Allergies to rats

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LA

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
5,094
Location
Midland, ON
I know there was a thread a while back about this but I thought I would start one up so we can discuss it. I know some members have allergies to rats. I'm interested in hearing how you deal with them, tricks you use, things you take to help the situation.

I'll start. I notice that when the cages are in need of cleaning and I play with the girls, I get welts around my scratches. Wayne and I started buying Oxy Pads and wiping down with them afterwards and they help with the itch and stinging. Rubbing alcohol works rather the same, but we like the oxy pads because they don't dry out the skin.
 
A lot of people have allergies to their rats but most of the time it's easy to control and maintain. I for one am allergic to rats. I get welts and also have trouble with my breathing.
You can desensitize yourself to the rats. By keeping exposed to them a little bit every day can make your body get used to the antibodies produced when the body thinks it's come in contact with something foreign.
In the meantime, you can take allergy pills or elixir to help alleviate the symptoms.
As for the welts, after you've played with the rats, put some cold water on them, it helps get rid of them faster.

My sister is an asthmatic, new rats are a trigger but after about a month, she's ok with them. :thumbup:
 
Hi All


I broke out with these welts earlier. Very itchy and rather uncomfortable as well. Will have to invest in some Oxy Pads :)

Aryelle is Asthmatic too. I have to up her puffers it seems, but I hope she gets better as I dont want to have to give them up. :sad3:
 
Give it a month... Limit her exposure to them as well.
I had to do that with my son who's asthmatic. For the first week, we did 10 minutes each day of exposure, then we did 20 minutes for the next week, and so on and that's how how we got him used to them. He still could never have them in his room but out in the open he's just fine now. In fact, he doesn't even get welts anymore.
I still get welts but that's because I won't do the desensitizing... I just can't keep my hands off of them. lol
 
I have terrible allergies and asthma...mostly to dust and pollen. Oddly enough I'm OK around most animals (like cats and dogs) so I thought rats would be no problem...WRONG! I noticed my wheezing increased drastically after I got my girls. But I love them, so I work hard to keep it under control.

1. I have a hepa-filter air purifier...Heaven sent. It was the best $100 investment I ever made. I use a HoneyWell with filters that I vacuum weekly.

2. I clean every day. I use Yesterdays News in the litter boxes (very low dust), rubber shelf liners which I rinse daily, and flannelette sheets in the bottom tray that I change daily. For me it's the urine which is the biggest trigger, so if I can keep the pee under control I'm OK. Greenworks wipes are none toxic and clean the pee right up, with a nice refreshing scent.

3. Experiment. I tried 3 different types of low dust bedding until I figured out what works for me.

Luckily I don't have issues with welts, but for some reason my girls are really good about keeping their nails short.

Good Luck!
 
I get welts too if claws or tails touch my skin. Hot weather is the worst cause you're not wearing covered-up clothes and don't want to get too hot with the kids, nor be changing clothes everytime you hold someone. I have kneesocks I cut the toes out of to slip on my arms. Mine aren't usually shoulder rats but I cut the shirt & arms parts off a 2nd hand turtleneck I can just slip on to cover my neck & shoulders if I want to do shoulder-rides. They're on my bed every night with me so I just keep under some covers and wear the arm & shoulder cover if I have young fast kids running all over me, I put a towel over my pillow so I can easily remove it when the kids have gone home and I'm not breathing in any 'dribbles'.
If I feel a tail or claw touch I go gently wash with soap right away (doesn't stop the welts, but helps the oncoming itch be less worse). Always wash hands before touching your nose or eyes.
For the respiratory allergy keeping my numbers down makes a big difference (I think having them fixed does too). I had to move them from the bedroom to the living room (hate that :cry3: ) but it made a big difference in my breathing. It might help to wear a mask when cleaning the cage. Clean cage of course is your best defence against respiratory allergy (I remind myself that if it affects me at all it's permanently damaging them with their poor respiratory systems.)
Air purifiers. Allergy pills if you can afford them every day.
Kissing them never affects allergies! :heart:
 
minuke99 said:
Luckily I don't have issues with welts, but for some reason my girls are really good about keeping their nails short.
There's another thought, the sharper the claws the easier they break the skin no matter how slight. If you can keep a brick under the water bottle so they have to put their claws on it to get a drink it helps keep the claws filed down.
 
Do you all really consider welts from their nails as being allergic??

I get them too, but only after their nails touch my skin. Considering they do walk around in the litter box, and their nails are as sharp as needles (thus putting pin prick holes in your skin), I might consider that to rather normal that one gets a little itchy.

I usually get welts, they are itchy for a couple of hours, then go away completely.

What I do consider more allergy related: When it comes time to clean the boys cage, or even nuzzle the boys around a year old, I can get hayfever symptoms (plugged up nose, itchy eyes, etc). This too, wears off after a while.

I can't help but think that people wouldn't give a cat back because they got scratched or their skin puffed up (I run for the peroxide with a cat scratch). But I can certainly understand the asthma related alergies. eek!
 
That's wonderful news about the allergies. I know being at my parents is sometimes torture for me. The worst is when I go to someones house to take pictures for work (real estate) and they have cats. One time I went and this woman had three cats. I went back to the office sneezing and eyes watering so bad.
 
For welts from ratty scratches, there is nothing quite like Benadryl cream. By morning you can rarely see a mark. I wash the scratches right away with soap and water, then apply Benadryl.
 
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