Allergic to ferrets?

[Deleted]

Hi all! As you may know, I adore my Fenton and Fiona. However, after living with them for a while, I have come to the realization that I'm mildly allergic to them.

I say mildly allergic because it only happens when they have not been bathed for quite a while, and I have handled them and played with them a lot. Or even if they have been bathed recently, if I get their smell on my hands really good and then touch my eyes, I get a reaction. My eyes will start to water and I get the sniffles. I can definitely feel the histamine reaction. I start to get itchy all over my body. However, it is a pretty mild reaction compared to, say, cats. With a cat, if it's even in the same room, my eyes will swell up so bad I can't see, and I get itchy hives all over my skin. With the ferrets on the other hand, some days I don't even get a reaction at all. It's really only an issue when I'm cuddling them a lot and they get hair all over my clothes and their oil or dander or something gets in my face. Especially the eyes. If I touch my eyes when I'm playing with them, that's when I really notice it.

I already take allergy medicine for other allergies, so it's not really an issue. What I'm wondering is:

1 - Do I have to worry about the allergic reaction getting worse?
2 - Can I get accustomed to them over time so my body gets used to them and doesn't have a reaction?
3 - Is it OK to bathe them more often to avoid this problem? I know everyone repeats the same mantra, that you shouldn't bathe ferrets more than once a year, it's bad for their skin or makes them smell more or whatever. But the times I have bathed my ferrets, they didn't seem to smell more, and they didn't act like they were itchy afterwards. I have a hard time believing that it is as bad for them as people claim. What do you guys think? Even a bath with plain water and no soap helps me not get sniffles when I play with them.

Anybody else ran into this? Some people (obviously ferret lovers) like to claim that they are hypo-allergenic. That doesn't even make sense, but whatever. People say a lot of things that aren't entirely true when they are trying to say they are a good pet. Point is, I am definitely mildly allergic to them. Just wondering what the best way to live with them and minimize the irritation. It's nothing severe enough to make me consider rehoming them, don't worry. It's just a minor annoyance that effects me some days.

Edit: I have also had some people I know who are allergic to cats tell me that they used NasalCrom religiously for a few weeks, and after that, they stopped having allergic reactions to cats. It was almost like being on NasalCrom made their allergies disappear. Anyone else used the stuff, any experiences? I find it interesting because it seems to have no negative side-effects. Most allergy medicines either make me drowsy, or nervous, or make my mouth and nose really dry, or blur my vision, etc. I tried NasalCrom yesterday and today and it seems very clean, no side-effects that I can feel.

[tayrawrrr]

I'm mildly allergic to ferrets that aren't fed raw. I had mild reactions for a few days following getting MoJo, and just stopped having reactions to Memphis. I didn't take anything, just made sure I washed my hands well after holding them, and didn't let them too close to my face. So it's possible that you could get used to them, but that really all depends.

As long as it's plain water, I don't see it being a problem. But that's
JMO.

I've never heard someone say they are hypo-allergenic, but I have heard that people are generally less likely to be allergic to them.

Hope that helps some.

[Deleted]

Yeah it's funny, I was mildly allergic to rats too when I had them. I bathed them weekly to keep it under control, and I never saw anything saying that was bad. The rats liked the water. Thinking back, my rats actually gave me more allergic reaction than my ferrets do.

It seems like every small animal I have handled has given me some sort of reaction, whether it was mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, etc. Cats are the only one that give me a violent reaction though. Maybe there is something about the dander of cats that is especially potent LOL...

[tayrawrrr]

Hahaha, Who knows, plenty of people are allergic to them! I was suprise to find I was mildly allergic to ferrets (not raw-fed), because the only other thing I'm allergic to are my gerbils

[Sherry]

The reason we mention about not bathing them often, is many will do weekly shampoo baths- which IS really bad for them. Their odour will increase dramatically because the oils are being systematically stripped on a regular basis.
As for plain water baths- mine pretty much play in it daily ;D As long as you aren't including shampoo very often, it's all good!
And hopefully within a month or two of them being fully transitioned to raw, your allergy will either go away, or dissipate even further. Since the raw has a ton of moisture, their skin doesn't flake as badly, putting out far less dander.
As for the hair, why not try brushing them on a weekly basis as well? That should help keep the fur under control. Spring shed is about all over for most ferrets, so weekly is good.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the advice, what kind of brush works best for ferrets? Soft with lots of bristles, or what?

[Sherry]

I use a kitten slicker brush, followed by a rubber static brush.

[Deleted]

Our house is very dusty. VERY, VERY DUSTY.
I don't know why, we clean it every week.. yet every week there is another inch of dust on EVERYTHING.

Cause of this, my ferrets (who roll around on the floor) are always dusty, which makes me sneeze like it's going out of style. I occasionally get the itchy red eyes thing going on too. I let them romp around in the tub every couple of days with just water to get the dust off.

Are you sure it's not the dust you are having a reaction to, and not the ferrets?

[Deleted]

just tossing out an opinion. I am a dog groomer. when costomers come in saying they have to wash there dog/cat on weekly basis due to human allergies, we tell them to use shampoo and conditioner once a month and just use conditioner on them on a weekly basis. that way it dosnt dry out the oils in their skin. sherry, your opinion?

[katt]

If it is only when they haven't been bathed in a while it is very possible it's dust they are picking up on their fur that you are reacting to. I know I have allergies and if the boys are too dusty it bothers me.

To the conditioner comment: I highly recommend bathing with human grade moisturizing conditioner. (just make sure there are no essential oils). I always use either Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo or human moisturizing conditioner (that specifically says moisturizing). I bathe more often than recommended and never ever have a problem with my boys smelling worse or getting dry skin from it. But the conditioner keeps their fur nice and soft and good smelling while cleaning them and removing the dust and loose fur.

[katt]

Oh also yes: exposure over time Can help reduce the severity of the allergic reaction as your body gets used to the presence of the allergen. But then if you are away from said allergen for a while and are re-exposed then the reaction can be much more severe. (and then can level out again in time as long as it is not TOO severe).

[Sherry]

I don't see why conditioner should be a problem, as long as you aren't overdoing it. It doesn't strip the oils from the skin.

[Deleted]

i have contact dermatitis because of my ferret.
I got him neutered today . i hope it will be better :/

[Deleted]

Neutering doesn't help unfortunately, at least in my experience. I am allergic to them too ( and about half of this world also, from pollen to mould, some food, some medicine), I'm on cetirizine 1-2/daily. I don't wash them unless absolutely necessary. If I don't take a pill for a day my face swells, I sneeze, eyes swell, neck mild swelling, red bubbles on skin... but with medicine it's manageable. I am just as bad with cats. Being in contact with them all the time kinda makes me.. survive around them. When I visit my mom who has a cat, after 5 min in the house I can't breathe anymore. However, I always lived with animals, even when I was a child, but I've been on allergy meds since (for other stuff as well, incl food). Keeping everything sparkling clean helps a bit, but that's about all. Hope you'll adjust to them a bit more with time (in my exp, it never goes away)

[Deleted]

Aug 4, 2015 7:14:34 GMT -5 @nymphalunaris said:

i have contact dermatitis because of my ferret.
I got him neutered today . i hope it will be better :/

Welcome to the HFF

If contact is the issue, maybe you could use gloves when handling him. Not ideal for snuggles though.
Also talk to your doctor or dermatologist.

We already knew my daughter was allergic to cats. We had read that ferrets were hypo allergenic, but as it turned out, my daughter was also allergic to ferrets. She is grown now and left the house, and I have five happily and no issues.
I have noticed that my eyes will itch, if it's towards the end of the week and bedding needs to be washed and the house needs vacuuming. Maybe it will help if you do that more than I do, like twice a week.
Over the counter allergy meds help me.