Cheap Pet Insurance

March 3rd, 2010 by Don Waley

How are you able to tell if you are allergic to the pets in your home? There are a multitude of different causes and sometimes, it’s hard to discern which allergen might be the culprit to your allergies. It might take quite a bit of trial and error to find out, but here are several things to look out for.

Normally for pet allergy sufferers, they start sneezing badly once they’re nearby any cats or dogs, or when exposed to pet hairs left around the house – this is the first sign. Other common symptoms to look out for are also blocked noses or runny ones, not too much different from a cold really. It is easy to tell the difference between the two though as once you get away from the allergen, the symptoms will subside just as quickly as it came.

You might also develop itchy eyes if you pat a dog and touch your eyes after. To stop this from happening, always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after play with any pets. In spite of popular belief, it isn’t the dog or cat’s hairs that cause our immune system’s to be trigger, it is in fact the dander of the creature.

If you’ve never heard of the word “dander” before, I’ll explain it. Dander’s similar to dandruff on human scalps and but they’re much smaller flakes of skin, so small that it isn’t obvious to the naked eye.

If one of your family members owns a pet, you might want to ask him or her to retrain the dog and not allow it to climb on the household furniture. Also, make sure you clean the house regularly as well as steam clean the carpets on a regular basis to reduce the severity of allergic reactions.

If you’re considering owning a pet anytime soon but you know you have an allergy to dander, then look for specific breeds that do not shed as much skin. Look on the internet for information on hypoallergenic pets and you will find a huge list of animals that you can include in your home safely.

If you already have a pet and you really don’t want to give it away, consider installing an air cleaner in your home to reduce airborne contaminants such as pet dander.

The best types are ones that get installed into an existing cooling or heating system and they efficiently clear the air of your entire house so it will continue to remain free of dander.

And if you are researching to get an answer for allergen hypersensitivity and also to cleanse the air of pollutants, here’s a lot more specifics on whole house air filters as well as other excellent makes of allergy air cleaners.