Pets/Re:

[Guest guest]

I sometimes take dust samples from pet fur. The fur acts like a duster and

wherever the pet has been, there are remnants of the dust in the fur.

One cat slept in fiberglass basement insulation during the day and in a child's

bed at night, causing skin irritation.

Another pet slept under an antique easy chair with mold growth on the bottom

webbing and transferred the spores to its owner.

One old dog slept on a dog bed that had never been washed and was infested with

mites; the rug at the foot of the owner's bed (where the dog slept at night)was

full of dog dander and dust mite droppings from the dog bed.

Most recently, the dust from a cat contained clusters of house-dust-mite

droppings (rather than individual particles) that could only be found at a

source of an infestation, suggesting that the cat fur was actually supporting a

colony. (Why not? After all, the fur near the skin is a warm and damp place.)

Perhaps this is why some people are allergic to certain cats or dogs and not

others. (You can take a vacuum dust sample from a pet and send it to DACI lab

for mite allergen analysis.)

So keeping pet fur clean is essential. Sinces dogs get asthma, using a washable

blanket rather then a thick, feather bed is a good idea becaue mite infestations

in feather pet beds are almost inevitable.

And let's not leave out tropical fish, a pet frequently substituted for furry

ones in families with allergies and asthma. I have found several serious

house-dust-mite infestations on the tops of fish tanks where the owners

carelessly spread the fish flakes, a high protein food source that mites love as

much as skin flakes.

Cleaning the tank and the room of all dust is all it took to relieve one owner's

allergy symptoms in the fish room.

Keep houses and pets clean!

May

May Indoor Air Investigations

www.mayindoorair.com

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> First, I want to say that I'm so sorry about your cat. That's really

heartbreaking. Mine was diagnosed with allergic asthma, and it is breaking my

heart to know that the mold is affecting her. Second, I want to say that I would

never leave my cat behind, any more than I would my husband, and I think that

doing so would be an act of hysteria and not of logic or rationality. How would

my cat be any more of a potential contaminant than my husband? She gets washed

and cleaned, just as he washes and cleans himself. If she is carrying fungus,

then he is. There's nothing that makes my cat somehow more fungus-attracting

then my husband--both have skin, both have hair (or fur). Why would you shave

your dog and not require that every one of the humans have to be shaved all

over? I think it's magical thinking (and speciesist) to assume that a pet can be

a danger where a human cannot. And I think its cruel to consider a pet to be

disposable. 

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