Pets quite often cause allergies, both in children and in adults. Hypersensitivity can occur both on animal meat and on the waste products of pets. Allergies to rabbits are already visible 48 hours after human contact with the animal. Consider in more detail the signs of allergy, diagnostic methods and methods for eliminating negative symptoms.
Main allergens
Hypersensitivity to the body can be caused by the following allergens:
- Rabbit saliva.
- Particles of skin (dandruff).
- Urine.
- Excrement.
- Wool.
- Feed.
- Animal care products.
Allergy to a decorative rabbit
There are frequent cases when parents give their child a rabbit of decorative breeds. Such pets are owners of long hair, which contains particles of skin secretion, causing severe allergic reactions. To avoid this, attention should be paid to smooth-haired animals.
If an adult or a child is already diagnosed with an allergy to wool, then keeping a decorative rabbit at home is quite dangerous for the allergic person's health. In this situation, the risk of developing cross-allergic reactions increases.
Allergic symptoms for rabbit meat
Hypersensitivity to serum protein and immunoglobulins that are contained in rabbit blood is accompanied by the following allergic reaction from the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system:
- the appearance of a strong feeling of nausea;
- flatulence and bloating;
- vomiting
- increase in general body temperature;
- headache.
If you find the above signs, you should immediately protect the patient's contact with the allergen. Otherwise, the well-being of an adult or child may deteriorate dramatically.
Symptoms of an allergy to rabbit waste products
A negative reaction of the body occurs not only to meat, but also to excretion of the skin or urine of the animal. In this situation, you can observe the following rabbit allergy symptoms:
- swelling of the mucous tissue of the larynx;
- angry cough;
- severe shortness of breath occurs;
- there is a lack of air;
- nasal congestion;
- instant redness of the skin;
- copious discharge from the nose.
If the patient also suffers from bronchial asthma, then with a hypersensitivity to the rabbit, asthma attacks may appear. In severe conditions, anaphylactic shock and Quincke edema develops.
Diagnostics
To prescribe an effective treatment, the allergist carries out an initial medical history, during which a genetic predisposition to the appearance of an allergy to a rabbit is determined. Please note that special attention is paid to collecting an anamnesis in a child. In this case, the severity of the symptoms depends on how exactly the allergy manifested itself in the parents.
To confirm the diagnosis, doctors prescribe the passage of laboratory tests in order to determine the irritant:
- general blood analysis;
- skin tests;
- specific immunoglobulin E test;
- determination of antibodies of immunoglobulins G and E.
An important element in the diagnosis of a patient with a rabbit allergy is elimination tests. Elimination is the removal of an allergen from the victim’s daily diet, that is, a diet.
Note! Could there be an allergy to a rabbit, only a qualified doctor finds out after studying the results of laboratory tests.
If the rabbit is already purchased
If the pet has already been bought, and the child in the family is hypersensitive, then parents should worry in advance about observing the following rules:
- The place where the rabbit lives must be constantly clean and dry.
- Contact of the child with the animal should be limited.
- During molting of a long-haired rabbit, comb it well.
- The pet should not sleep with children and adults who are allergic.
- It is advisable to keep the animal in a cage and only allow walks within certain boundaries only a few times a day (without contact with personal belongings of the allergic person and furniture).
Allergy to a rabbit in a child
Children are much more likely to seek contact with animals than adults. However, equipping the home of a pet in the child’s room, many parents do not even suspect how much trouble may arise due to such a whim of the baby. According to medical statistics, in children, allergic symptoms are much more severe and can develop into anaphylactic shock or Quincke's edema in a short period of time.
It is most difficult to recognize allergies in infants, since hyperemic skin rashes most often resemble infectious diseases. The rate of increase in symptoms in children is unpredictable. This means that even the slightest signs of allergy to a rabbit in a child should not be ignored, since at an early age this can lead to death.
It is important for parents to monitor the baby's reactions, how restless the child is, whether he refuses food. Often a sign of an allergy can be abundant discharge from the nose, which resembles the symptoms of SARS. However, after visiting a pediatrician and as a result of laboratory tests, it turns out that the child has an increased amount of antibodies in the blood, which is a provoking factor in the response of the immune system.
Rules for treating a disease
The effectiveness of therapy directly depends on a well-constructed algorithm for the treatment of allergies to rabbit meat and its products, namely:
- Minimize contact with irritant (with animal, food, care products).
- Wet the room.
- Adhere to the course of drug treatment.
- Increase immunity by taking vitamin complexes and a well-built diet.
- Further exclusion of contact with fur animals.
If an allergic person lives in a family, then doctors recommend regularly ventilating the premises, as well as monitor the permissible humidity level in the rooms.
Drug treatment
It is completely impossible to get rid of the disease, however, doctors recommend taking a course of drug therapy to alleviate the symptoms of rabbit allergy. At the first sign, doctors recommend:
- Second generation antihistamines that can block histamine production, while reducing the severity of allergy symptoms.
- In order to remove toxins from the body, the doctor prescribes the intake of enterosorbents, which can neutralize the negative effect of stimuli on the body.
- To increase immunity, immunopreparations are prescribed, which not only restore the body's natural defense, but also prevent ARVI.
- In severe conditions, corticosteroids may be prescribed.
Dosage, duration of treatment and type of drug should be selected only by a qualified doctor. Before taking the prescribed drugs, you should study in detail the side effects, among which there may be drowsiness and lethargy. In the process of treatment with such medicines, it is worth restricting trips by car directly behind the wheel.
Traditional medicine recipes
Traditional medicine will help alleviate the condition with allergies, namely:
- Baths based on a series of trifid, St. John's wort, sage, Valerian root and chamomile flowers will help eliminate skin rashes.
- Redness on the skin can be removed with the help of an infusion of dioica nettle leaves, a string, oregano, and licorice root.
- Tincture of valerian and hawthorn based on vodka will help strengthen weakened immunity.
- To stop itchy sensations, a mixture of propolis tincture with walnut infusion is used.
- To resist allergies to rabbits, an infusion of calendula flowers will help.
Before you apply a certain remedy of traditional medicine, you should consult your doctor. This will avoid cross-allergies or poor health.
Prevention
In order to prevent the development of acute allergic symptoms, the patient should be constantly monitored by an allergist. If a fur animal still lives in the room, it is necessary to regularly change the feed and wash the animal itself. The premises must be aired twice a day. If preventive measures are ineffective, then you should abandon keeping the rabbit at home.
Allergies to rabbits occur in humans at different ages and directly depend on how often the allergic person "communicated" with the animal. Do not self-medicate, which can only worsen the condition of an allergic person and lead to the development of intractable pathologies.