Reduce Pet Allergens in the Home

We all love our pets ... even when they cause us to sneeze, cough and our eyes water. Many people are faced with the choice of finding a new home for their pets in order to alleviate their symptoms, but according to an article I found at Health.com, there are a few other options as well.

Before I share their top tips for reducing allergic reactions, let's think about what is really causing the reaction. Many people think that their pet's fur is causing the problem, but really the problem stems from a combination of that hair and their dead skin cells called dander. For very sensitive people this dander can trigger asthma attacks and other allergic reactions.

Now to the list. Health.com mentions seven ways to reduce symptoms, but we'll be adding our own tip as well. So here goes:

1. Restricting contact with the pet by creating an outside living space for the animal. If that is not an option because of the climate, at least restrict the animal's access in the house by barring it from sleeping in bedrooms with the person with allergies and not giving it full access to the home.
2. Keeping pets off of carpets, upholstery and other fabrics that the animal comes in contact with will help with the dander problem.  Removing carpeting from the rooms that are frequented by your pets is also an option.
3. Dusting as often as possible will keep dander (as well as dust mites) down to a minimum.
4. If you have forced-air heating and air conditioning in your home closing the registers  can help to stop pet dander from circulating throughout the house. If that is not practical you can try purchasing a HEPA air cleaner.
5. Bathe your pet regularly to reduce dander.
6. Keep animal cages clean by sprucing them up at least once each week.

And here are a few tips of our own:

1. Treat yourself to HOST dry carpet cleaning. Our system removes 78% of dust mites, 75% of dust mite allergens, mold spores (85%) and cat allergen by 85%!
2. Let us clean your upholstery. We use the Von Schrader Upholstery Extractor which allows us to clean:

• Sofas
• Chairs
• Mattress
• Office Chairs
• Cubical Dividers and much more

Source: Health.com - How to Reduce Pet Allergens at Home - http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20307037,00.html