Did you know that about 68 percent of United States households include at least one pet if not more in their home? Fur babies are an integral part of nearly all American households with many people treating their pets as additional kids in the home, allowing them to sleep in their beds, on sofas, and even feeding them table food during meal times. Usually, there are no limits as to where your pets can go and wander inside of your home and therefore, they will leave their mark throughout the space, especially when it comes to the releasing of their dander within this environment. Pet dander is a known allergen that when present in the indoor space of a home can wreak havoc on those with allergies, specifically to this allergen source. Indoor household pets will spend the majority of their life within the confined environment of your home and during this long period of time spent in the home they will slowly mark their scent and territory over many areas of your house – such as your bedroom, the couch, and even your bed. When pets wonder throughout the home they are slowly releasing and shedding off their dander into the air space which can travel in the air and become ingested/inhaled by the occupants of the home. Many people have been found to suffer from allergies, particularly allergies to pet dander, and therefore it may be necessary to counteract these allergens in your home if you have a pet(s). In this article we are going to learn more about pet dander, how long does pet dander stay in a house, and the best air purifier to use for pet dander removal.

What is Pet Dander

What is dander, specifically pet dander? Pet dander is a material that is shed from the body of an animal that has fur, hair, or feathers that will lead to and exacerbate certain health effects from individuals with allergies or other sensitivities. The tiny, microscopic flecks of skin that are classified as pet dander will be shed by most household pets including cats, dogs, rodents, birds, and other animals that contain fur or feather on their coat. These bits of skin when they are released off of the fur coat of an animal they will float throughout the space and cause allergic reactions in those that suffer from allergies and/or asthma. Typically, when most people think about pet dander, they will usually think that the actual hair released from pets is the classified “pet dander” in their environment, however, this is simply not the case. Pet hair itself is not an allergen or dander, rather the hair can be responsible for carrying the dander on the hair which will cause the allergic response in allergic individuals. As the human body comes into contact with pet dander in the air/surface of the environment, a person who suffers from allergies will have their immune system triggered upon exposure to the dander inside the body. The immune system will work to identify foreign substances that may find their way inside the body and the immune system will trigger the beginning of allergy symptoms in an attempt to fight this “allergen” off within the immune system. This allergen will do a great job of collecting on furniture and other surfaces and maintain its strength on these surfaces for a long period of time after its initial release into the environment. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), pet dander allergens will remain at high levels for several months and cling to walls, furniture, clothing, and other surfaces, thus the need to act proactively to combat these allergens and others in your personal indoor environment.

What Does Pet Dander Look Like

Cleaning a home of allergens, especially pet dander, you may look for traces of this allergen throughout the whole space to clear it on the various surfaces. However, when asking yourself what does pet dander look like there will be no clear-cut description of pet dander. As we discussed previously, most people will mistake pet hair for pet dander, and although pet dander may be found on pet hair the pet hair itself is not “pet dander”. These dander materials will look like flakes, similar to that of dandruff, that are skin flakes that will shed off the pet during the day. Although there are ways to identify pet dander in the environment of your home, the main ways that a person can identify pet dander in your indoor space is the frequent onset of allergy symptoms when entering this space.

What Does Pet Dander Smell Like

If you own a pet such as a dog or cat, but specifically a dog, then you will understand the various odors that they can bring into the space of your home. These pet odors can be brought into the environment from the pet dander that these animals release off of their body, and these smells will vary depending on the animal and their specific dander. The dander will be stronger in some instances, while others it will be mild and will impact the odor in the environment less. When these pet dander odors start to accumulate in the air space of your home, and even start to leave an impressionable odor on the surfaces like furniture and other surfaces it may be time to start integrating odor solutions into the air space such as air purification and other air quality solutions.

Can You Be Allergic to Dogs and Not Cats?

Have you already identified that you are allergic to dogs, but when it comes to cats, you’re not so sure if your allergies will strike? Allergies to pets with fur are fairly common, with as many as three in 10 people with allergies suffering from allergic reactions to both cats and dogs – and it is about twice as common to have cat allergies in comparison to dog allergies. However, it is true that you may be allergic to one pet and not the other, just depending on the specific pet dander. Every pet will have distinct pet dander chemical composition that will cause the allergen to be different and cause certain allergy flares and symptoms. Therefore, it is true that you may be allergic to dogs and not cats, and vice versa.

Pet Allergy Symptoms

The sudden triggering of your allergy symptoms is in full swing and it all started with the initial exposure to your home and the pet dander that resides within this space. It may start with your nose running, eyes watering, or even the rapid progression of sneezing that occurs after you have been exposed to the pet dander allergens in the environment of your home or other indoor space. However, when it comes to an allergy attack provoked by pet dander, these allergy-like symptoms can occur even when you are not exposed to the animal, due to the fact that pet dander can cling onto clothing and other materials that are exposed to the pet. When it comes to identifying the allergy symptoms that can be elicited by pet dander, the normal symptoms that someone will experience, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, these symptoms will include the following;

• Sneezing
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Facial pain
• Coughing or wheezing
• Chest tightness or shortness of breath
• Watery, red or itchy eyes
• Skin rashes or hives

How Long Do Pet Allergy Symptoms Last

When it comes to how long your pet allergy symptoms will last, this timeframe will greatly depend on several conditions such as how much pet dander are you exposed to, how long are you exposed to this dander for, and if you have air quality solutions integrated into this indoor space. The initial onset of symptoms may start, and it could take at least two weeks after the start of symptoms to associate them with allergies. After these symptoms have begun and you notice them only occurring within certain environments such as in your home or in other indoor space than you may be able to connect what source is causing your allergies, such as pet dander. When it comes to how long an allergy to pet dander will last the answer will be ambiguous and can be determined by various factors and in some instances the allergies will last throughout your entire stay in the space.

Best Air Purifier for Pet Dander

When it comes to removing airborne allergens from the environment of a home, and even those allergens settled on the surface, it may require the addition of resources inside your indoor space that can help to remediate and mitigate the allergens present in the environment. Pet dander, as we have been discussing during this blog, is an allergen that can easily be brought into a home, especially one with a pet, and that can stay in the space of the environment for a longer duration of time if not treated or removed. Cleaning, dusting and vacuuming surfaces will help to remove a large portion of the allergens that have built up inside your home, however, when it comes to removing the pet dander and other allergens that travel inside of your air, an air purifier is the only resourceful option to use. An air purifier for pet dander are devices that are designed to clean and filter the indoor air of an environment using specific technologies that are integrated within the air purifier. When it comes to an air purifier technology that will work to remove fine particulate matter like pet dander and other allergens from the air, a HEPA filter will be the ideal filtration to utilize. The OdorKlenz Mobile Air System is a revolutionary air purifier that utilizes two-stages of filtration that include a proprietary earth mineral technology for noxious and toxic chemicals and odor removal, as well as a hospital-grade HEPA filter for fine particulate matter removal such as allergens from the air. HEPA filters are designed to capture fine particulate matter from the air that is larger than 0.3 microns in size at a 99.99 percent efficiency.

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