You treat your pet as one of your family members, but what if your pet triggers or develops your child’s allergy symptom? For sure, as parents, you don’t want to see your youngster in pain and suffering from frequent itchiness, congestion, coughing and sneezing, and runny nose all the time as these indicate pet allergy symptoms in toddlers. As much as possible, you want to maintain a healthy relationship between your child and your pet while keeping everything in balance, especially prioritizing your child’s health. But what if those allergy symptoms arise? What would you do?
The good news is that it’s still possible to have some relief from an allergy coming from your furry companion without planning on giving up them. Since it’s impossible for parents to monitor and control everything their children’s daily activity, parents should instead focus on monitoring their child for possible symptoms.
It’s very crucial to recognize the early symptoms and causes of pet allergies that appear in your toddlers. Early detection of allergies will result in a great improvement in your child’s quality of life, like decreasing the number of absent days in school and give you peace of mind during spending weekends on relative’s homes.
If your daughter or son is struggling because of suspected allergy, and things are beyond your control, you can consult an allergist.
If you want to learn more about pet allergies, the root cause, symptoms and how to manage your kid’s allergy, this article is perfect for you.
Pet Allergies: Its Causes.
Believe it or not, but an estimated report that 30 percent of Americans are with allergies and allergic to pets such as dogs or cats- cat allergies happens for about twice as often. Being allergic to furry buddies is normal, especially to those people who have an additional condition like asthma or any additional allergies.
If your toddlers are allergic to pets, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are allergic to dogs or cats themselves. Mostly the causes are an aggravation of asthma symptoms or allergic reactions resulting from exposure to multiple substances originated from pets such as saliva, flaked skin, urine, and dander.
Another factor is that your pets are sometimes so active and playful leading to becoming “virtual dust mops”, driving in allergens such as pollen from outside, dust, and mold spores. The hair of your pet does contribute as an allergen, but rather, it becomes as a transporter for substances that causes triggering your child’s allergic reactions.
For those kids that are allergic to pets, the immune system overreacts usually to harmless proteins in pets’ skin, saliva, and urine. It causes an allergic reaction, complementing horrible symptoms.
Pets can collect different allergen inside and outside your home, this includes carpets, furniture, appliances and they can stay behind on them for several months if remained untidy. If you suspect that the allergy comes to your pet, the typical cause isn’t their furry coat, rather their dander. Pet dander is tiny skin pieces coming from cat or dog. While other animals, like rodents and birds, also have it. You can’t normally notice pet dander with a naked eye, which is why it seems like the allergy comes from your pet itself.
In other scenarios, your toddles maybe allergic because of the saliva or even to the urine of your pet as well as to the dander, if in this case; if it’s the dander that causes the symptoms, it’s because it travels around your house, and now it became airborne. The proteins in dander are inhaled by your toddler and other members of your family. If your loved ones don’t have an allergy against it, they show no symptoms, but your child will if they are truly allergic.
Can Allergies on Pet Begin Out of Nowhere?
Any allergy can start throughout any stage of every individual’s life. However, if your kid acquires new allergies in their adulthood stage, it may fall as the adult allergies. Adult allergies may comprise pet allergies, pollen allergies, and food allergies. It is very likely to happen that you own a pet (cat, dog or even both) for many years, and then wake up one day that your toddlers experience a pet allergy symptom.
Pet allergy Symptoms in Toddlers.
The allergens that come from your pet have something to do on the membranes lining entering your child’s eyes, nose, and airborne tiny particles. These can make their open route all the way to their lungs.
An allergic reaction naturally takes place within a short period of time after making contact with a pet. It can include a multiple of uncomfortable and terrible symptoms such as follows:
- Lack of ability to breathe
- Skin rash and/or hives
- Coughing
- Wheezing
- Stuffy nose
- Runny nose
- Sneezing
- Swelling and/ or itching of membranes
- Stiffness in the chest
- Irritated and/or inflamed eyes
- Nasal congestion (for worse cases you can feel the pain in the face)
- (Severe Cases) Difficulty in breathing together with, shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing
Meanwhile, making contact with the cats can lead to asthma attacks to your youngsters. 30 percent of people who suffer from asthma and cat allergies may result in chronic asthma. If your child goes through from pet allergies, there’s a possibility that they might develop other bacterial infections or sinusitis that may directly affect the sinuses.
When to contact an Allergist?
If you suspect that your toddler is suffering from any of the symptoms mentioned above, you might believe it or not, but it more likely that it’s your pet that’s causing the discomfort. You might try limiting your child’s activity to reduce the frequency of exposure or having contact with your beloved pet. For most animal lovers, it’s really a hard move since pets are part of the family.
Luckily, there are still other ways you can make to trim down the suffering of your child. Even if the symptoms are mild according to your assessment, it’s not a bad idea to consult from a professional- your allergist. There’s a great chance that the allergies may worsen any time, especially if your child is dealing with cat allergies.
When you consult your allergist, feel free to talk about the symptoms, including when they have started and when they seemed to be worse. The allergist may need to review the medical history and may require a physical exam for your child.
Next, your child may undergo a skin test where they’ll prick with a needle containing the allergen, and then they will observe for any skin reaction. Another option is a blood test. In some cases, your allergist may even request your child to stay with a family member or some friends, or visit and stay at a hotel for a few days. If the allergies subside, then you know the prime reason is your furry pet at home is causing your child’s allergy.
Managing Your Toddlers Pet Allergies.
If your allergist has confirmed that your child is suffering from a pet allergy, what can you do to manage the allergy to stop them recurring? Unfortunately, having your pet re-home is the best decision. If that’s what you choose, you will have to meticulously clean your home because the pet dander might remain even after the pet has left your place.
For some owners, sending away their pets is totally not on their bucket list. In those situations, you can try doing these methods:
- You can administer proper medication or have your kid undergo immunotherapy treatment to relieve or at least lessen the allergy symptoms.
- Make sure you brush your pet regularly.
- Bathe your pet at least weekly to get rid off the allergens like dander.
- If you have a budget for your air conditioner or heater, invest in an allergy filter and run it four hours and up every day.
- Change the clothing of your child after cuddling with your pet or after they made a contact.
- Always use a dust mask if you are in charge of vacuuming up the house so you don’t inhale the dander as well as the other pet allergens.
- Make sure you that your carpets at home are steam-cleaned semi-often so that dander can’t stay behind.
- Consider altering your carpets and instead get hardwood flooring; it’s easier for you to vacuum up all pet dander and allergens this way.
- Schedule a regular overall cleaning for the pet’s bed, scratching post, toys and other items they love to use.
- As much as possible, keep off the pet away in your bedroom or couch or somewhere your children spend most of their time.
Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic pet. Just because your toddler is allergic to cats doesn’t necessarily mean that all cats might cause allergy symptoms. It’s also applicable to dogs. There are specific species that may make the allergies worse over others.
Remember, as well, that the allergies may still change. A species of dog or cat that did not affect your child previously could manifest symptoms in the present.
That’s why you will need to monitor and be attentive to your child’s allergy and continuously see your allergist so they can adjust your child’s pet allergy management plan according to the case and needs of your child. If it gets worse, then the allergist may suggest another treatment.
