# Allergic to my rats!!!



## bonnie_jade (Jan 6, 2016)

Hi! 
So I've had rats before, years ago, it was great! I had a baby in 2014, and she's one and a half now so I figured I'd adopt some ratties again. I've had two little ladies for about two weeks now. Well i guess it's a pregnancy thing, cause I'm SUPER allergic to them!!! 
When they climb on me, their tiny scratches turn to big itchy welts. which isnt that bad, i could deal with it, but if I play with them for a good while, or-especially- if i clean the cage, i can't breathe. Literally. It starts with a little wheeze/cough and within the hour it's a full blown asthma attack, I can hardly get any air in, have to sit still (can't lie down, makes it worse) or else i might pass out cause i can't take in enough air. Benadryl didn't do much, and it knocks me out. Mucinex helps, the extra stength kind, but it takes at least an hour- even if i take it preventatively an hour or two before playtime/cage cleaning. I have a dr appt already for the 22nd, so I'm going to ask for an inhaler. I had asthma (this is the only way i can describe it) after eating strawberries while i was pregnant, so i know an inhaler helps and would work for this.... It just really sucks!!!
I feel like i can't fully care for them if it's gonna be like this








Anyone else with this problem??







I need some help!!


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## Sushigirl (Sep 10, 2015)

Is there a friend or family member that can take care of them until after the baby is born? With such a severe reaction You and your bubs health is obviously of the utmost importance. If it's just the pregnancy causing the reaction then you should be able to take them back after the birth. Otherwise sadly you may have to look at rehoming them


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## bonnie_jade (Jan 6, 2016)

I guess i can only edit my post once?
I am not pregnant, what I meant was that somehow, going through pregnancy has affected my immune response.... 
I am hoping that other people have successfully treated/adjusted to this problem


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## MissShona (Jan 3, 2016)

I have the same problem with my girls, I get the welts from their little claws and the wheezing, plus itchy throat and eyes. I had rats years ago and never had this allergy either. Like you said, it's particularly bad when I clean their cage. I've found that wearing an insulation/dust mask helps when I clean, I don't get the wheezing or coughing with that. As far as the rest goes, I unfortunately haven't found a real solution (taking Reactine or Claritin is the only thing that really helps and I don't want to do that every day). When I play with them, I wear a long sleeved turtleneck sweater to avoid getting all the itchy welts. Hope you can find something to help you with this...


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

First off I would try an eliminate a possible allergy to there bedding, I've seen this before where a pet home of ours was only mildly allergic to the rats. She switched from card bedding and her symptoms improved massively.

What do you currently use?


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## bonnie_jade (Jan 6, 2016)

Isamurat said:


> First off I would try an eliminate a possible allergy to there bedding, I've seen this before where a pet home of ours was only mildly allergic to the rats. She switched from card bedding and her symptoms improved massively.
> 
> What do you currently use?



I use the carefresh-type bedding, the brown kind (I believe is unbleached and undyed). No baking soda in it.


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## bonnie_jade (Jan 6, 2016)

MissShona said:


> I have the same problem with my girls, I get the welts from their little claws and the wheezing, plus itchy throat and eyes. I had rats years ago and never had this allergy either. Like you said, it's particularly bad when I clean their cage. I've found that wearing an insulation/dust mask helps when I clean, I don't get the wheezing or coughing with that. As far as the rest goes, I unfortunately haven't found a real solution (taking Reactine or Claritin is the only thing that really helps and I don't want to do that every day). When I play with them, I wear a long sleeved turtleneck sweater to avoid getting all the itchy welts. Hope you can find something to help you with this...


Thank you for sharing your experience! I'll get a turtleneck, that's a great idea. How long have you had them?


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## amandad (Apr 20, 2015)

This kind? http://ep.yimg.com/ay/entirelypets/absorption-corp-carefresh-natural-pet-bedding-60-liter-47.jpg

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...edding-_-73d8b078-d0fe-14c8-0a44-000014a971e8

If so, I'm pretty sure it does have baking soda in it. 

I can't breathe when I use the above Carefresh bedding. So I use Crumbled Paper Bedding.


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## ratbasket (Apr 26, 2014)

I had a really bad time with the CareFresh bedding as well, I like to use aspen shavings, the SoPhresh brand works well for me and my girls. 
I have a variety of minor environmental allergies and asthma, I find the Zyrtec works well to control the environmental allergies, I believe the active ingredient is cetirizine. The nice thing about the zyrtec its that it doesn't make you as drowsy as benedryl. Also I would advise thoroughly washing skin that has had contact with the rats after playing with them and trimming their nails doing that helped me a ton


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## buzzwizz619 (May 31, 2015)

I have the same problem with megazorb the dust partically get on my chest and i cant breathe properly. Mabey switch to fleece for a little while see if that help and if so try various beddings one by one to see which you react to the least? 


xxx


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## MissShona (Jan 3, 2016)

.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for sharing your experience! I'll get a turtleneck, that's a great idea. How long have you had them?[/QUOTE]

I've had rats for about 4 years now. I didn't have them for about 4 years before that and the allergy snuck in somewhere during that time. 
Good luck!


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## bonnie_jade (Jan 6, 2016)

amandad said:


> This kind? http://ep.yimg.com/ay/entirelypets/absorption-corp-carefresh-natural-pet-bedding-60-liter-47.jpg
> 
> http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...edding-_-73d8b078-d0fe-14c8-0a44-000014a971e8
> 
> ...



It's not carefresh exactly, but that type of bedding. I made sure it does not have baking soda because that surely isn't good for them to breathe.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Long long ago, I suppose it was when I hit puberty I became deathly allergic to maple trees, golden rod, strawberries and a bunch of other things... I mean close my throat and stop my breathing kind of allergic....

So I saw a good allergist who tested me and prepared a series of shots. First I got a shot once a week and then it went to once a month. As I recall, the whole course of treatment ran for a couple of years, but I've been mostly allergy free for over 40 years now... Well I still get slight flu like symptoms when the maple trees bloom, and I might need to take a few antihistamines but I recently had myself tested and technically I tested as not allergic to maples any more. The second rate allergist I recently went to didn't even test for rat allergies... 

I'd see if you can find a good allergist that tests for and treats rat allergies. For me the shots worked wonders. If I didn't have them I'd need to live in a bubble or on pills just about year round and miss out on some of my favorite foods and activities.


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