Is there anyway to house Piggies inside when you have allergies/asthma?

[PingandChipy]

Hi all,

My house is like a museum lately due to my elderly cat passing away 3 weeks ago. I miss her terribly but do not plan on getting another cat, it broke my heart when she passed. So the house is very lonely and empty now.

I have 2 piggies that live outside in the shed. They have a heated hutch, little stinkers

I want so badly to have them inside with my husband and I but I have allergies and asthma. I had pigs inside for 3 years before developing these rotten allergies.

Is there anyway of having them inside? I take the max dose of antihistamines already. I was allergic to my cat. With allergies if you are allergic to one thing already and add another allergy you react more strongly. So I thought maybe I wouldn't react as strongly to the pigs now?

My pigs live on fleece as the shavings are too messy and my one pig, Ping, has allergies to dust. Poor little guy even sneezes with the hay sometimes.

i have a spare room that I could keep them in and shut the door to the rest of the house. OUr bedroom is on the other side of the house so that is good. I also have a hepa air filter machine that I could bring up from the basement.

I just miss them so much! I even have a baby monitor in our house to listen to them outside in the shed. It works really well to monitor them. I recoomend that to anyone who has outside pigs in a shed. You can hear if they are fighting or in pain.

Anyways, is there anyone here who has allergies and has pigs inside? I react mostly by having sinus pressure. My ears get plugged and I get a migraine.

Thx
Lynn

 

[sophiew (EAGPR)]

Hi

Sorry to hear about your cat

I have allergies and asthma too, but I have many pigs both indoors and out. It's worth finding out if you don't know already, if you're allergic to the actual pigs (i.e their hair) or whether it's the hay. With me it's mainly the hay. If it IS the hay, then it's worth experimenting with different types of hay, and with things like Readigrass (I don't know what the Canadian equiavalent is, but dried grass, short strands, rather than hay).

I would have thought having them in a separate room would be ok, at worst you could try it and keep a diary of your symptoms and see how you react?

Sophie
x

 

[Holidayhutch]

Have you tried using a product called Petal Cleanse, it removes the allergens from the dander that often causes allergies and aggravates things like skin conditions and asthma. We've recommeded it a few times to people who thought they may have to rehome their pets due to allergies etc and it has worked a treat for them.

 

[austin and bandit!]

what allergy do you have? is it towards the animals or the hay? i suffer from hayfever to the point where i have trouble breathing sometimes and putting hay out triggers me off. It also seem to goo off when I'm around cats and dogs for too long. I take telfast tablets. they contain fexofenadine hydrochoride. they work really well for allergies i think. ive been on a few and this one is the only one to really make a difference

 

[skrikopanik]

Find out exactly what you are allergic to and take it from there! You already use fleece, and the air purifier is a good idea!

If you are not already on regular asthma meds -start! Lungs and airways don't get better with "practice"... and a low dose is way better than stuffing yourself with Betapred when it gets bad. Aerius is a good anihistamine that's worked for me.

 

[lizzie_71]

I can fully sympathise because I have this exact problem. My piggies live inside in winter and in an outside hutch the rest of the time. When they are inside, my asthma gets noticeably worse, and every time I clean them out or handle them I have an attack.

I have not found a solution to this other than just learning to live with it, although I have noticed a slight improvement since I switched from woodshavings to megazorb (fleece is rubbish, it needed cleaning every day and I couldn't live with the increased symptoms that caused).

I am allergic to both the animals and the bedding. I like the sound of that thing called Petal Cleanse, I wonder if that would make any difference?

Anyway, all I can say is roll on spring so they can live outside again.

 

[piggiepaws]

Hello Lynn, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat, when i used to live on my own with my little lad we lost ours and I understand how empty the house can seem.

I dont have any advice on asthma I'm afraid, but i have hayfever and i wanted to post this link

http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/wps/portal/products/hayfever/hayfeverreliever

My partner takes me out to loads of agricultural/tractor/village shows and we spend most summer weekends outside in fields, i had tried lots of different hayfever remedies and tablets and..... in sheer desperation..... parted with 14.99 last year for one of these probe thingies that go up your nose.

I would definately recommend buying one, the only disadvantage i can see is it uses one of those block shaped batteries so i bought a rechargeable one and charge it up at nightime but since buying it i have not needed hayfever tablets.

Hope this is of help xx