Pets are so very important to so many people that we are often willing to deal with allergies to them in order to keep them in our family life and feel the joys of being a pet owner. If your pet allergies are not life threatening, there’s no reason you cannot try to live around them. Mighty Maids of Durham and Chapel Hill feels pets are so important that we also work with our clients to be sure there’s less stress for all when completing our house cleaning services, and so in honor of our beloved pets, we also want to help you with some tips for taming the allergies to cats and dogs in your home.
Find Out The What And Whys Of Your Allergies
This is going to be key to treating your home and yourself for pet allergies. You can book an appointment with a local allergist who will test you for exactly what you’re allergic to. It could be just pet dander, plus long and/or short hair, or there may be dust mite allergies and seasonal allergies to trees and other blooming vegetation that make your symptoms worse.
The answers to these questions might impact the breed or type of pet you adopt, whether to keep cats exclusively indoors, where to walk your dogs, how often to bathe pets, what other allergies you need to treat, and possibly much more.
Allergy Medications And Other Medical Treatments
Your allergist can also lead you towards the correct medication you will take regularly to fight allergy symptoms. Controlling allergy symptoms will be key to easing your distress, keeping your immune system working well, and making sure your pets remain a joy and not a source of health stress.
Allergy medication can be prescribed by your doctor or bought over the counter, depending on the severity or the allergies, what’s working for you, and if your insurance covers it. Likewise, you may choose to be treated by the allergist with a series of allergen-specific shots that essentially build up your resistance and possibly cure your allergy altogether. Wouldn’t that be nice!
Pet Free Rooms
While some pets may resist your disappearance into a pet-free zone, or want to sleep with you at night, you may need to make a choice to keep them out of some rooms so you have a dander free place to retreat when your allergy symptoms are too heavy. And since we love to sleep with our pets, but we spend so much time in our beds, the bedroom may need to become pet free.
One other alternative is to choose bedding that’s easily washed more regularly or easy to remove at night. Choose a comforter that doesn’t need to be dry-cleaned, but instead can be put in the washer. Or since it’s a great idea to fully make your bed during the day in case your pets like to lay on it, you could choose any comforter you like, but remove it before sleeping and use easier to wash bedding at night. Also, wash your sheets and pillowcases regularly, and use window treatments (in all rooms) that are easy to keep dust, dander, and hair-free.
A Clean Pet Is A Happy Human
Talk to your veterinarian about your specific pet’s hygiene needs and how often you’re allowed to wash them. Or go online and do your research before bringing a certain type or breed home because some are more allergen free than others or require specific grooming and hygiene needs. If getting a young kitten, you can often get them used to baths early on so they don’t resist later as adults. There are wipes you can use in between cleanings that are specific to pets, or you can even just use a wet towel or baby wipe. You may choose the breed of your pet based on the ease of shorter hair for wiping them clean in between baths.
Air Purifiers For Pet Allergies
Air cleaners are absolutely essential to treating pet allergies at home. You can go online and research the various types, prices, and brands of air purifiers, see what kinds of things they filter out (like pet dust, pet dander, and microbes), how big of an area they treat, and get honest reviews from others who’ve used them. If you do your research, you won’t be sorry. Air purifiers for pet allergies are just as effective as some medications for treating your allergies to cats or dogs.
Furniture And Flooring Choices
You should consider having flooring that’s not carpet so you don’t get a build-up of pet dander, and use washable floor rugs or runners instead of large area rugs. Otherwise, a regular steam cleaning by a professional can help. For furniture, you might consider real or faux leather chairs and sofas instead of fabric upholstered furniture that collect dust and dander.
A vacuum with a HEPA filter is a wise investment and again you can research them online. The filter ensures pet allergens and dust that gets sucked up into the vacuum will not escape the bag or canister and be re-spread around the house. Also, you’ll need to keep their pet beds washed regularly, litter boxes wiped clean, and you might forgo pet furniture because a cat tree isn’t something you can put in the washing machine.
How We Can Help
With our Mighty Maids services you can have your home professionally cleaned and deep cleaned on the schedule you prefer to keep your home from piling up with pet dander, pet hair, and dust. Be it weekly, twice per month, or monthly, it’s your choice. Or we’ll even come just one time to get you started if you feel you can keep up with it on your own after that. We’re here to make it easier on you! So if you have pet allergies and live in the Durham and Chapel Hill area and would like to have your home professionally cleaned, we are an award-winning maid service ready to help you. Get our free quote today!
