If you are highly allergic and very badly affected by allergy to animals and birds, you may have no alternative but total avoidance even if this
Using an allergy vacuum cleaner can make a real difference. Conventional cleaners blow dusts (including animal allergens) back into the room. Allergy vacuum cleaners have special filters and allow virtually no dusts back out. Using one over a period of time will also progressively remove allergens embedded in carpets, furniture and curtains.
Using an air filter can also be a help, although they will not be of benefit without other avoidance measures.
Try the avoidance measures described opposite first to see if they help in your home. If they do not improve things very much, do a rigorous cleaning programme to remove existing traces of animals and birds. Traces of allergens can adhere to carpets, flooring, even walls, even if the pet has not been in rooms for some time. Use an allergy vacuum cleaner, if you can borrow or buy one, and vacuum every surface that you can, including curtains, ceilings and walls. Wash anything movable or washable, and wash down surfaces and walls that are not. (Use low-allergen cleaning materials. Wash and air clothes, and vacuum and wash down cars or anything else the animal has used. If this still does not work, you may have, sadly, to get rid of your pet.
If you are tempted to replace your pet, remember that, if you are prone to animal allergy, you can often tolerate an individual animal or bird of the same species for a while, say months or even longer, and then become allergic to it. It is probably better not to replace a pet than to have to get rid of another one to which you have become attached. This can be particularly painful for young children.
If you are extremely sensitive to animals with whom you work, it may be difficult to continue your employment, and there is little constructive advice on avoidance.
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