Dogs are the biggest friends of people. Till the first days of humanity, people are domesticating dogs and living with them. They were mostly using for hunting titles in the history but today they are both for security and being a friend in the house. Today number of dog owners is really high in the world. According to latest surveys, 40% of U.S. households have a dog in their house. But surveys also showed that most of the households with dogs have dog allergies in various levels. How many signs of dog allergies on people are there?
Each people can show different signs on dog allergy but there are also some common signs. They are wheezing and coughing, itchy red eyes, stuffy nose and sneezing. Also some people show skin reactions for dog allergy. While some of them show reaction when they are in the same room with dogs, some of them show reaction when dog licked their skin. There are some high level skin reactions on some people like hives on body or face. Also people with asthma must be very careful on dog allergy.
There’s a misconception on the topic which dog breed causes allergy and which is not. Also some people believe that short haired dog breeds cause more allergy while some believe long haired ones do that. According to experts, short or long hair or breed differences are not so effective on dog allergy and two dogs from same breed can cause different allergy types.
Also according to researches, hair or fur is not directly affecting the allergy on people, but for most of the people, dander – flakes of dead skin- of dogs are allergenic. Also urine and saliva of dogs are allergenic for many people. It means whether a dog is short haired or long haired, some body juices or skin problems of dogs can cause allergy.
Main reason people show allergenic reaction to dog dander is their ultrasensitive immune system. Dog dander is harmless for people but many immune systems react immediately and high to it. When immune system is wrong alarmed because of dog dander, it works like sending viruses out and causes watery eyes and sneezing.
If you are a dog lover and want to be a friend of them but you afraid of allergy, you can get RAST test. RAST test is enough to see if you have dog allergy or not. It also helps to solve the wrong ideas on dog allergy because some dog breeds like to be on nature and their hair catch and carry mold or pollen to house. Because of many people have pollen allergy; they believe it’s caused by dog.
If RAST test is negative but you are still allergenic, your doctor may want you to live without your dog for some days to see the results. Because dogs spread dander to whole house, it may last for months to clean all house from dander.
Also some doctors prescribe drugs for dog owners. These drug types are Antihistamines and Decongestants. Also for asthma patients, doctor can prescribe steroids. Allergy shots were released as a good option for dog and pet allergy but they didn’t work for all people and they have a long treatment period but there are still many people using this method because of big allergy problems.
People with dog allergies must use HEPA filters to remove dog dander from home completely. Other standard filters don’t catch dander and they mostly send it back to air. Also keeping the dog kennel close to air conditioner can cause dog allergy.
