Symptoms of Pet Dander Allergies

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Dr. David Hill, and today, we're going to be talking about symptoms of pet dander allergies. When we talk about pet dander, the first thing to understand is while you may see flakes from the pet's skin, what we're really talking about is the saliva. That's what people tend to be allergic to. And that means even a pet that's not flaking or scaling or leaving fur all over the house may still clean itself and rub its saliva on various household objects, furniture, clothes, and people. So while some animals are more allergenic than others based on how widespread their dander or saliva becomes, any animal that licks itself to clean itself has the potential to cause an allergy in a human. Now, the most common allergy symptoms we see are in the nose. They involve a runny nose, itching, sneezing, swelling, which leads to nasal congestion. But symptoms can also occur in the eyes, again, with swelling, watery eyes and itching and other discomfort. It can cause asthma, which is swelling and increased fluid secretion within the lungs. Also, there are little muscles in the smallest tubes in the lungs that tighten up and restrict air flow. And if your child or you are having an asthma attack as a result of pet dander, you should seek care immediately or follow the asthma action plan that you and your doctor have already made. If you really want to keep your animal and you suspect a pet dander allergy, you might want to have you or your child tested for that allergy and see if it's truly the problem. You can wash your animal frequently more than once a week to try and get the saliva off, and that may cut down on the dander allergy. Or you may find that certain aggressive allergy treatments help you or your child withstand the pet dander. You may notice that exposure to the pet seems to predictably cause allergic reactions, and when that's the case, you probably don't need the allergy testing, honestly. Sometimes you will find that a beloved family pet just has to find a new home, but usually, we can find a way around that. Talking about pet dander and allergies, I'm Dr. David Hill."