In a quandary about our dog

[Fusterclucked]

We have a lovely dog, it’s 2 1/2 years old. My daughter has developed an allergy towards the dog. It started as a mild reaction but has steadily got worse. Her respiration is affected, coughing sneezing and wheezing. Her eyes are swollen and sore and she feels generally unwell all the time. My daughter is 16. She is taking medication which helps a bit but doesn’t alleviate it entirely. She spends most of her time in her room to stay away from the dog. We all really love the dog, including her. I feel like I need to rehome it, it’s not fair that my daughters health has to suffer. It would be tough to say goodbye to the dog but surely my daughters health comes first. Aibu and also wwyd?!

Rehome your daughter?

(joke, well unless she's a nightmare!!)

How old is your dog? What breed?

Does DD wash her hands after touching your dog? I'm ok as long as I wash my hands & don't rub my eyes.

any family & friends who might take the dog in??

There are injections which help massively. No need to rehome the poor kid.

😆 my daughter is lovely, as is the dog! She takes all the precautions that she can to avoid a reaction, washing etc, also avoids the dog as much as possible. It’s making her quite unwell - it’s a horrible situation for her and everyone as we all love the dog.

Have you tried washing the dog regularly with Petal Cleanse? It removes excess allergens from the dog. Steam cleaning the environment the dog is spending most of its time in as well as air purifiers in the areas DD spends most of her time in will also have a significant impact.

I am allergic to cats but the kids have a cat each. I manage with regular steam cleaning and air purifiers. I rub down the cat who has adopted me with a damp cloth dipped in petal cleanse each night. The other cat is feral and would sooner kill me than let me rub her with a damp cloth.

We wash the dog every week but I haven’t heard of petal cleanse, will google that now thanks.

I noticed the biggest difference after we got a decent air purifier for my room and the living room. The cats spend most of their time in the kid's rooms and on the stairs and I did experiment with putting the air purifiers there but they made the biggest difference staying in the rooms I spend the most time in.

The steam cleaning does have an impact. I can tell when it hasn't been done recently but I can also live without doing it.

My husband is allergic to our dog. He has to take antihistamines twice a day, an inhaler for allergy induced asthma and we wash the dog in petal cleanse frequently. We also have an air purifier that is on in the living room 24/7. Rehoming our dog was never an option that he considered.

A GP can prescribe Promethazine Hydrochloride, which keeps at bay my severe allergy around cats (that only developed 5 or so years ago).
Might be worth a shot?
X

Depending on how bad the allergy is. My cousin is severely allergic to almost anything under the sun and unfortunately it meant no pets until he moved out (to avoid risk of anaphylaxis). His younger brother has a much milder allergy and was happy to take antihistamines and suffer a few sniffles in order to have a dog. He did not suffer any lasting damage if that's any consolation but it does sound a bit sad and impractical for your daughter to be hiding in her room all the time because of the dog.

Petal Cleanse definitely works. A friend of ours who was severely allergic to cats now has three of them thanks to using it, with no problems at all. You can get it from https://allergyshop.co.uk/product/bio-life-petal-cleanse-dog/

Another vote for Petal Cleanse!

I am worried that she may develop asthma as it seems to be progressing even with taking antihistamines. As much as I love the dog, I definitely feel I need to prioritise my daughters health. She is spending all the time she is at home in her room.

I’d get an air purifier and a robot vacuum to keep on top of the pet hair between hoovers.
depending on the breed it might also be worth keeping and undercoat rake in your pocket and on walks just do a 30second brush to remove and loose hair.

is the counter over the counter or prescription? Might be worth checking in with the GP incase the medication could be more effective

Thanks all, I will take her to the gp to see if there’s any meds which will be better than what she is already taking as the next step before taking any big decisions - and buy petal cleanse

Have you spoken with the GP? Asked for advice on medication? Did these allergies start recently or have been there from the start?

She has always had a very mild allergy to the dog but recently it’s gotten way worse and she’s suffering. Eyes are so swollen, gp said antihistamines but that was a few weeks ago and it’s progressing. I am not sure I want my daughter to have to take heavy meds just to cope with a pet though. But I will look into it and take her back to GP and chat with them about options

A lot of people take medication for allergies without them causing complications or having side effects. Would think trying everything first is worth a go.

The progression will also be something I would be concerned about. I would have an epi pen at home just in case and yes, I would be inclined to rehome the dog or at least find it a temporary board with a relative until your daughter moves out (if she is planning to go to uni, for example)

Have the dog rehomed. If you don't, your daughter will always believe that the dog comes before her health. Somebody else will love the dog just as much as you do, and the dog won't even notice you're gone after a couple of weeks.

What breed is the dog? The fact that her allergy has recently gotten SO much worse, suggests that this may be a reaction to a change in coat for the dog coming into winter?

You mention washing the dog, but what about other grooming? Are they being brushed out regularly to remove any allergens brought in from outside?

This is a long shot, but it might be worth a consultation with Vince the Vet in case there are any remedies that reduce whatever it is the dog is giving off. I am not generally a believer in alternative medicine but I've had better results with Vince the Vet supplements for arthritis and skin complaints than with anything from my own vet. https://www.vincethevet.co.uk/solutions

This happened with a relative and their DS. In the end they sectioned part of the garage off and made a lovely home from home for the dog as best they could. Dog was only allowed in the house when DS wasnt there and only in certain rooms. He was a lovely dog and lived a good life until he passed away a couple of years ago. They got 2 new dogs which are cockapoos and they dont molt and dont cause any issues living in the house (They obviously checked there was no issues first).

Just want to point out that all dogs shed (the difference is some need frequent grooming & others drop it everywhere) & while some poodle crosses are more allergen friendly not all of them are by a long shot.

It can also depend on the poodle content in the mix- F1b, where a poodle is bred back to a poodle mix, are more likely to have a coat more likely to be like a poodle.

Actual breeds like poodles are usually a better choice for allergy sufferers.

How are you not in hibernation 😂

I have had OTC promethazine for hayfever short term when nothing else worked and even on half tablets I needed to sleep for 6 hours once it kicked in.

My daughter is in her exam years at school and is very stressed. I don’t think I should give her meds that could make her sleepy or dizzy