIL said she got some sort of hypo-allergenic wipe that she wipes the dog own with before we come.

ETA: they have a dog, not of. My phone won't let me fix that.

Angela814 · January 2012

We're having the same problem. DD1 developed a dog allergy around 3 years. It's been getting worse every year.

This year we were at my aunt and uncle's house on Christmas eve. They have a dog, but the dog was kept outside or kenneled in a back room the entire time. I gave DD1 her allergy medicine (either claritin or zyrtec) that morning. We had her albuterol inhaler along. By the time we left, she was wheezing and having trouble breathing. She was up quite a bit throughout the night, and we skipped Christmas with my other aunt and uncle (who also have a dog) the next day.

Sunday we went to a birthday party for a friend's daughter. I completely forgot that they had a dog. We were there for 2 hours. DD1 is still wheezy this morning.

I'm completely unsure of what we are going to do going forward. She obviously can't be in a the house of someone who has a dog for any length of time. I'm going to schedule an appointment with an allergist and see what she recommends. I have a pretty bad dog allergy myself, and I can tolerate being in the same house as a dog. (I also take zyrtec and singulair daily for my asthma and allergies.)

WBs_Bride · January 2012

Do you mean staying at her house for an overnight/long-term visit? That is tough because it's not just a question of asking them to remove the cats while you're there, but asking them to do a super-thorough cleaning as well, because the dander is everywhere anyway. I would just stay in a hotel. It sounds like he's really allergic. Risking a serious reaction, or even just the potential of him suffering through the trip sneezing/wheezing/coughing just isn't worth it, IMO.

Angela814 · January 2012

beckbech:
Do you see an allergist? DD1 has a severe dog allergy and my ILs have a of. Obviously, we can't keep her from them and they live 10 minutes away. Her allergist has us give her Children's Zyrtec before we visit them. It really helps, she can spend the night there again. They also keep the dog out of the room she sleeps in and my MIL said she got some sort of hypo-allergenic wipe that she wipes the dog own with before we come.
ETA: they have a dog, not of. My phone won't let me fix that.

For us, DD1's dog allergy is so severe that the zyrtec doesn't help. It allows her to tolerate the dog for a couple hours tops. My allergy to cats is like that. I can last about 15 minutes at my sister's house with her cat, and that's with all my medications.

EliseB0323 · January 2012

WBs_Bride:
Do you mean staying at her house for an overnight/long-term visit? That is tough because it's not just a question of asking them to remove the cats while you're there, but asking them to do a super-thorough cleaning as well, because the dander is everywhere anyway. I would just stay in a hotel. It sounds like he's really allergic. Risking a serious reaction, or even just the potential of him suffering through the trip sneezing/wheezing/coughing just isn't worth it, IMO.

Staying in a hotel is a given. My issue is we couldn't even go to their house for my niece's birthday party, for dinner, Thanksgiving, etc.

eshaffer · January 2012

Man, that is so tough. DS is the same way, asthma attack within minutes of being in a house with cats. He's been fine since he started taking a daily maintenance inhaler + singulair, but I haven't taken him anywhere with cats. He has a good friend's house that we can't go to, so they just come to our house or we meet at a play area. I can't even imagine if it was a close family member and not being able to go there.

beckbech · January 2012

Angela814:
beckbech:
Do you see an allergist? DD1 has a severe dog allergy and my ILs have a of. Obviously, we can't keep her from them and they live 10 minutes away. Her allergist has us give her Children's Zyrtec before we visit them. It really helps, she can spend the night there again. They also keep the dog out of the room she sleeps in and my MIL said she got some sort of hypo-allergenic wipe that she wipes the dog own with before we come.
ETA: they have a dog, not of. My phone won't let me fix that.
For us, DD1's dog allergy is so severe that the zyrtec doesn't help. It allows her to tolerate the dog for a couple hours tops. My allergy to cats is like that. I can last about 15 minutes at my sister's house with her cat, and that's with all my medications.

Is she on any maintenance inhalers? DD1 has to take Flovent daily, not sure if that makes a difference or not.

Angela814 · January 2012

beckbech:
Angela814:
beckbech:
Do you see an allergist? DD1 has a severe dog allergy and my ILs have a of. Obviously, we can't keep her from them and they live 10 minutes away. Her allergist has us give her Children's Zyrtec before we visit them. It really helps, she can spend the night there again. They also keep the dog out of the room she sleeps in and my MIL said she got some sort of hypo-allergenic wipe that she wipes the dog own with before we come.
ETA: they have a dog, not of. My phone won't let me fix that.
For us, DD1's dog allergy is so severe that the zyrtec doesn't help. It allows her to tolerate the dog for a couple hours tops. My allergy to cats is like that. I can last about 15 minutes at my sister's house with her cat, and that's with all my medications.
Is she on any maintenance inhalers? DD1 has to take Flovent daily, not sure if that makes a difference or not.

Not yet. She doesn't officially have asthma. The only time she has trouble is when we're around dogs.

I'm on singulair and zyrtec, and I still need my albuterol inhaler after about 15 minutes around cats. I suspect DD1's allergy to dogs is similar.

WBs_Bride · January 2012

EliseB0323:
WBs_Bride:
Do you mean staying at her house for an overnight/long-term visit? That is tough because it's not just a question of asking them to remove the cats while you're there, but asking them to do a super-thorough cleaning as well, because the dander is everywhere anyway. I would just stay in a hotel. It sounds like he's really allergic. Risking a serious reaction, or even just the potential of him suffering through the trip sneezing/wheezing/coughing just isn't worth it, IMO.

Staying in a hotel is a given. My issue is we couldn't even go to their house for my niece's birthday party, for dinner, Thanksgiving, etc.

Sorry, I didn't realize. That is a tough situation all around. I guess I would just ask that the cats be out of the house for the day/visit, and try allergy meds--but your family obviously would just have to understand if he didn't feel good and you had to leave. Maybe plan dinners out a lot? I remember going to an out-of-town engagement party for a friend. We didn't know the hosts had cats. It sucked. My one friend's husband and I basically had to stay outside all night because our allergies were so bad--but what else could we do?

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