I have hives after guinea pig scratched me

[Caramelchip18]

I was holding my guinea pig Chip, and he scratched me. I have hives on my wrist now and where his fur has been on me I’ve gotten incredibly red, however my guinea pig caramel doesn’t give me hives but gives me rashes sometimes.

is it possible I’m more allergic to one that I am the other? Any tips on preventing hives? I know about antihistamines and I’ll try those but any topical creams or anything?

 

[Bill & Ted]

I would try and avoid dusty hay, it’s sometimes the hay that you react to. You can get anti-histamine cream to rub on your skin at the chemists

 

[Caramelchip18]

I would try and avoid dusty hay, it’s sometimes the hay that you react to. You can get anti-histamine cream to rub on your skin at the chemists

I did recently introduce dandelion hay into the other hay so maybe it’s that on his fur because he likes to dig under it? I’m still waiting for allergy testing. I do think it’s the new hay on his fur as I’ve never had tris reaction before (hives)

 

[Caramelchip18]

I would try and avoid dusty hay, it’s sometimes the hay that you react to. You can get anti-histamine cream to rub on your skin at the chemists

The hives also went after 10-15 minutes idk if that’s normal or not, I shall see

 

[Caramelchip18]

Update 1: conducted a test, I am extremely allergic to guinea pigs and get hives within minutes of their saliva (which is what I am actually allergic too) being on me

 

[Bill & Ted]

Can you wear cotton gloves? I had a flare up on my hands because of handling too much hay. I purchased some plain cotton gloves from the Internet and they really helped me. You can use them and then pop them in the wash. Washing your hands with soap straight after handling helps too, before you touch your eyes

 

[PigglePuggle]

Update 1: conducted a test, I am extremely allergic to guinea pigs and get hives within minutes of their saliva (which is what I am actually allergic too) being on me

Oh dear, however a severe allergy would be an IgE mediated anaphylaxis type reaction- some skin inflammation is quite a different type of immune response to allergens that is unlikely to escalate and can usually be managed with antihistamines. An itchy skin rash is very uncomfortable of course but not a severe reaction and hopefully you can manage it fine with gloves and medication!

 

[stef.trg]

This is me every time after direct skin contact with one of the pigs. For me it‘s a mixture between hay & piggy hair that causes the reaction. It gets hot and itchy but will usually go away again after a short time. When they scratch me and break my skin I‘ll get a noticeable bump and it‘ll be super itchy for half an hour. It‘s gotten much better since we switched to orchard hay (meadow hay is my personal kryptonite!) but I generally make sure to wash any areas of skin (it doesn’t affect my hands and arms for some reason) and wear gloves for cage cleans, spot cleans, and any handling of hay

 

[Doomie]

I sometimes have this kind of hives close to the guinea pigs but I ran some tests and I'm not allergic so ... I don't know

 

[Caramelchip18]

Can you wear cotton gloves? I had a flare up on my hands because of handling too much hay. I purchased some plain cotton gloves from the Internet and they really helped me. You can use them and then pop them in the wash. Washing your hands with soap straight after handling helps too, before you touch your eyes

It seems that I can have exposure on my neck and stuff but my arms are a huge No no. My hands get red but don’t itch and I get red on my face, chest/collarbones and neck but they don’t really itch. However my arms and especially my wrist area seem to be more sensitive to it and bubble up, so as long as I’m aware of my arms I should be fine. I do have disposable gloves though and I wear cardigans when they jump up on my arms

 

[Caramelchip18]

Oh dear, however a severe allergy would be an IgE mediated anaphylaxis type reaction- some skin inflammation is quite a different type of immune response to allergens that is unlikely to escalate and can usually be managed with antihistamines. An itchy skin rash is very uncomfortable of course but not a severe reaction and hopefully you can manage it fine with gloves and medication!

It’s hives, I get hives all over my arm area they touch including my wrists. That’s what I meant by extremely allergic, they don’t give me anaphylactic stuff or anything so that’s good. I use creams now

 

[Caramelchip18]

This is me every time after direct skin contact with one of the pigs. For me it‘s a mixture between hay & piggy hair that causes the reaction. It gets hot and itchy but will usually go away again after a short time. When they scratch me and break my skin I‘ll get a noticeable bump and it‘ll be super itchy for half an hour. It‘s gotten much better since we switched to orchard hay (meadow hay is my personal kryptonite!) but I generally make sure to wash any areas of skin (it doesn’t affect my hands and arms for some reason) and wear gloves for cage cleans, spot cleans, and any handling of hay

View attachment 176872

That’s exactly how my neck and chest look after they snuggle against them

 

[Caramelchip18]

Can you wear cotton gloves? I had a flare up on my hands because of handling too much hay. I purchased some plain cotton gloves from the Internet and they really helped me. You can use them and then pop them in the wash. Washing your hands with soap straight after handling helps too, before you touch your eyes

I wash my hands thoroughly with soap after every holding time

 

[Caramelchip18]

I sometimes have this kind of hives close to the guinea pigs but I ran some tests and I'm not allergic so ... I don't know

It could be hay, but in my case It’s not. I’ve changed hay multiple times, changed bedding, changed materials etc. It’s most definitely the guinea pigs unfortunately

 

[Caramelchip18]

 

[Caramelchip18]

I was holding my guinea pig Chip, and he scratched me. I have hives on my wrist now and where his fur has been on me I’ve gotten incredibly red, however my guinea pig caramel doesn’t give me hives but gives me rashes sometimes.

is it possible I’m more allergic to one that I am the other? Any tips on preventing hives? I know about antihistamines and I’ll try those but any topical creams or anything?

Also, caramel does give me hives. It’s just that he’s never touched my arms before because he doesn’t like to be held that much or at all, so chip is the one that I usually hold or always have beside me but Caramel has recently brushed against my arms and it resulted in the hives shown in the photo

 

[Caramelchip18]

Oh dear, however a severe allergy would be an IgE mediated anaphylaxis type reaction- some skin inflammation is quite a different type of immune response to allergens that is unlikely to escalate and can usually be managed with antihistamines. An itchy skin rash is very uncomfortable of course but not a severe reaction and hopefully you can manage it fine with gloves and medication!

I also get runny red noses, eyes watery and a lil puffy in addition to hives and rashes but yes I should’ve specified that it’s not as severe as needing an epi-pen