My daughter, allergic to dogs?

By coincidence, a matter of days after I decided I'd like to foster Cavaliers, my daughter, Antonia, complained of the usual symptoms she gets when she has been around cats, an itchy neck and wheezing. (I haven't had a foster yet.) We went through the usual routine of her stripping in the hall, me washing her clothes, her showering and me changing her bed sheets. I assumed she had come into contact with someone who had cats. If a cat owner puts their coat on hers for example she will be ill if she wears that coat.

I kept thinking it must be a cat, but she seems to only get triggered when she is at home. It's a bit confusing as, once triggered, it will last a day. Anyway, she was sure it was Dylan who triggered it. This weekend I dog sat a Scottie, doubling our dog population! Antonia stayed in all Saturday evening and was very ill by midnight. Streaming eyes, itchy, wheezy.

In the hope it is a cat allergy, there is one other thing I can think of to wash, her new mack. But I'm starting to accept she may be allergic to Dylan.

There's only one thing for it...Antonia will have to go :badgrin:

Any advice would be appreciated, she is taking neoclarityn daily now. It doesn't fully subdue all the symptoms.

I'm very disappointed I won't be able to foster.

Pauline, I had a question re: allergic to dogs a few years back. I had a simple lab test done to answer the question. Thankfully the test was negative.

Uh oh Pauline. How old is your daughter? My 14 year old used to get highly sick every time she spent time with cats. Sick enough to have to go to the doctor and wind up on antibiotics with infected sinuses and bronchitis. She was like this until she was about 8 or 9 and began to outgrow it. Now she doesn't seem to have a problem. I know a woman who is highly allergic to dogs and cats, but by taking Zyrtec, she is able to have loads of them. (she has like 5 or 6 cats and 4 dogs)

brotymo said:

I know a woman who is highly allergic to dogs and cats, but by taking Zyrtec, she is able to have loads of them. (she has like 5 or 6 cats and 4 dogs)

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I know of a few people who certainly are highly allergic to dogs and cats and they continually have an adrenaline injection epi pen very handy with them at all times for immediate use, and they cannot walk into a room where there has been a dog or cat even if they had taken Zyrtec.

With allergies I feel that people should see an allergy specialist and where they can be tested to see specifically what they are allergic too, medication could be prescribed and also a desensitising program has worked wonders for some.

Touching lightly in regards to dogs and cats, some people can be allergic to one dog or cat but then maybe not to another. Also with exposure some people's allergy might improve, but then take care for others may not which may become progressively worse and which could eventually lead to a life threatening situation.
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I really hope she's not, Pauline! I think I held my breath for the first 3 months we had Daisy, for fear that I, or my son who has some other allergies, would be allergic to her! I'm allergic to cats, and he has seasonal allergies and asthma, so I was very worried. I grew up with dogs, but they were poodles, so they were low-dander dogs.

In fact, whenever I would hold Daisy up next to my chin/jaw area when she was a puppy, I would itch there just because I was thinking so much about whether I was itching! Luckily, neither of us have shown any sign that we are allergic to her.

:xfngr: that it's something else that's bothering your daughter's allergies (and that it's something treatable or avoidable, of course).

Pauline, I wonder if Zyrtec is available in UK and if your daughter's doctor would approve her trying it.

Zyrtec is approved for year-round allergies, and I have found it works very well for all of my allergies. If I don't take it I get congested, painful sinus headaches leading to infection, constant coughing, and watery eyes. Since my doctor prescribed Zyrtec the quality of my day to day life has improved immeasurably. Now it's an over the counter drug in US.

Cathy Moon said:

Pauline, I wonder if Zyrtec is available in UK and if your daughter's doctor would approve her trying it.

Zyrtec is approved for year-round allergies, and I have found it works very well for all of my allergies. If I don't take it I get congested, painful sinus headaches leading to infection, constant coughing, and watery eyes. Since my doctor prescribed Zyrtec the quality of my day to day life has improved immeasurably. Now it's an over the counter drug in US.

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I just googled Zyrtec and is says this drug contains Cetirizine. This name sounded familiar and I just found a box of Cetirizine tablets at home which contain citirizine hydrochloride 10mg. What strength do you take cathy?

I forgot to say, Antonia is asthmatic, triggers being cats and cold air. She spent a lot of time as a child hooked up to cortisone drips. She also has eczema and urticaria. The urticaria is triggered by being two different temperatures at once. For instance, doing sports in winter, body warm, legs cold or a bath where the top half, out of the water, is cooler. She becomes covered in hives on the cooler area. So she is quite an allergic girl.

I have a post somewhere in the library on possibilities if you have allergies to dogs/cats. I'd suggest seeing an allergist first to confirm whether she has a reaction to dogs because this could be an increasing reaction to, say, dust mites.

On the home front: limit Dylan's access to areas where your daughter is (definitely close her bedroom door for example). Get a couple of good quality air purifiers. Keep Dylan bathed every 2-3 weeks, even if just a rinse in water. Vacuum daily. Unfortunately sometimes people who are allergic to one thing find that new triggers appear if they are exposed to them -- and this can over time worsen their reactions overall. That may mean you need to take pretty dramatic action to limit her access to any area where Dylan is or his hair and dander are (or rather tightly limit Dylan's access to rooms in the house).

Thanks for the advice I have been doing a lot of cleaning this weekend and will hoover again today. Dylan sheds big time. I have made an appointment for the doctors on Thursday.

Pauline, sometimes you can have allergy symptoms to whatever dogs have on their coats-pollen,grass particles,mold-stuff from the great outdoors. I think esp in that case a quick rinse would do wonders in decreasing the allergens. If now is a bad time of year for certain irritants both dogs could have been "carriers"-I'm just hoping so much that she doesn't have allergies to dogs.

Well Dylan is due for a wash. I'm too tired today, it'll have to wait till the morning. My daughters room has old fashioned crittle windows and they have some black mold on the frames. These windows are notorious for being covered in condensation every morning with puddles on the window sills so I'm going to wash them and spray with antibacterial spray and wash the nets tonight. She took a pill last night and I think she's fine now. I'll give her another pill now.

Sorry on the news.We had Ella tested for most allergies,she came up positive for pollen,lucky for us no probs with animals.it was a easy test to do,and was done when she was in hospital for something else.We made them do the test as she was getting symptoms.Runny and itchy nose,and runny eyes,but the allergie wasnt to servere.Wow,we got away with that one at least.

When we first go our puppy my husband developed a dry cough - I told him he would end up in rescue before the dog! Seriously tho it went in a couple of days and he is fine now, hope it's all ok.

Justine said:

Sorry on the news.We had Ella tested for most allergies,she came up positive for pollen,lucky for us no probs with animals.it was a easy test to do,and was done when she was in hospital for something else.We made them do the test as she was getting symptoms.Runny and itchy nose,and runny eyes,but the allergie wasnt to servere.Wow,we got away with that one at least.

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What's the test Justine? Is it just a blood test? Years ago when she was one year old, they did a blood test and she was alergic to cats and dust mite.

I've spent nearly all evening cleaning her room. I'm really tired.

Hi Pauline, my Zyrtec dose is 10 mg. I take it at bedtime and it works for 24 hrs.

Colin's allergist gave him Zyrtec and an Epi-pen when Colin had 2 bouts of anaphylactic shock. The second time it happened we determined it was caused by raw celery (of all things!), which was confirmed by a skin test.

Cathy Moon said:

Hi Pauline, my Zyrtec dose is 10 mg. I take it at bedtime and it works for 24 hrs.

Colin's allergist gave him Zyrtec and an Epi-pen when Colin had 2 bouts of anaphylactic shock. The second time it happened we determined it was caused by raw celery (of all things!), which was confirmed by a skin test.

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Ah so it's the same as her pills.

I could live without raw celery! :grnyuk:

I wonder what's in Neoclarityn which is what she's using...it's Desloratadine.

We have an allergy drug in the US called Claritin, which is Loratadine. I've read about it, and I don't think it's as effective as Zyrtec.

Oh *Pauline* i really hope it isnt a dog allergy, sorry i have no advice for you but i think these people have give you alot to think about . Have you done any tests on it?

rajacadoo said:

Oh *Pauline* i really hope it isnt a dog allergy, sorry i have no advice for you but i think these people have give you alot to think about . Have you done any tests on it?

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20 years ago she had a blood test that showed she was allergic to cats and dust mites. We had to give away my cat to my mum. We are going to the Dr on Thursday.

Good luck Pauline, i hope you get some good news

xxxxxxx