is anyone else allergic to pet rats?

Question

i am allergic to my pet rat,though i would never get rid of him.when i clean him out i need to take an antihistamine befofe hand otherwise he makes my skin very itchy and my eyes sore.does anybody else have the same problem.what do you think is the cause?

Answer 1

It was when I had gerbils that I found out that I had mild asthma, tight chest pain, whenever I cleaned out the cage. It wasn't the gerbils per say, but the bedding that was giving me grief. I was using pine bedding, and along with dust from the bedding there was the dust from dander, dried urine and dried feces. I started wearing one of those disposable paint masks, and it helped a lot.

Then I got the itching, burning eyes, when I cleaned out cages and discovered I touched my face too much and the dust would make it's way to my eyes.

Ten years ago I got into rat-keeping and many rat-keepers on the forums had the same allergy as I did.........

Painful, itchy, welts on your hands when you play with your rats is a reaction to the urine that might be on the bottom of the rat's feet. Easily solved by wiping off the feet with a damp cloth as he is coming out of the cage.

I ended up taking a holistic antihistimine (company doesn't make it any more because it wasn't as popular as some of it's other products). After a year of taking this antihistimine I found I was no longer allergic to the inhalents. I haven't taken it for over 5 years and I'm still fine. I'm still allergic to the claw scratches though. I have too many rats to handle and I don't always remember to wipe off their little feets.

I don't use any other bedding any more, except for ripped up bed sheets, pillow cases, t-shirts, and sometimes "yesterday's news".

Allergic to your rats?
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=Allergic+to+your+rats&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAnYM54NvMNPtXBeKUqFf2zcazKIX%2FSIG%3D111gjvvgj%2F*-http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAs6qPmKbEGuHV570VYkOMTkazKIX%2FSIG%3D11ia1qo58%2F**http%253a%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=Allergic+to+your+rats

spazrats
http://spazrats.tripod.com
Rat Slave at age 38
Specializing in the care of pet rats since 1997

Answer 2

What bedding material do you use? If it is sawdust or woodchips made from pine or cedar it is likely that the bedding is the source of your problems. Pine or cedar will also cause respiratory problems in your rats as they have very sensitive respiratory systems. I use old bits of clothing, sheets and tea towels cut up into pieces as bedding for my rats. It works out to be cheap because they can all be washed and re-used (until they get to the stage where they're too holey!).

It is quite uncommon to be allergic to rats in the way you describe. Rats produce very little dander (dust) partly because they wash so often and so thoroughly. Airborne-type allergic reactions (where the symptoms are running itchy eyes, sneezing, respiratory symptoms etc) are usually due to the dander on and around the animal. Rat allergies are usually due to the proteins in their urine and result in raised itchy lumps where their nails dig into your skin, and, in extreme cases, an itchy rash where anything with a little bit of urine on has touched the skin.

That's not to say you can't be allergic to him! If you can be sure it's not the bedding itself causing problems, I'd advise you to keep doing what you're doing: take an anti-histamine when you know you're about to do something which may produce a reaction (clean him out / handle him). Also, keep a close eye to check your symptoms are not getting worse. An allergy which starts as mild can develop to be severe (as I know and been told by doctors due to my experience with latex). You may find an anti-histamine cream useful for skin reactions too (and you can use it if you get a reaction even when you have recently taken an oral anti-histamine).

I hope you do find that the cause is the bedding you use and your problem is rectifiable. Good luck.

Answer 3

You can be allergic to any animal.

It's because they produce a dust in the coats (dead skins cells etc) and when you breath it in or get it in your eyes it causes a reaction.

You will feel it more when you clean him out because it will be through his bedding and sawdust in high quantities

Try wearing rubber gloves and don't touch your face or eyes when you are cleaning the cage. If possible pour some water on the sawdust before emptying it out to dampen down the dust.

Answer 4

Hi, Ive kept rats for years and have never heard of an allergy to them, are you sure its the rat, could be bedding, sawdust or the cleaner you clean its cage with
Rats are very clean, in general,
Latex gloves could be an answer, but make sure the rat doesnt rip/nip and then eat bits
Sally

Answer 5

Have to agree with Andy- it sounds like something you are using- both my son and I have allergies and our rats are the only thing that have never bothered us.
Try bathing the rat (seriously, mine love the occassional bath) cleaning the cage thoroughly and replacing the litter with a wood-shaving -free medium (most often the cause of allergies and bad for rats respiratory tracts)
See: http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/habitat/index.php?chapter=litter. Then see how it goes.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

i have the same kinda issue every time i clean their cage or go to feed them i start snezzing i get really bad ichy eyes and my nose gets pluged up and runny like i got a cold it happens every time how do i stop it from happening its taking me away of spending time with my rats

Answer 8

i'am allergic to friends pet rat i just don't go there now. meet outside for coffee

Answer 9

Yeah I'm allergic to my rabbit. Use this petalcleanse it really works. It reduces to allegens that we are allergic to.
http://www.woofnwhiskers.com/info-store/petal-cleanse.htm

Answer 10

I have a mild allergy with mine, I'm ok until they scratch me with their little nails, then it comes up all itchy!