Allergy to dog and/or dog saliva

[human bean]

I've been tossing up if I should post this in the pet section or here.....

DD is 9 months old, and it seems whenever our dog licks her, she breaks out in huge red welts, is very uncomfortable, and we need to bath her immediately to calm down the inflammation. Within an hour of the bath it will be gone and she's fine again, just a wet washer doesn't help at all. Think the cetaphil must neutralise it?

Now don't get me wrong, we don't let our dog just lick her whenever it wants to, but the odd licks do get through, and her reactions are getting worse and worse. I'm at the point where unless I can sit right there between them (which I can't always do), I have to keep the dog outside. I'm teaching the dog not to lick but she is such a friendly dog that she'll just try to give her a big lick as she walks past DD, or even through the screen door.

I have also noticed that if the dog is inside, DD rubs her nose alot, and even sneezes a bit more. Has anyone else encountered this either themselves or with their LO? Is it something she's likely to grow out of? The dog's diet hasn't changed at all, and DD has no know allergies and has tried pretty much everything.

I'm going to mention it to our GP on our next visit, just curious if anyone else has come across this?

[CeCe]

In my experience with my DH and his allergy to dogs amongst other things, it's not something you grow out of. He was always a 'sick' child with lots of colds, runny noses etc. It wasn't until we got a dog that he started getting reactions again and investigated to find out he was allergic to dogs, cats, horses and dust mite. This explained his childhood illness to him as there were always cats inside, the odd dog outside etc.

He went to a specialist for treatment with the dust mite allergy but the specialisst advice regarding the dogs was it couldn't be treated and suggested we get rid of the dogs. There are times when DH only has to walk into a house with a cat and he'll get tight in the chest, a dog just has to brush his arm or leg and he'll come up in what looks like lots of mozzie bites.

This isn't the news you probably wanted to hear but it's our experience. It would be nice to think someone has a more positive one for you.

[Amy_jellybean]

Hi there,

I have the same thing DH and I have a dog but as soon as I have patted the dog, been licked by the dog or the dog has rubbed up against my legs I need to go and have a shower Its something I have had since I was little and have never gotten out of, unfortunatley the only way I can avoid it is to limit my contact with our pooch

[human bean]

Thanks for the replies, I will admit it's not really what I want to hear, but I have to face it front on. I've been skirting round it for awhile in hopes it might stop happening, but it's actually getting worse. DH and I were talking last night and a big worry for us is if the dog happens to lick her hand and she puts it in her mouth, what could happen (she's a big thumb sucker). She adores our mutt too!

For now I will keep them seperated unless I am right there, and will talk to my GP about how best to manage it and see how we go. Rehoming our girl would be the very last option, and one that would break my heart, but she also deserves more than just to be left outside for the majority of the time, or kept seperate from her 'pack'.

[Amy_jellybean]

Oh you poor thing!

Maybe speak to the doctor about a mild case of antihistamine for her???

[human bean]

That's what I was thinking, thanks Amy. And here I was thinking how lucky we've been she doesn't have any 'allergies'. Would much rather cut out egg or nuts then time with the wonder mutt

[BlackCat]

Hey there, how did you go with this? We've gone through this for a while and no good news here either, we did have to rehome our dog, after speaking with our allergist/immunologist it was the best decision for everyone.

[human bean]

We're still monitoring it, but it's not getting any better to be honest. We're just organising a week holiday for the dog with family, to see how DD goes in the week there is no dog around. Going to have a really big clean at the start of the week and see how her health is without any triggers around. It will give us a better idea of just what could be triggering it too. The dog is pretty much outside all of the time now though, which (we feel) is really unfair on her, and I can tell she's saddened by it I'm out there alot with her when I can, and still walking everyday, but have to change my clothes as soon as I come inside or DD starts sneezing and rubbing her eyes.

We were thinking of seeing a naturapath, for both the dog and bub, treat it at both sides. It's really hard, DH just flat out wants to rehome her, and I can see where he's coming from, but my heart just doesn't want to give up that easily. But then it is DD's health and comfort too..... it's so hard.

Thanks for checking on us, I can just imagine how hard a decision it was for you too.

[Amy_jellybean]

Hi Human Bean,

Im just popping in to see how you are going. Will keep an eye on this thread. Im dreading the same thing is going to happen when we have a bub given that my allergies are getting worse with our pooch

[BlackCat]

Is it just localised to the saliva or does she react to fur also?

Make sure you try to get rid off all the dust that may be hanging around and carrying particles from the dog, otherwise she may still have a slight reaction to her environment.

Good luck, I hope it all turns out okay for you guys.

[human bean]

Thanks Amy, it's strange, no one in either of our families have allergies to dogs (MIL to cats though) so I'm not sure why DD seems to? And I'm puzzled why it seems to have taken so long to become so apparent, but then she was pretty stationary for about 6 months and not as 'exposed' I guess. IOW I guess it's hard to predict isn't it?

Black Cat at first I thought it was just saliva, but she seems to be reacting to the fur and touch now too. Saliva causes big red welts within 10/15 seconds and she is really itchy and pained with them, and now it's taking longer and longer to calm down. The other day she was at the back screen door and the dog licked the screen and her hands came up all red and splotchy and itchy straight away.

Even though she's a short haired dog, she drops alot of hair, and we were just letting her in at night after DD had gone to bed, and I'd do a quick vacuum in the morning, but DD still gets really sneezy and seems to itch if she's near where the dog bed was, unless I mop too. And if I've been patting her then hold DD without changing she starts to sneeze continuosly too.

I am doing a super intense clean tomorrow in hopes of removing any dog traces, and will see how DD goes for the week. I'm fairly certain she's going to feel the best she has in awhile

[BlackCat]

How did you go?

[CeCe]

Yes, how is it going? From what I remember it's the proteins secreted in the animals skin that causes the allergic reaction so even though you do vacuum it's possible the allergens are still on anything the dog has touched.

DH was fine for the first 4-6 months with our dog but we went away, put him in a kennel for a few days and when we picked him up DH sneezed all the way home and that was the start of it (again) for DH. I always wanted our dog to be part of the family, ie spend time inside with us, but that became impossible. It was so devestating as I loved my dog.