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Allergic to rabbits?

Kim_w

Mama Doe
I got my 2 girls in Aug and have been fine with them but I took on another rabbit last Thursday and I think I am allergic to her. I got red itchy eyes today after sitting in the garden with her and previously kept getting an itchy nose.

I have never known anybody be allergic to rabbits before. I have a friend with 4 cats and I walk into her house and my eyes swell up, itch and go really red- once I had to go home to take antihistamine. My MIL has 1 cat and I am fine at her house.

So my question is. Are any of you allergic to rabbits and if so are you ok with certain ones?

(I am not going to rehome her just curious)
 
It's possible to be allergic to one or two particular breeds.
It depends on their dander count (the dust that causes allergies). Rabbits like lion heads and angora tend to have a higher count, but each breed (and rabbit I believe) has a different type of dander.

Just keep dosed up on antihistamines :)

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My 2 babies are lion head crosses and I am fine with them. I have no idea what breed my new girl is but she isnt as fluffy as the others. Yes I will dose myself up :)
 
If you're allergic to cats it's quite likely you're allergic to other types of fur too. Some are worse than others, particularly if they're moulting. I used to be allergic so I'd wear a special jacket whenever I handled them and always washed my hands before touching my face. Allergy tablets, nasal sprays and eye drops may help. Over time my allergies got better, I had no rabbits for two years and when I got them again surprisingly my allergy had almost completely disappeared
 
She has been moulting so hopefully it won't be as bad soon.
She isn't going anywhere I was just curious as has never heard of anybody being allergic to rabbits before although I suppose cats are more common pets .
 
My niece had our two house rabbits in her room,then we discovered she had an allergy to to the hay not the buns!They ended up in my room..ahem!
 
You can be allergic to pretty much anything, often with rabbit allergies it is the hay that comes with the buns that is the problem but not always.

My nan is allergic to guinea pigs, it is an allergy that developed in middle age which is a shame as she loves piggies but can't cuddle them anymore!
 
She has been moulting so hopefully it won't be as bad soon.
She isn't going anywhere I was just curious as has never heard of anybody being allergic to rabbits before although I suppose cats are more common pets .


My friend is allergic to both rabbits and cats. He was allergic to his own cat until he got treated (the person, not the cat :D)
 
I started with an allergy to hay, although only some types, which made sense as when I was younger I was allergic to some grass getting rashes if bare skin touched it. I had lots of bunnies with no issues with their fur. Then a year after owning my current ones I developed an allergy to their fur but in particular Cookie. They are from the same litter but her fur feels slightly different. I can go through phases of it being really bad and being super sensitive to it, to being able to clean her out with no issue (although that is very rare!). It's weird! Sadly the allergies have spread and now I have reacted to cats and my sisters guinea pigs. The symptoms vary a bit with each of them. I went to my friends house and started to react, I couldn't even finish a full sentence as my chest was wheezing and making me cough so badly. Then I realised I'd been stroking her long haired cat. I never used to have a problem with cats at all and had met her cat in the past before I had my current bunnies with no issue!
 
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