Allergies to rats

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i was one of those kids that mothers have nightmares about. i was allergic to literally EVERYTHING when i was little. soy of any kind (which is in EVERYTHING by the way), nuts, peas, beans, additives and preservatives, msg, polysorbate-80 ... and that's just food. i'm also deathly allergic to bee/wasp/hornet stings, and mosquito bites turn my skin into miniature mountain ranges, and any kind of mold or mildew just closes my lungs right up. i was one of those kids who had an epipen on them 24/7, even at horseback riding camp :thud: when i went for allergy testing when i was really young the allergist told my parents to get rid of the dogs - to which they laughed and said they'd sooner put me up for adoption :roll: i've been desensitized enough now that even with four dogs in the house i'm not all that bothered unless they're shedding or they've been in my room, but i also take an aerius antihistamine daily. every once in a while i go through a tough snap though where antihistamines don't help, all i can do then is try to stick it out and eat as healthy as possible so i can bounce back. it doesn't help that i've also recently developed moderate lactose intolerance :gaah: good thing i don't miss dairy too much, lactaid is expensive as hell!

.. which brings me to my (male) rats. i love them to death but sure enough i'm allergic to them, and i have no choice but to keep them in my room since other people in my house aren't really fans of them, not to mention two of my dogs don't really have rat compatible dispositions. every time i get scratched the area becomes red and swollen, and on the occasions that they do manage to pee directly onto my skin .. ohboy. it's like watching an emergency raft inflate :lol: when i'm at home i'm constantly playing with them or they're out roaming so washing all scratches with soap and water immediately is just impractical most of the time, but i manage to keep the reactions under control with hand sanitizer and/or unscented baby wipes. i try to keep their nails short too, it's not to difficult thanks to my CN single - all i have to do is keep them occupied with a bit of yogurt on my fingers and then i can sneak up on them with a set of nail clippers and snip off the hooks on both rats hind feet in under ten minutes.

ultimately though, i'm going to look at getting them neutered. if i don't change their bedding every day, the urine smell just gives me instant headachey-queasy-nauseousness, antihistamines or no. i just need to put some money away for it and find a vet for whom rodent surgeries are old hat.

oh and a quick question that just occurred to me, does a higher protein diet make their odor worse? they were severely underweight when i adopted them so i've had them on versele-laga rat and mouse pro (the protein content is somewhere around 20% i believe), with the intention of switching to something with less protein later. but if switching them to a lower protein diet will help control the smell a bit then a food change might come sooner than originally planned :)
 
I'm not sure if the food change will make them smell different. But regardless, I'd get them on something with way less protein.
Have you tried an air purifier?
 
jorats said:
I'm not sure if the food change will make them smell different. But regardless, I'd get them on something with way less protein.
Have you tried an air purifier?
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will do :thumbup: i only went with high protein to begin with because when i brought them home they were rat-shaped bags of bones :( they had almost no muscle mass to speak of - for the first couple weeks they were barely stong enough to climb onto even small things, and they were just plain clumsy. i did make sure they had lots of fresh vegetables while they bulked up though. they're much better (bigger :giggle: ) now, it's probably past time for a food change and i suppose it's better that i change their food now while there's still some of the versele left so i can phase it out of their diet

and it's funny, i had actually never thought to get an air purifier before reading this thread, but now it's obvious it would likely do my allergies a world of good. unfortunately money is a little tight right now with getting the pet store ready to open, but i'm definitely going to try to get one before winter rolls around and i'm stuck with dry hot air blowing allergens through the house despite my millions of vent and furnace filters :?
 
I can vouch for food affecting smell! I always feed the young'uns a little something extra, they have a higher protein diet than my older boys and omfg the smell is horrific! They can stink up the cage within 6 hours of me cleaning it too! As soon as they're off the baby diet, the smell should die down.
My neighbours have two female rats who we didn't have to clean out the entire week we were looking after them and they're on a mixed seedy type diet (I tried saying something but it didn't get through >< They're lean, fit and healthy enough though) and they just don't have a smell, unlike my young girls who are on Burgess Supa rat with fresh veg and some extras like puppy kibble, scrambled eggs etc.


Also, my welts have started getting worse from extra exposure now that I have 3 separate out times a night, and I've been on antihistamines ¬_¬
 
Argent said:
I can vouch for food affecting smell! I always feed the young'uns a little something extra, they have a higher protein diet than my older boys and omfg the smell is horrific! They can stink up the cage within 6 hours of me cleaning it too!
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the exact same goes for my boys - i have to change their bedding daily because the urine starts to absolutely reek. it's good to know that the protein could very well be adding to it, all the more reason to change foods!

i know how much it sucks when antihistamines don't work .. most of the time i have to take two aerius though the day. i exercise a lot and try to stay healthy to keep my allergies at bay, so my high metabolism sort of sabotages the 24-hour relief that the package tells me i'm supposed to experience :giggle: but as i was going through the medicine cupboard today (looking for more aerius :roll: ), i found some of my old allergy medicine that i used to take when i was a younger and still had very bad reactions. it's called atarax, and it tastes just as horrendous as it sounds but it works really well. i think i remember it lasting around six hours. you should ask your doctor if it's available in your area, i highly recommend it if your allergies are frequently severe. i'm actually going to try to get another prescription for it since what i have is quite expired :lol: after all an inhaler is just intended to clear your airway and lungs, it doesn't necessarily slow or stop the reactive agents in your body from responding to the allergen. not to mention my doctor won't prescribe me an inhaler cause i've never shown any signs of asthma that she's seen .. which i wouldn't, doctor's offices are by nature clean and allergen free. maybe i should bring dirty bedding in with me next time and she can listen to me wheeze :wink:

oh and in the past i've also found it helpful to eat fresh garlic with food whenever possible while desensitizing myself, since it boosts white blood cells and gives your immune system a real kick so you can build up antibodies.
 
I have fairly severe allergies to cats (hay fever type symptoms, plus Asthma), and after having our boys for about 4 months I noticed I started getting a tight chest and wheezy when I had them on the sheet covered couch. Now that I know, I can take an antihistemine before we bring Jack and Sawyer out, and I'm usually fine. I do have to wash my hands every time I have contact with them, and be sure not to rub my eyes before I have.
 
I am a horribly allergic person. Dogs, cats (very bad), pollen, you name it.

I am also very allergic to chickens (live ones), and i think probably my worst allergy is to guinea pigs. I literally close up and can't breath around them.

Rats... NO allergies whatsoever. Its amazing how selective allergies can be.
 
My allergies have been the worst this fall here. I get bad hayfever and always had allergies to the rats with welts. Our first rat 14 years ago I would break out in these huge welts and they would swell up like crazy. Now they seemed more tame thankfully. My hayfever tends to get worse around them this time of year though. Wood bedding is not allowed in my house, I just can't take it. So If I take in rats from someone and they were on wood bedding I feel it for days, almost like I have asthma.
 
Debbie said:
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 p***k holes in your skin), I might consider that to rather normal that one gets a little itchy.
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I was always under the impress that it was just a tiny scratch that gets irritated because they happen to walk around in pee and its like a tiny pee tattoo! :cuddle: gross but I deal with it after a little bit it doesn't hurt and the scratch goes away faster than a cat scratch.

so worth it cause I love my babies!
 
A welt from their nails is from pee, and it is an allergy if it getting scratched into you causes a skin reaction, it is like the scratch allergy test.

I have girls, and have an allergy to them. The first time it happened was shortly after I got my first two girls. I got a severe reaction, my hand and arm blew up to twice the size from hives. I went to the hospital and was given prednisone and a cream. It still took weeks to clear up :(. Since then, I have taken precautions to minimize it. I trim nails, I wash my hands a lot, and wear long sleeves when possible. I still get reactions sometimes, even with no scratches, but it's nothing like the first time. My hand usually gets hot and itchy, then breaks out. I could never not have rats because of it though.
 
Lol if I had severe breathing problems I could see myself with a gas mask lol. I'm alergic to my cat and looking for another right now. I think pet lovers are just gluttons for punishment lol.
 
Hubby is allergic to the rats, but he loves them and plays with them regardless. He's always in the rat room playing with some rat or another, especially his boys Yoda and Puck... And he always comes out with welts all over his arms and a big smile on his face. I love a man that loves animals :D
 
I am allergic to rats as well. When they scratch me it swells up and feels itchy and irritated. Also, when I change their cage the dust from it can make it hard to breathe.

So when I take them out of their cage, I wrap them up in a towel and carry them around in that.

In the summer when I change the cage I just do it outside and hold my breath. In the winter I can still change the cage outside. Or if you change it inside, where a mask. And don't flick the dust up in the air.

I clean their cage frequently. I use this hay stuff called NuHemp BIO-Nesting. It's a bit expensive but it lasts a lot longer and will probably save you money. The hay is like a matt and when there's lots of poo, you can just flick it out and reuse it. And if there's pee, just remove that part and throw it out. And wipe the bottom of it just by lifting it up. It doesn't even smell bad after a month. After maybe two months, you can change it.

If the air gets bad and I'm sneezing, I turn on the air purifier (Honeywell) and clean their cage.

If you find your nostrils/sinuses are reacting, take a allergy pill or quercetin, and then rinse your sinuses with a neti pot. And then go to a separate room where the rats are not there, or go outside.

The only real allergic issues are from scratching and from the air. Both can be managed quite well.
 
I have a close friend allergic to my rats...she still loves them though, and takes a pill everytime she comes over, and still has a mild reaction...yesterday she held one and then touched her eye and her actual eyeball swelled up. Like a fluid filled balloon on the eyeball. It was so creepy.

Before we realized she was allergic, she had a really severe reaction. She doesn't have asthma, but I do, and she needed to use my rescue inhaler because she had an asthma attack as a reaction. She also gets really stuffy, with red, itchy eyes.

I'm allergic to spring and fall though (we haven't found out exactly what does it), so I have to take antihistamines and a prescribed steroid nasal spray daily (and my inhalers more than usual). I can see how some people might consider that too expensive, but I just believe that when you adopt a pet, that's one of the possible costs to consider...
 
Hi, I'm not allergic myself but my girlfriend is, and we'll be moving in together in less than 3 months.. with 4 rats in total.
She gets welts everywhere and her skin turns red and itchy. She can't breathe near them and has asthma. The other day, her eyelid swelled up to the point where her eye was half the size than it's normal size.

From what I read... an air purifier would help with her not being able to breathe?
and using Oxy pads would minimize the itching?
We have four males... would neutering them reduce the allergens?

Does anyone have any advice as to how to reduce her allergies because she can't afford pills, and they don't work for her anyway.

I'm scared we might have to get rid of them... she even gets really sick after being at my house for a day.
It wasn't always that bad.. it got worse over time..

Any advice at all?
 
There's two schools of thought - repeated exposure dims the allergies, or makes them 10 times worse.

It isn't quite the same as getting allergy shots though - those begin at the most minute of concentrations, then gradually increase. With full exposure to an animal you don't have a chance to build up tolerance - so she's more likely to get worse, or stay the same at least.

Air purifiers do help, as well as keeping the cage absolutely scrupulously spotless - the less ammonia in the air, possibly, the better off... At the very least, you can't keep them where she sleeps and/or spends most of her time (so bedroom and living room, most likely). I do realize space is at a premium though for apartments...

Any other ideas, guys?
 
im allergic to all living things.

the worst is when i kiss and hug my cat and my eyes go puffy. but i cant resist when shes so lovable!
ive tried all allergy meds except the shots... ive heard some good things about them but id rather just take my allergies like a champ
 

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