Does housing rabbits outside help a lot with rabbit allergies?

Hello everyone!

I really want to get a pair of bunnies. The problem is that I know I am at least somewhat allergic because I am allergic to most animals with fur and I had a pretty bad reaction when I stuffed my face into a bunny ten years ago. I don't think I could keep a rabbit indoors with all the trapped dander, but I think outside could potentially work for me. I know I would not be able to stuff my face into it still, but as long as I could care for them and give them pets, I would be really happy because I absolutely love bunnies. I have been trying to meet with some bunnies to test my allergies, but it has been impossible for months in my country with the lockdowns.

I would love to hear everyone's experience with having rabbit allergies and keeping them outside. Does it help with your allergies a lot or do you still struggle a lot?

Thanks

You said you had a bad reaction, so I would not recommend getting a rabbit until you consult with a doctor and get an allergy test for rabbits. I have allergies to many animals, though not rabbits, and would not chance having another bad reaction.

bunny momma said:

You said you had a bad reaction, so I would not recommend getting a rabbit until you consult with a doctor and get an allergy test for rabbits. I have allergies to many animals, though not rabbits, and would not chance having another bad reaction.

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I won't get bunnies until I can sit with one for a while to see how I react. I haven't been in contact with a rabbit in over 10 years and my allergies have changed (for better and worse) since then. I'm not going to abandon the idea of having bunnies yet until I try, but if my allergies don't allow it there is nothing I can do. I am pretty allergic to guinea pigs and will have a bad reaction if I stuff my face into one as well. I have been keeping them for 10 years with very few problems because I know my limits.

h.h.lovecraft said:

I won't get bunnies until I can sit with one for a while to see how I react. I haven't been in contact with a rabbit in over 10 years and my allergies have changed (for better and worse) since then. I'm not going to abandon the idea of having bunnies yet until I try, but if my allergies don't allow it there is nothing I can do. I am pretty allergic to guinea pigs and will have a bad reaction if I stuff my face into one as well. I have been keeping them for 10 years with very few problems because I know my limits.

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The scary part is allergies do change, though I am not sure what type of bad reaction you had from rabbits.
There are so many types of rabbits and some require a lot of grooming.
You are smart to wait until you can determine your limits.
I believe many pets purchased during lockdown will be surrendered when children and adults resume pre covid activities.
Perhaps you will be able to give a pair a good home.

Are there any rescues that have rabbits near you? Maybe you could volunteer to help, and it would give you a chance to see how you are with them. Obviously if you’ve had severe reaction in the past I would take medical advice on this first.

It helps, but it's still pretty bad: cleaning them out I get really congested after 15mins if it's also hayfever season (all my allergies like to work together :roll and I can't spend more than 45mins at a time with them inside (i.e. in their playhouse) without the same happening whatever time of year it is. I don't stuff my face into them but sometimes we noseboop I can still have really bad cold symptoms, from lots of mucus to fullblown chills, up to a couple of hours after a really bad episode. Usually it's becasue the fluff has gone up my nose, otherwise it's fine. But sometimes I come in a sneezing, mucusy wreck :lol:

Oh wow, have you found a good medicine or anti histamine to help you deal with your allergies? A lot of your symptoms are similar to mine when I'm around certain animals for too long, but I've never really taken anything for them. I will take something for my hay fever in spring although it doesn't seem to help much lol. I am willing to suffer a bit if that means being able to have bunnies so I am thinking an outside/anti histamine combo might be enough if I am very allergic in the worst case. I haven't found many stories where the bunny owner is very allergic and still keeping them so your response is very helpful!

Awww, I hope it turns out you're not so allergic or fine with them after all. We should send you envelopes of bunny fur :lol: Its good to hear of people who are just in it to provide bunnies with nice homes & watch them do their thing. Obviously you still need to cope with being close & handle enough so you know you can do it if you need to. Working at or even visiting a rescue sounds a great idea..when you can

I am allergic to the rabbits and more so their hay and bedding, but I do ok with them outside. Mine don't really do cuddling very well due to their size, so as long as I wash my hands and blow my nose when I come in and remember not to rub my eyes I can cope fine. Depends what you are willing to putup with really - I'm allergic to all my animals, but couldn't live without them. The only one I really can't have is a cat, just far too intolerable.

h.h.lovecraft said:

Oh wow, have you found a good medicine or anti histamine to help you deal with your allergies? A lot of your symptoms are similar to mine when I'm around certain animals for too long, but I've never really taken anything for them. I will take something for my hay fever in spring although it doesn't seem to help much lol. I am willing to suffer a bit if that means being able to have bunnies so I am thinking an outside/anti histamine combo might be enough if I am very allergic in the worst case. I haven't found many stories where the bunny owner is very allergic and still keeping them so your response is very helpful!

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I'm on basic one-a-day 10mg cetirizine, the dirt cheap tablets, and this is the first year I've been on the the whole year. My eyes start itching if I stop! I had to supplement with eyedrops in April because the weather was so nice the birch pollen went mental (my worst allergen). TBH my hayfever's gotten worse over the years :lol: Or I've just become less tolerant of it! My hands are always in my eyes etc. anyway which is no help XD They definitely help, my biggest symptom is itchy throat/mouth/ears (oral allergy syndrome symptoms) and that used to happen ocasionally with the bunnies but on the tablets, nothing except when it was bad in April and then it could've been the birch tree in our garden TBH, I never correlated anything! I have a pretty high tolerance for symptoms generally but OMG the itchiness I really don't. It's horrible. I've never had it with cats or bunnies but then I only started getting the itchiness symptoms when I was about 15, after our family bunny died (causation! :lol and I've never spent that much time with my face near cats since I discovered I was allergic-ish when I was, erm, 8 or so. I'm alright in the Kitty Cafe we've got for about 2hrs though if that helps!