Recognizing and Dealing with Pet Bird Allergies

As with any other allergy, pet bird allergies may affect a person for years without not believing he or she is allergic to anything. Pet bird owners may even have had a beloved bird of one sort or another around the house ever since childhood, only to discover, after a time of high stress, that bird allergies are something that never bothered them before.

Not many people are allergic to parakeets, but when they are, they can experience discomforts that range from wheezing (this can be particularly dangerous if you already have asthma), itchy eyes, stuffy, runny nose, hives on exposed areas of legs and arms and even sleeplessness and fever. Canary allergies are no different from most pet bird allergies and there are several things to do to avoid symptoms.

These symptoms are caused by proteins in the dander that all animals produce. Every animal sheds skin cells. Ordinarily it flakes off and becomes part of the dust that settles in the corners of our rooms. We sweep it up and no one thinks any more of it until it’s time to sweep it up again – unless we are allergic to a parakeet or other pet bird. Then, having to live with the dust from that animal can become painful. Bird feathers add to this problem. There is no real way to clean all the dust and pollutants from other sources out of the feathers, and as they age, they flake, adding their proteins to the dust.

People who are allergic to birds of any kind generally have a difficult time with pillows, quilts and jackets that are filled with down feathers. Having these items thoroughly cleaned might help, but most people find they need to make sure hypoallergenic stuffing is used in all those items.

It also helps to have someone else clean the bird cage, whenever possible. Dust raised from dried fecal matter and dropped feathers can often set up an attack of sneezing and itchy eyes, and the best way to deal with this is to stay away from it as much as possible.

If you cannot have someone clean the cage for you, the next best thing could be to use disposable masks. May drug stores carry micro –pore masks that drastically cut down on the amount of dust that can reach your nose and mouth when you are doing those necessary chores that would ordinarily have you wheezing and sneezing.

Have your rooms thoroughly dusted and vacuumed once a week. Doctors who specialize in treating allergies are now saying that even vacuum cleaners raise dust, so that using one more than once a week could cause more problems than it solves. It is often worth while to invest in a vacuum cleaner that filters the air before shooting it back into the room.

And lastly, but perhaps most important, invest in a room air filter. Having at least one room in your home that is free of allergens is perhaps the most important allergy treatment anyone could have.

Many people find that the medications prescribed for allergies carry an array of side-effects that are nearly as difficult to live with as the allergy itself. But do have the patience to work with your doctor to find the combination of medications and other treatments that works best for you.