# Bad times



## Yelena (Apr 25, 2010)

I was so excited when I got my boys and am trying very hard not to cry whilst typing this so please excuse me if I come across disjointed.

Unfortunately about 5 months ago me and my long term partner broke up and I moved out of our lovely little flat into a house share with a friend from work and his best mate.

For obvious smelly reasons (and my house mates have a cat) I keep my two boys Ari and Janco in my room.

I'm now pretty certain I am allergic to them. It started as sneezing and its go on to me getting a little rash on my arms when they play around. My room is very small and their cage is basically at the end of my bed as aposed to a huge different room to where I sleep like in the old flat.

To top it off I've thrown myself into work to try and cope with the break up and so they arent getting anywhere near enough attention and I just dont know what to do.

I love them both so much but am starting to think they should go to a new home but they are clocking on a little and I dont think anyone would want them because of their age.

Really really dont want them to go but... I just dont know what to do. I know ultimately it's my decision but could really do with some opinions here. I've never given an animal away, I've always been able to look after it but because they're making me ill they arent getting the attention they deserve and... I duno. Guess you guys know what sort of reassurance I'm after here.

Any experience or points of view would be greatly appreciated


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Well... It is well known that if you have them too close, especially when you sleep, there's a bigger chance you develop(?is that what it's called?) allergy. It may also be the... Oh my, words are failing me. The thing you put at the bottom of the cage. (What's it called?)

Anyway. The first thing I would do is to contact a doctor to make absolutely sure, though it does sound like you're right.
If you are allergic, I would recommend you find them a new home. I know it's tough, and I'm not sure I could do it myself, but your allergy can get much worse if you don't do anything about it. I don't know if your doctor could prescribe you anything, but I bet it's not cheap.

About the lack of attention, maybe you could find some kind of comfort in your pets instead of your job? I'm not saying you should neglect your job, but if you don't have to do all the work you're doing, you could convert some of the time into spending a little more time and energy on the mice.

If you do decide to keep them, try seeing if you can somehow rearrange your room, so the mice will be as far away from your bed as possible. It might help, it might not. I'm aware that you might not even be able to do that.

I don't know if this was of any help, but I hope you find whatever solution is best for all three of you, both you and your darling pets.


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## hyshqa (Feb 12, 2011)

Jathy said:


> Well... It is well known that if you have them too close, especially when you sleep, there's a bigger chance you develop(?is that what it's called?) allergy. It may also be the... Oh my, words are failing me. The thing you put at the bottom of the cage. (What's it called?)


Substrate 

I agree it could well be a substrate allergy come to light because of the smaller space and decreased area for dust molecules to disperse - i.e. because you have a smaller room you're going to be breathing in and coming into contact with particles from the substrate at a higher concentration. Before rehoming your meeces it would be worth changing their substrate and bedding. I'm allergic to sawdust and hay and would always end up in a sneezing fit with itchy skin whenever I cleaned the mice out but I've recently switched over from sawdust to auboise and actually had a clean out where I didn't get itchy or sneeze!  I'm also looking at changing over from hay to a paper based bedding if I can.

I know doctors can do allergy tests for things like cats and dogs, maybe it's worth asking if they do one for rodents just to be sure?


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

I feel really bad for you; I had to give all my rats up and it was mostly due to allergies. I had haboured a little dream of having a shed outside where I could breed a line of black hoodeds, but since being at the Enfield show (where there are rats being shown in the afternoons) I doubt I could even stand to feed them, let alone play with them. I love rats and won't be able to have them again, so I know how sad you must feel.

Trouble with allergies is that they just get worse and worse over time. Your health comes first sweetie, you wouldn't be the first to be forced to rehome pets for health reasons and you certainly won't be the last.

How old are your lads? If they have less than a year of expected life left you could try keeping them and taking anti-histamine tablets. I was using Morrison's own non-drowsy hayfever tablets towards the end of rat-keeping and they were extremely effective. You'd have to take one a day for the rest of your boys' lives, but you would find your discomfort greatly eased. It wouldn't work forever because the body gets used to them or something, but it would mean you could keep these boys.


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## Meeces89 (Jun 20, 2011)

try simple anti allergy medicine for hayfever it might help...

also as the others said, try swapping the substrate.. i recently swapped to carefresh and the small furries seem to love it (bed and main floor are now interchangeable depending on their mood)


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

If it's a matter of health, you are justified in doing whatever you need to do. Hope you don't have to get rid of your little buddies, though.

I keep a lotta lotta lotta mousies, and I cringe at the thought of developing an allergy to them.


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## jadeguppy (Jun 4, 2011)

Weould your room mates allow you to move the cage into another area if the smell wasn't as bad? I find adding some vanilla extract to the water helps a lot for cutting down the must smell of my boys. I also think the change of bedding idea is a good one. I had trouble handling meny brands of aspen that are sold locally, but find dr foster and smith to have a good one. I also mixin some equine pine pellets (resins are nerly all squished out during the pellet process) and alfalpha pellets with a handful of carefresh for extra bedding texture.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

hyshqa said:


> Jathy said:
> 
> 
> > Well... It is well known that if you have them too close, especially when you sleep, there's a bigger chance you develop(?is that what it's called?) allergy. It may also be the... Oh my, words are failing me. The thing you put at the bottom of the cage. (What's it called?)
> ...


Thank you! And bedding is hay or whatever else they use for building nests/homes? (Sorry for getting a bit off topic with my questions...)


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## Galaxy (May 25, 2011)

I was extremely allergic to my cat but didn't rehome because of it. It was because he viciously attacked my baby round his eyes for no reason. (Max still has the scar under one eye.) I am allergic to everything: dust, pollen, animal fur, different foods (really, really annoying) so I have to take allergy tablets every day. I have to wash my hands and arms every time I touch my mice so I don't develop an allergy. (the chemist makes a fortune out of me with hand moisturisers!) If you think it may be the wood shavings or whatever you use you could try putting a little bit on your arm, then if no reaction try the bedding. If you really don't want to give up these mice then try and isolate the problem with these tests. Also have you considered putting their cage up on a shelf or something?


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## hyshqa (Feb 12, 2011)

Jathy said:


> hyshqa said:
> 
> 
> > Jathy said:
> ...


That is correct


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## Yelena (Apr 25, 2010)

Thank you guys so much for your suport.

I'm going to look into new bedding and double check with my dr that its them though Im pretty sure it is.

I cant keep them else where in the house due to the cats. I did think for a while maybe I'm allergic to the cats but then my mother has fostered and owned cats since I was a baby so I would expect I would have noticed it by now.

I'll look into Substrate for sure. I really dont want my boys to go. They literally got me through the hardest thing I've ever dealt with by doing nothing more than poop in my hand so any ideas are more than welcome!!!

My room is literally tiny. My book collection now lives under my bed to give you an idea  am even thinking of getting a Kindle to help on that part lol!


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## Galaxy (May 25, 2011)

Yelena, my daughter's cat that we have now I can rub her all over my face (if I felt like it - but actually I don't) and I wouldn't have an allergy attack however my cat the one I had to rehome I was so VERY allergic to him. I spoke to the vet about it & its their dander (dandruff to me and you) that causes allergies. So just because you've had cats all your life (same as me) doesn't mean you aren't allergic to them. I hope I made this clear!  How about a fan? So that their smell is blowing away from you but it doesn't make them ill cos of the draught.


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## NuttySian (Sep 1, 2010)

How about an air purifier? My room isn't tiny as such but it's packed so I found a nice small one, it's about 12" high and only 2" or so the other ways so fits in nicely and it has helped me.

I also take some homoeopathic tablets that just melt on the tongue and they've been a big help too.


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## Galaxy (May 25, 2011)

Thats a good idea, Sian about the air purifier. Also just thought if you can get your hands on some pure charcoal biscuits they also help bucks to not smell as much and is good for them too!


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## ccoryjohnn (Jul 2, 2010)

You can develop allergies over time also, just because you're mom has had cats around you doesn't mean you're not allergic to them now!


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