How to Move in With Someone Allergic to Your Pet

Moving in with someone who’s allergic to your pet is a tricky situation. The person you’re moving in with may not have an issue with your pet and is willing to put up with allergies. Or the person moving in with you knows that the pet is part of the living arrangement. In either situation, his or her allergy has the potential to become an issue. You need to find ways to deal with the situation as giving up the pet is not an option, but you don’t want to punish your new roommate or romantic partner, either. Following are tips to help you find solutions to allergy issues.

Allergy Medications

Image via Flickr by Vladimir Pustovit

This requires cooperation on the part of the person that’s allergic, but if his or she is allergic to pets, it’s a good bet that person have other allergies as well. Your roommate or partner may already be on allergy medications to help with reactions, but if not, you can help him or her find relief. Because the pet was voluntarily brought into the home and accepted, you can help by reaching out with financial assistance. Offer to help pay for medication or even allergy shots if that’s an option. Some people build up a tolerance to pet allergens on their own while others won’t. It never hurts to offer help in these situations.

Keep the Air Clean

Pet dander is just like dandruff. Light and flaky, it floats through the air, landing anywhere and everywhere the pet sits or lies down. This means your new live-in companion gets exposed to dander no matter where he or she goes in the house. Since dander is airborne, you can use an air purifier to help lower the levels in the air. Free-standing HEPA air filters work to clear one or two rooms at a time. If you have an HVAC system, keep the filter changed regularly and maybe use a whole house air filter instead of small ones.

Clean Everything Regularly

Vacuum the carpet, sweep the floors, wash the curtains, and clean everything that can go into the washing machine on a regular basis. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s one of the best methods of keeping dander down to a minimum. When vacuuming, make sure to get into nooks and crannies you might normally do another time. Get everything up off the floor whenever you have the vacuum cleaner, and you don’t need to wash everything once a week. Rather, put your washables into a regular rotation and save yourself the hassle of constantly taking down curtains and pulling off slip covers. The only thing you want to clean regularly is bedding, especially if pets spend time in your bed.

These tips are your primary line of defense against allergies. Make them into habits and keep up with a cleaning schedule, and you’ll find that no one can tell you own a pet, much less have a serious allergic reaction to them. Most of all, other housemates will benefit by not suffering from a histamine reaction.