oh what to do.

[balto]

Oh i'm stuck, i know what i have to do its just being strong enough to do it, so i thought i would come on here with this and see what if any advice you could give. ok here goes, right i have 4 cats and a dog, i love them all to bits, but my baby who is 9 months has delveloped exema and it seems like it is turning into asthma aswell as he is struggling at time with his breathing and have these really bad coughing fits and struggling to breath, he also gets red puffy eyes, so this is leading us to believe that mayby he is allergic to the animals, since he is crawling the doctor reckons it could have just surfaced as he is nearer the ground and the pet hair, so now the decision we have to make is when and how we get rid of the pets, as anyone who knows me knows my animals are everything to me and i will be heart broken when it happens, i just wish there was a way ound it, but i know jayden comes 1st and he will just get worse if i wait much longer, going to take him to his own doctor tomorrow and see what she say, im hoping that they got it wrong, i know that may sound bad but i love my pets. so im needing some advice please. thankyou xx

[dragonfly]

hi balto that is a difficult situation for you to be in! is there anyway you can keep the cats/dog out of the room(s) Jayden is crawling around in?

maybe have the carpet professionally cleaned if you can keep them out and then you'll know its safe for him to roam around on and hoover more in other rooms etc

[horsegirl]

You are in a really hard position. I really feel sorry for you. As i love my animals as much as my children i would hate to be in this position.

There are lots of lovely people out there who would take great care of your animals for you and love them as much as you do.

I am just sorry that i can not help you but my house is full of animals already.

Good luck to you all and i hope your little one will be ok. Keep us up yo date please x

[kriklah]

dont be too hasty rehoming, be sure its asthma before making any decisions. i too have a dog and 4 cats (actually 5 but one rarely comes in) as well as an asortment of rodents. my youngest is 18 months now, he developed excema at around 4 months, a nasty patch that is stubbonly hanging on the back of his knee, freqently bleeding and several times infected. weve thrown antibiotics, steriods, even thrush cream at it, but it just stays and worsens again after the antis. he has also had a cough since the begining of the year. this is a nasty cough that turns into a choking fit, (id heard from a nurse this cough was doing the rounds of thurso, lasting about 6 weeks in each case) again with the antibiotics when it settled into his chest. we even tried the blue inhaler, but no difference. the cough eventually went last month, however this evening it seems to have started up again. while im prepared to accept if it developes into asthma, it doesnt apear to be pet aggravated. as suggested above, limit the animals access around the house, and hoover like theres no tomorrow!! (dysons are really good on pet hair)

obviously you love your pets so im sure youll make the decision with care, but at least try to work round it for now.

[KEEP_ON_TRUCKIN]

can you maybe put your lovely animals to a foster home for a fixed period to find out if it is in fact them that's affecting your son >??

My wee bro had terrible exema and athsma as a child - a lot of food related issues in there.... we had a cat and a dog growing up and my dads a GP - not that that matters but we still had the animals....worth exploring all options.

[GruesomeTwosome]

So sorry to hear about your situation. I have had eczema since I was about 3 years old (now 28) and found it never to be pet related. I have a touch of asthma which is affected if I am near a cat BUT I am allergic to cats. Wait and see what your doctor says and in the mean time try what the others have suggested.

The only thing I thought to add was have you a wooden/laminate floor in the bairns main crawling areas, ie sitting room? That could be an idea and could help as they just need a sweep and a mop and they are clean.

[BINBOB]

Ihave asthma/sometimes eczema[ very mild].Developed it in my thirties...........always had pets ,tested non allergic to them.
Pollen/dust mites /cig.smoke are my problems.

Really hope u find a solution .............

[cuddlepop]

It just might not be your animals,exhaust all possibilities first.

am I right and thinking you've just built your house? it could be something there that hasnt "evaporated".
Paint,carpets,washing powder go through all the culprits and eliminate them.
Can you get your carpets deep cleaned and someone take your pets for a few days to see if your wee one still reacts this way.

We thought I was allergic to our dogs but thankfully I'm not it s a dust allergy which triggers my immune system:(.

[teenybash]

Every suggestion is spot on and well worth trying..............excema and asthma need not be pet related.............common culprits with excema are food, ie, lactose and soap pwders, conditioners...............

Everything will be crossed for getting to the root cause and discovering it is not your pets and something simple that can be sorted and the wee one free and clear, bouncy and happy. :)

[balto]

thankyou everyone, well the doctor has said it was an allergic reation and she gave him medicine for when it happens again, but she wont rule out asthma just yet, if he is still bad even with this medicine then he will have to start on inhalers, and will also have to go to raigmore for allergy test, so the pets have a reprieve. the reason they think it could be the pets is because he has just started crawling and is on the floor, if it is the pets it will be new carpets, as the dust pets give of when cleaning will stay in carpets even with loads of hoovering which with having 4 kids i do at least 4 times a day.

[Liz]

I would agree with what the others said in that it may not be pet related although all to often the medical profession put the 'blame' on them.

I have had asthma most of my life but have always had pets and they've never been the problem. Having said that I do 'react' to animals with really coarse hair.
I am affected by strong smells ie perfume and paint. Also dust, pollen, certain weather conditions and even stress. I can't tolerate dairy products either.

There are an awful lot of household products which can aggravate asthma,allergies and eczema. From air fresheners,washing powder to polish.
The biggest problem however are dust mites and this may be why your wee one is so bad when crawling on the carpet?

I would recommend that you use a steam cleaner regularly on all fabrics and throw away all irritants such a plug in air fresheners.

It can be a nightmare trying to pinpoint the exact cause as there may be more than one but,hopefully, it won't be your beloved pets.

It is also worth exploring complementary therapies as these can often prove helpful.

Good luck Balto!:D

[Liz]

PS Instead of changing your carpets why not change to vinyl flooring or rhinofloor as dust mites can't live in this?

[Allsorts]

My son has acute asthma etc and we thought our dog would have to go too but he got allergy testing done and was fine with pets. I do however hover every day just to keep the pet hair at a minimum.

Good luck its hard going hearing a wee one coughing etc

[cuddlepop]

PS Instead of changing your carpets why not change to vinyl flooring or rhinofloor as dust mites can't live in this?

We are debating as to weather we replace our living room carpet with a new one or put down laminate.
Whats rhino flooring?
Do the dogs manage to walk on the laminate?Oh said as the dogs get older they'll fine it difficult.:(

[BINBOB]

We are debating as to weather we replace our living room carpet with a new one or put down laminate.
Whats rhino flooring?
Do the dogs manage to walk on the laminate?Oh said as the dogs get older they'll fine it difficult.:(

When we changed from carpets to laminate,the dogs did find it difficult,but very quickly adapted.Now after 6 years of laminate ,it has been ok.I did worry about them slipping andb getting injured,but touch wood........they are fine.;)

[Liz]

We are debating as to weather we replace our living room carpet with a new one or put down laminate.
Whats rhino flooring?
Do the dogs manage to walk on the laminate?Oh said as the dogs get older they'll fine it difficult.:(

We were going to get laminate flooring but were worried that Benjy and the cats would slide on this.
So that's why we got Rhinofloor. It's vinyl but much more hard wearing than the usual kind and doesnt mark the same.Also, doesn't have the same awful smell when it is first laid.
It is a good bit more expensive but lasts much longer.

We have it in the kitchen at the moment but are going to put it through all the house as and when finances allow.

[Liz]

Here you go Cuddlepop. http://www.rhinofloor.co.uk/resflreu/eu1/rhinofloors/uk/gb/

[cuddlepop]

Here you go Cuddlepop. http://www.rhinofloor.co.uk/resflreu/eu1/rhinofloors/uk/gb/


Thanks Liz,better get saving.:lol:

[Liz]

Thanks Liz,better get saving.:lol:

I know!:confused It does last a lot longer though and doesn't 'lurk' like some cheaper vinyls can.

However, you can get some nice vinyls which are cheaper so may be worth a look.

[Vistravi]

We are debating as to weather we replace our living room carpet with a new one or put down laminate.
Whats rhino flooring?
Do the dogs manage to walk on the laminate?Oh said as the dogs get older they'll fine it difficult.


When we changed from carpets to laminate,the dogs did find it difficult,but very quickly adapted.Now after 6 years of laminate ,it has been ok.I did worry about them slipping andb getting injured,but touch wood........they are fine.


We were going to get laminate flooring but were worried that Benjy and the cats would slide on this.
So that's why we got Rhinofloor. It's vinyl but much more hard wearing than the usual kind and doesnt mark the same.Also, doesn't have the same awful smell when it is first laid.
It is a good bit more expensive but lasts much longer.

We have it in the kitchen at the moment but are going to put it through all the house as and when finances allow.


When we moved to the flat we are in now in ness the cats used to slid so much on the laminated flooring. it was hilirious to watch them. they would chase each other and realise too late their mistake to try to run and would end up crashing into something. :lol: They soon learnt how to walk and run on it though;)

[Vistravi]

Oh i'm stuck, i know what i have to do its just being strong enough to do it, so i thought i would come on here with this and see what if any advice you could give. ok here goes, right i have 4 cats and a dog, i love them all to bits, but my baby who is 9 months has delveloped exema and it seems like it is turning into asthma aswell as he is struggling at time with his breathing and have these really bad coughing fits and struggling to breath, he also gets red puffy eyes, so this is leading us to believe that mayby he is allergic to the animals, since he is crawling the doctor reckons it could have just surfaced as he is nearer the ground and the pet hair, so now the decision we have to make is when and how we get rid of the pets, as anyone who knows me knows my animals are everything to me and i will be heart broken when it happens, i just wish there was a way ound it, but i know jayden comes 1st and he will just get worse if i wait much longer, going to take him to his own doctor tomorrow and see what she say, im hoping that they got it wrong, i know that may sound bad but i love my pets. so im needing some advice please. thankyou xx

Get the docs to do an allergy test on your pets, chase them poke them whatever it takes! You may only have to rehome one pet you never know.
I agree with the other posters though about dust mites causing Jayden's asthma. Docs will honestly say anything to justify them being in their jobs.

[Margaret M.]

We are debating as to weather we replace our living room carpet with a new one or put down laminate.
Whats rhino flooring?
Do the dogs manage to walk on the laminate?Oh said as the dogs get older they'll fine it difficult.:(

I have hardwood floors and the dogs never had a problem until recently -- now the older dog is finding them very difficult to walk on.

[singysmum]

Sorry to hear about your little ones problems balto. When my son was 9 months old he developed asthma and excema and a wise lady I knew recommended that I give him Goats milk to drink. I did this and in fact, as we lived on a smallholding and I boarded dogs, I was able to buy a couple of goats to keep us supplied. The excema started clearing up almost immediately and never needed creams or anything to treat it. The asthma wasn't so easy to control but we did have a lot of dogs and cats and that didn't seem to be the cause. When the son grew up he would never knowingly drink the goats milk, but by then it had had the desired effect and his skin has been fine since. As he is now 41 years old this seems to have been a successful result. I'm not suggesting you buy a goat but maybe you could try buying some milk from Tesco or the Co-op. Good luck to you and I really hope you don''t have to give your animals up.