[MamaMonica]

My toddler is severely allergic to my two house rabbits- he has eczema, chronic cough and snotty nose. He's up all night. I didn't make the link until recently.<br><br>
We recently went on a two week trip and he was like a different child- he slept, he ate (didn't just nurse all the time to ease his congestion), no dark circles, his eczema cleared significantly in spite of eating trigger foods, he was happy and no runny nose.<br><br>
We were back in the house 24 hours and he had the chronic cough again and runny nose and scratching holes in his ankles and wrists.<br><br>
I have a HEPA air filter, HEPA vac, moved the rabbits out of the main living area to the downstairs rec room- but still problems.<br><br>
What can I do?- I won't medicate him. Have you found any help for pet allergies? I am really struggling with this and would appreciate any help.

 

[srain]

It might be that it will take some time for the dust to settle, so to speak, after moving the rabbits. Moving them outside in the months weather allows might help to. You may want to look into your furnace system and see if it may be recirculating allergens.<br><br>
If possible, I'd look into finding them a new home- but if that's not something you could consider, I certainly understand!

 

[MamaMonica]

I moved them downstairs during the winter- a few months ago hoping that would help. I hadn't realized how much of my ds's allergies were due to the animlas at that point. I am going back on forth on keeping them or not. It would be the hardest decision.<br><br>
Dh is buying another HEPA air filter tonight to try that.<br><br>
We change the furnace filter often, and it's an allergy filter- I have allergies myself but not so severe as ds.

 

[NaturalMom]

I sympathize with you <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"> I have just discovered a link between our indoor/outdoor cat and my son's chronic congestion. We have now relegated the cat to the outdoors. Deep in my gut, I feel that we should get rid of her, but my heart can't do it yet...<br><br>
But, if we can't find a solution by winter, we may have to. The reason why it's important (and our ped was on our case the last time I spoke to her about the congestion and the cat being inside) is this: chronic exposure at a young age to allergens increases the risk for asthma. My husband was allergic to cats as a youngster and his parents had two. He developed asthma and still has it. He had been on meds until recently so our cat doesn't bother him; hence I never made the connection b/t our son and our cat. Then one night about a month ago, I was commenting on Nolan's recurring congestion, and DH mentioned that the cat was bothering HIS allergies since he'd stopped taking his meds. That's when I put the cat outside.<br><br>
It's a tough decision, but I'm coming around to finding the cat another home because I want to do everything in our power to prevent him from developing asthma.<br><br>
Good luck with your decision!

 

[MamaMonica]

Maria, I am sorry to hear about your difficult decision as well. Thank you for understanding- I still have the rabbits because it's so tough to part with beloved pets.<br><br>
My doctor also warned us about asthma- ds has a type of eczema which often "upgrades" to asthma- and the eczema flares if rabbit fur touches his skin as well as giving him congestion and a chronic cough.<br><br>
I raised one of the bunnies from an orphan, so he's especially dear to me. He was my baby before I had kids. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"> I will have terrible guilt over this no matter what decision I make.