Hayfever dilemma

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eksarahw

New Born Pup
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Hi again everyone, hope you're all well.
I had a lovely visit to the Ayr Guinea pig Rescue and Rehoming Centre on Saturday and met the wonderful staff and pigs there.

I was there for 2 hours and had no hayfever symptoms at all ( I take loratadine each morning). Later at night when back home I noticed I was coughing a lot and then yesterday when I was out running,felt it was harder to breathe...

Any tips from fellow guinea pig owners/hayfever sufferers? I was really keen to get some guinea pigs but feel a bit undecided now...not sure how to decide what to do...and advice or tips very much appreciated! 😀

Xx
 
I found loratadine didn't work for me so changed to Ceterizine Hydrochloride (obviously don't do this without the advice of a doctor). I also have hay in farm bales from either the Alpaca farm or the local farm shop and this doesn't affect my hay fever. I have SEVERE hay fever in as much as the lining of my nose bleeds even when I have acupuncture to help my symptoms. I am allergic to most manmade smells and most natural smells, mould spores, perfumes ......
 
Someone told me this summer that it's more effective to rotate between the two antihistamines each year. So one year take loratadine and the next take the other one (can't remember the name of it now)
 
I will quickly add, I haven't tried it so not sure how good it is.

I buy local honey and tried taking a teaspoon full everyday from beginning of march and I do feel it made a little difference
 
eksarahw said:
Hi again everyone, hope you're all well.
I had a lovely visit to the Ayr Guinea pig Rescue and Rehoming Centre on Saturday and met the wonderful staff and pigs there.

I was there for 2 hours and had no hayfever symptoms at all ( I take loratadine each morning). Later at night when back home I noticed I was coughing a lot and then yesterday when I was out running,felt it was harder to breathe...

Any tips from fellow guinea pig owners/hayfever sufferers? I was really keen to get some guinea pigs but feel a bit undecided now...not sure how to decide what to do...and advice or tips very much appreciated! 😀

Xx
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It's great you are thinking about this in advance.
Would it be possible to start as a foster carer for a couple of piggies and see how this affects your allergies?

I have had severe allergies all os my life and the only thing that really helped in the end was a round of allergy injections - the process is very long (anywhere from 3-4 years) with regular injections for several months of each year, but in the end it has made all of my allergies almost non existent.
It may also help to have a proper series of allergy tests done first as this could identify it piggies and their hay will be an issue, but I am not sure how easy that would be to achieve in the UK?
 
That’s a tough one - I’d try spending more time around them. It’s hard to say, especially if you have your heart set on guineapigs, but your health is more important. If you find them effecting your allergies even more - maybe they aren’t the pet for you 😢. And they LOVE hay - so if that’s what you’re allergic to …. It wouldn’t be fair to skimp on it for them, or for you to suffer because of their hay! One thing that has hit home with me is that they are long term. I knew that in theory, but now I’ve had them for about 5 months - the constant cleaning and vast amount of hay they go through is hitting home. Don’t get me wrong they are a joy, but add an allergy to that … would be difficult.

I don’t mean to be a kill-joy, just something to consider I guess.
 
Thanks so much everyone. It's hard to decide..I guess it would be more sensible not to go ahead with rehoming..shame though 😒 guess I was looking for a magical type of hay that doesn't affect hayfever sufferers?! 🙂
 
Swissgreys said:
It's great you are thinking about this in advance.
Would it be possible to start as a foster carer for a couple of piggies and see how this affects your allergies?

I have had severe allergies all os my life and the only thing that really helped in the end was a round of allergy injections - the process is very long (anywhere from 3-4 years) with regular injections for several months of each year, but in the end it has made all of my allergies almost non existent.
It may also help to have a proper series of allergy tests done first as this could identify it piggies and their hay will be an issue, but I am not sure how easy that would be to achieve in the UK?
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Thanks, having a wee look online at allergy tests to see if I can pin point my allergy 🤧
 
Different hays affect different people also depends on how dust extracted it is. My mum got symptoms when I used meadow hay, since switching to Timothy there's been hardly any symptoms. It's a shame that you can't adopt piggies but you need to think of your health first.
 
eksarahw said:
Yes I've heard orchard grass is better for some people? Was doing some research and came across these samples..might be worth exposing myself to each and see how it goes? https://happyhay.co.uk/sample-pack/
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The issue may be that it is difficult to emulate real life situations.
For example if toughing the hay produces a contact allergy, then if you had piggies you could simply wear long sleeves and gloves when you handle it.
I had a severe horse allergy, but actually owned horses for years and was at the stables at least 4-5 times a week - I had to take antihistamines and a nasal spray, as well as always wearing long sleeves and gloves and doing things like grooming in a well ventilated area (outside).
What you need to know is more about how you would react to large piles of hay in a room, with piggies jumping in and out of it, and that is a bit hard to recreate.
Where were you thinking of keeping them?
If it was outside of your main airspace in a room with a door that closes something like an air purifier could help too.
Really the only way to be sure if you would be able to cope is if you gave it a try, which is why I mentioned fostering as a possibility.
Your health is important and you need to try and be honest about how much you can do to keep yourself safe and healthy and still enjoy the pigs.
 
We both have hay fever and I am also allergic to cats (only if I touch them). We take Loratadine all year round and it works fine for us.
 
Swissgreys said:
The issue may be that it is difficult to emulate real life situations.
For example if toughing the hay produces a contact allergy, then if you had piggies you could simply wear long sleeves and gloves when you handle it.
I had a severe horse allergy, but actually owned horses for years and was at the stables at least 4-5 times a week - I had to take antihistamines and a nasal spray, as well as always wearing long sleeves and gloves and doing things like grooming in a well ventilated area (outside).
What you need to know is more about how you would react to large piles of hay in a room, with piggies jumping in and out of it, and that is a bit hard to recreate.
Where were you thinking of keeping them?
If it was outside of your main airspace in a room with a door that closes something like an air purifier could help too.
Really the only way to be sure if you would be able to cope is if you gave it a try, which is why I mentioned fostering as a possibility.
Your health is important and you need to try and be honest about how much you can do to keep yourself safe and healthy and still enjoy the pigs.
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They would stay outside in the summerhouse 🙂
 
eksarahw said:
They would stay outside in the summerhouse 🙂
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But where in the house would they stay when you needed to house them indoors (for example during extreme weather, in the Summer, etc)?
Obviously an allergy is much easier to manage if they aren't in your living room, but the reality is that even those with ideal outdoor set ups need to have their piggies indoors on occasions (particularly in the Summer). Keeping a shed/summer house cool is much harder than keeping it warm!
 
I have hay fever I can’t have Timothy hay in the flat as that triggers me really badly, I have found orchard & meadow hay have been fine with allergies.
The best anti histamines I have found are fexofenadine hydrochloride I was having them on prescription but they are now available over the counter the brand name is Allevia.
My pigs live in my living room as we live in a flat the first 18m I found my symptoms were worse (espcielly woth Timothy hay) but over time I have found they have worsened and I’m not even taking medication at the moment!
 
Swissgreys said:
But where in the house would they stay when you needed to house them indoors (for example during extreme weather, in the Summer, etc)?
Obviously an allergy is much easier to manage if they aren't in your living room, but the reality is that even those with ideal outdoor set ups need to have their piggies indoors on occasions (particularly in the Summer). Keeping a shed/summer house cool is much harder than keeping it warm!
Click to expand...

:agr:
My two live in a hutch in a purpose built shed with internal mesh doors for ventilation, insulated etc but honestly summer is a nightmare!
Winter is (relatively) easy and in the past four years ive never had problem keeping them warm enough but every single summer without fail the shed becomes a death trap (it hit 47 degrees in there during the heat wave but even a nice 23 degree but sunny day it can still get to 30 so they can’t stay inside), it’s then either still too hot to be in the run on the lawn or I’m not home to supervise them, can’t keep dragging the hutch in and out of the shed (and of course hutches outside also face the risk of getting too hot inside anyway), so coming into the house is the only option for potentially weeks every summer. This year they were indoors constantly for three weeks but even wheh they could stay outside at night, there were still many days when they had to come into the house during days when I wasn’t going to be home to monitor the shed situation/supervise lawn time.

Not saying any of this to put you off, but it’s important to be clear that outdoor/shed piggies are not always easy in summer!
 
Thanks everyone for all the advice, much appreciated 🙂 I guess it also depends where you live, I live in Scotland so we don't have the hottest of sunmers but yes the summerhouse would get too hot at times even here. Will keep on thinking!🤔 😊
 
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