Allergy immunotherapy and rat allergy

The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Agy

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2018
Messages
5
Location
West Sussex
Has anyone had immunotherapy for pet allergies? Did it work? Did you get it on the NHS? Did you have injections or tablets? I am a new rat owner and was not expecting my allergy to be this bad. I have developed asthma which I've never had before. I don't have a spare room to put them in. I'm taking lots of precautions (can't afford a HEPA filter at the moment plus I'm worried I'll spend money on it and it won't make much of a difference). I have to wear gloves and a long sleeve and a hood and also cover my neck when I play with them. And soon as their nail pierces my skin (and so I get a shot of urine under my skin), I get burn like blisters. It's instant and stays a while. I sometimes even wear a face mask when I play with them and clean the cage (I live alone so no one else can do it). I am concerned about the effect the allergy might be having on my health as I am also recovering from CFS/ME and I'm a bit paranoid about anything that could affect my recovery. The rats however are so good for my mental health and I love them so much. It pains me to think that I may not be able to keep them. Any input would be appreciated.
 
Unneutered male rats have 100 times the amount of allergen in their urine then neutered males.
If you have access to a good vet with the knowledge and experience to successfully and safely neuter male rats, then I would suggest that you do that as soon as possible. Rat neuters are different from other pets and rats can only have gas anesthetic - nothing by injection until after the surgery when they are given an injection of metacam (a pain med) https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/why-spay-or-neuter-rats.35402/ https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/

Jorats has spent years dealing with allergies to her rats and can give you useful info
Lilspaz68 can likely give you good info as well.

I use a hepa air filter with a replaceable carbon filter - it helps with air quality. Altough I do not have allergies, I have found that the air quality has decreased significantly since I moved and have to keep the rats in an enclosed room - keeping them in a large well used space (the living room) where there was a lot of air flow was much better. IMO it is good you do not have a room where you can keep them and close the door - because in my experience it will make it worse
 
Sadly i just can’t afford neutering. I looked into it. It’s £70 per rat. So it would have been lots better if I had got females...
 
Do you have anyone else helping you with the rats or it's just you? I helped my son have less reaction to the rats but it takes a long time. He had to stay away from the rats but be in the same room for a few hours a day. After about a month, I got him to hold the rats for only seconds a day, after a couple of weeks, it was minutes a day, after another couple of weeks it was staying longer with them... it's limiting exposure while increasing his tolerance. But it sounds like yours is quite severe. My rats were also an asthma trigger for me, but I took singulair and my inhalers which helped a lot.
 
Sadly i just can’t afford neutering. I looked into it. It’s £70 per rat. So it would have been lots better if I had got females...

Actually spaying girls is more invasive and costs much more then neutering males - and is necessary for health reasons as well as being less costly in the long run (see the link I previously provided)

Hopefully you can save up for neuters, put any money from Christmas towards it etc, use a credit card or get your vet to let you pay off the bill over time since it is a health concern for you

Trimming their nails may help a bit, just be very careful not to get the quik as it is painful and you will nee something to stop the bleeding
 
What I meant was, it would have been better if I had intact females; since males in general produce a lot more allergens.
Paying is not an option. I am working part time due to my own health issues and am barely keeping my head above water. We don't do xmas presents in our family and I certainly won't be getting any cash.
If this doesn't get better, sadly I will have to find another home for them :'(
 
I live alone so no one else cleans the cage. And they do require a lot. I thought ratties are clean but mine are really messy buggers. I wipe the floors twice a day and pick up poos (into the potty so they hopefully learn). Plus they throw food all over the place and mix it up with poops etc LOl
 
Oh Agy, I'm really sorry you're having so much trouble. :( I have no idea why your boy would be behaving that way, and I'm sorry I can't help with your allergies. I understand so well struggling with health issues and needing our pets to enhance our lives. It's usually a two-wat street, but your boys are unusually difficult to manage, especially with unexpected allergies. No one could blame you for rehoming them. An air purifier would help. Maybe you'll be able to get one and start over with baby girls, which you can litter train to keep down the allergens. It the boys...

Could it be just that he's so mad about not being able to free range? Honestly, I've never had adult boys who run around as you've described before. They are mostly just lazy and cuddly, which is why I love them so much. But, is your boy who's acting weird still eating and drinking ok? Have you researched his behavior on other sites? I really hope you can find some answers. Hugs.
 
Thank you... He's got very good appetite and is drinking. His cage mate Seymour is lazy and sleeps more but is also quite nervous. He was extremely nervous when he arrived and wouldn't even leave the cage by himself. Took me a week to get him to gain a bit of confidence and even walk on me as long as I don't really move. Very occasionally now he starts to let me pet him if he's in the mood. He's still tricky to catch when I let him out as he doesn't like being picked up. He does eat from my hand no problem tho but runs away straight after taking food. He's not ill tho; he eats and drinks and when free to roam with George, also has good energy. George on the other hand, the crazy guy, has been energetic form the start and happy to come straight to me and on me when I open the cage. Maybe he just can't cope with not having the whole room. The moment I come home form work, he's standing there looking at me begging to let him out :D Seymour however, couldn't care less.
 
Girls will be more expensive medically as will either need spays or will likely develop expensive and deadly health issues related to estrogen
 
Back
Top