Allergic to my guinea pigs

[Penelopes mummy]

I started getting snuffly and snotty a few years ago and I thought it was the cats, now we are in our new house they are not allowed upstairs and it helped a little bit. Anyway I am spending a lot more time with my guinea pigs in this new house and I am still suffering and it’s got even worse since I adopted a couple of new girls I don’t know if it’s the hay or the guinea pigs! It’s not so bad that I need to rehome them but I am wondering if they live in a nice little shed outside would that help the issue?

I think no because I’m still going to be spending lots of time with them but my husband thinks maybe. Has anyone got experience of this? I’m fed up of being bunged up and snotty all the time

 

[ThatPurpleB]

Have you tried taking antihistamines and did they make a difference?

I have no idea what I'm allergic to (it's definitely multiple things) but every year I start taking antihistamines from march until autumn has fully taken hold. They work and help loads. Without them my eyes swell up, sting and stream, my throat gets sore, I sneeze, have a runny nose and get really groggy.

I really feel for people with allergies, it sounds small but constantly feeling like you have a cold is dreadful and can really get you down. When I 1st got piggies it was March so I was already taking antihistamines but I would have anyway just incase.

 

[h.h.lovecraft]

Hi! I am very allergic to all animals with fur, including guinea pigs. I was always mildly allergic to guinea pigs growing up, but it turns out my allergies had gotten much worse by the time I got two piggies of my own. There are things I have to do everyday to make it work with the pigs and I figured I would share some of them.

The first thing is antihistamines. I can really only go a day without them before I start developing a cough and other bad allergy symptoms, so they are a must. I use cetirizine, brand name Zyrtec. I find it stronger than other OTC allergy meds, but I think they do make me drowsier. Maybe you could try a lower dose first and see how that goes. I do find that anti histamines become weaker over time however.

Secondly, I have an air purifier specifically targeted for pet hair and dander running near their cage, it's the levoit pet air purifier. I run it 12 hours a day on medium speed.

Third, and this one is super important for me, wear a mask when you are cleaning the piggies cage. I get so sick when I don't, it is debilitating. Another tip is to not shake any fleece, pee pads, etc. inside your house, you really want to keep the dander out of the air. I also wear a mask when I am giving them meds or cutting their nails.

I also noticed that petting the pigs inside a cuddle sack helps with my allergies, as opposed to having them out in the open right under my nose.

I can really understand how you feel. I often feel like I have a mild cold all the time, and that's on good days. The piggies have been so extremely good for my mental health, but really rather bad for me physically. Like I said, I didn't realize I had gotten more allergic to piggies before I got them and so I just try to work around my allergies as much as possible. Hope some of my tips help!

 

[Fink]

Three of us in the house are allergic to our pigs (I really really wish I'd known this before getting them, but like a pp the allergies seem to have worsened over time). We keep them outside and it does help. The person with the worse allergy has very little contact with them and gets on ok. Where possible, the person with the mildest allergy does the hutch cleaning. I'm the middle person: I do handle them but always wear an apron AND brush clothes down immediately afterwards, always wash hands as soon as I've finished. As much of the handling as possible is done outside and if we need to bring them in then it's only into one room and everything is cleaned as soon as they've gone. This seems to keep on top of it mostly. We do take antihistamines but I prefer not to have to take them 365 days a year because the body builds up a resistance to them so they're less effective when you really need them. With keeping the pigs outside, I only really have to take antihistamines in the peak hayfever season (or if I have to be in someone else's house with an indoor pet).

 

[Penelopes mummy]

Have you tried taking antihistamines and did they make a difference?

I have no idea what I'm allergic to (it's definitely multiple things) but every year I start taking antihistamines from march until autumn has fully taken hold. They work and help loads. Without them my eyes swell up, sting and stream, my throat gets sore, I sneeze, have a runny nose and get really groggy.

I really feel for people with allergies, it sounds small but constantly feeling like you have a cold is dreadful and can really get you down. When I 1st got piggies it was March so I was already taking antihistamines but I would have anyway just incase.

Yes. They don’t help unfortunately.

 

[Penelopes mummy]

Hi! I am very allergic to all animals with fur, including guinea pigs. I was always mildly allergic to guinea pigs growing up, but it turns out my allergies had gotten much worse by the time I got two piggies of my own. There are things I have to do everyday to make it work with the pigs and I figured I would share some of them.

The first thing is antihistamines. I can really only go a day without them before I start developing a cough and other bad allergy symptoms, so they are a must. I use cetirizine, brand name Zyrtec. I find it stronger than other OTC allergy meds, but I think they do make me drowsier. Maybe you could try a lower dose first and see how that goes. I do find that anti histamines become weaker over time however.

Secondly, I have an air purifier specifically targeted for pet hair and dander running near their cage, it's the levoit pet air purifier. I run it 12 hours a day on medium speed.

Third, and this one is super important for me, wear a mask when you are cleaning the piggies cage. I get so sick when I don't, it is debilitating. Another tip is to not shake any fleece, pee pads, etc. inside your house, you really want to keep the dander out of the air. I also wear a mask when I am giving them meds or cutting their nails.

I also noticed that petting the pigs inside a cuddle sack helps with my allergies, as opposed to having them out in the open right under my nose.

I can really understand how you feel. I often feel like I have a mild cold all the time, and that's on good days. The piggies have been so extremely good for my mental health, but really rather bad for me physically. Like I said, I didn't realize I had gotten more allergic to piggies before I got them and so I just try to work around my allergies as much as possible. Hope some of my tips help!

Thanks. I tried taking antihistamines and they don’t make any difference. I like the sound of the air purifier I will have to consider that. Thank you for your tips.

 

[Penelopes mummy]

Three of us in the house are allergic to our pigs (I really really wish I'd known this before getting them, but like a pp the allergies seem to have worsened over time). We keep them outside and it does help. The person with the worse allergy has very little contact with them and gets on ok. Where possible, the person with the mildest allergy does the hutch cleaning. I'm the middle person: I do handle them but always wear an apron AND brush clothes down immediately afterwards, always wash hands as soon as I've finished. As much of the handling as possible is done outside and if we need to bring them in then it's only into one room and everything is cleaned as soon as they've gone. This seems to keep on top of it mostly. We do take antihistamines but I prefer not to have to take them 365 days a year because the body builds up a resistance to them so they're less effective when you really need them. With keeping the pigs outside, I only really have to take antihistamines in the peak hayfever season (or if I have to be in someone else's house with an indoor pet).

Thank you for your advice.