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Calling all hay-fever sufferers

Meerschweinchen_Blackforest

Meerschweinchen_Blackforest

Junior Guinea Pig
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I imagine there are others out there caring for Piggies who suffer from hay-fever. How do you deal with it apart from taking antihistamines.

I'm considering building a contraption where I can blow the hay outside to remove any dust and allergens, sort of like a box fan underneath a mesh tray where I can dump the hay straight from the bag into it, close the lid and let the fan rip.

I also have one of those fancy Siemens air purifiers which scans the air quality and adjusts the levels.

I'm more than prepared to suffer through for an hour or two a day for the sake of the piggies. Is there anything anyone does differently?
 
Meerschweinchen_Blackforest said:
I imagine there are others out there caring for Piggies who suffer from hay-fever. How do you deal with it apart from taking antihistamines.

I'm considering building a contraption where I can blow the hay outside to remove any dust and allergens, sort of like a box fan underneath a mesh tray where I can dump the hay straight from the bag into it, close the lid and let the fan rip.

I also have one of those fancy Siemens air purifiers which scans the air quality and adjusts the levels.

I'm more than prepared to suffer through for an hour or two a day for the sake of the piggies. Is there anything anyone does differently?
Click to expand...
I don't suffer from it so I don't have any advice but I think @Betsy suffers from hay fever and might have some advice.
 
My husband has hay fever and asthma. He’s always coughing and sneezing. He takes antihistamines daily. I’m not sure they do much as he still coughs and sneezes. He doesn’t have much to do with the piggies usually. But I recently had back surgery and he had to care for them for about a month. Cleaning them out was awful for him. He put a mask on so I hope that helped him a bit.

I’m not sure there’s much you can do about it. There are different types of hay and people on the forum have noticed they are less allergic to certain types.
 
weepweeps said:
My husband has hay fever and asthma. He’s always coughing and sneezing. He takes antihistamines daily. I’m not sure they do much as he still coughs and sneezes. He doesn’t have much to do with the piggies usually. But I recently had back surgery and he had to care for them for about a month. Cleaning them out was awful for him. He put a mask on so I hope that helped him a bit.

I’m not sure there’s much you can do about it. There are different types of hay and people on the forum have noticed they are less allergic to certain types.
Click to expand...
I have noticed that Timothy hay seems to make me flare up more than the meadow hay.
 
I just had a quick search on the forum and a few people use orchard hay as they are allergic to other types.
 
Meerschweinchen_Blackforest said:
I imagine there are others out there caring for Piggies who suffer from hay-fever. How do you deal with it apart from taking antihistamines.

I'm considering building a contraption where I can blow the hay outside to remove any dust and allergens, sort of like a box fan underneath a mesh tray where I can dump the hay straight from the bag into it, close the lid and let the fan rip.

I also have one of those fancy Siemens air purifiers which scans the air quality and adjusts the levels.

I'm more than prepared to suffer through for an hour or two a day for the sake of the piggies. Is there anything anyone does differently?
Click to expand...
We have air purifiers and do they pick up stuff. Hay dust is everywhere. My husband is coming home with hepa filters to put in addition to the single filters.
 
I have dreadful hay fever all year round so take antihistamines all year round too. It is so bad that at times that the lining of my nose bleeds. I use meadow hay as that doesn't seem to affect me too badly. I find that acupuncture helps ALOT. I have treatment in late January/early February before the pollen season and last year I had to have more treatment in June/July as I couldn't breathe very well, the lining of my nose was very sensitive and I was getting constant headaches because of the lack of oxygen getting to my brain where I was so very bunged up in my sinuses. At the end of the treatment I could feel the air at the back of my nose for the first time in months, the lining of my nose was no longer sore, my sinuses had cleared and my headache had gone. My OH commented when he got back home from work that my hay fever had disappeared. He said that in the morning when he went to work I had very bad hay fever and when he came back it had disappeared.
 
My partner has hay fever. He doesn't clean the pigs out normally, only when I am away. The hay irritates his skin as well as his asthma. He wears a mask. long sleeves and gloves. As soon as he finished he has a bath and changes his clothes. All so I can visit my daughter!
 
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