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| doctor appointments for the treatment of hay fever and asthma, I was usually told on the first office visit to get rid of my cats. Like many pet lovers who receive this prescription, I refused. None of my dozen doctors offered alternative solutions, all announced in authoritative voices that there was no way to remove the problem without removing the pets and all but one expressed annoyance and irritation at patients who refuse to cooperate. |
| But for every study that links pet dander to respiratory problems, others show that pet owners live longer, have happier lives, have lower stress levels and enjoy more meaningful relationships than those who don't share their lives with pets. A recent study of nursing homes showed that facilities with a resident dog have lower death rates, lower infection rates and lower staff turnover rates than those without. A study of recovering heart attack victims showed that the most significant difference between those who died within one year and those who survived was dog ownership. For many Americans, pets are members of the family. Getting rid of them, even on a doctor's orders, is as traumatic as losing a relative. |
| Pet dander in carpeted homes is more of a problem than in homes with bare floors, although any rug or fabric can harbor dander. The source of the problem isn't hair that the animals shed but proteins in their saliva and flakes of skin. This is why young kittens and puppies don't trigger allergic reactions; they have no old skin to shed and therefore no dander. It isn't until the age of three or four months, or even later, that pets begin to produce the allergen. This explains how someone can develop a sudden allergy to a pet that was for months a comfortable roommate. |
| Years ago my husband and I lived in a carpeted house and a few days after we steam-cleaned the carpets, we had a house guest who was violently allergic to animals. He kept looking at our cats and wondered why he wasn't sneezing. That's when we realized that animal dander in carpets can be washed away. We had wanted only to remove old stains but, as a bonus, we had a dander-free house. |
| Removing dander from rugs and carpets is only part of the solution. Washing the pets themselves is just as important. Full |
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