Pets and Allergies
Updated May 13, 2013.
While this studies may reassure people who have pets that they can keep them as they are having children, more testing will likely need to be done before doctors can make a general recommendation that people should buy pets to prevent their children from developing allergies. The main problem is researches don't yet know why having a pet protects your child from developing allergies.
Is it the pets themselves, or something that people with pets do?
Is it because children that grow up with pets live in less sterile enviornments? Early exposure to other things, such as egg whites and peanuts, are still thought to increase the risk of allergies, so it isn't clear why the same risk isn't there for pets.
And other studies don't show a decrease in allergies or asthma in people with pets.
Instead, one study, Pets, parental atopy, and asthma in adults4, concluded that 'keeping furry pets and parental atopy increase the risk of asthma development in adulthood.' The study didn't say if these people grew up with pets though.
Another study, Dog exposure in infancy decreases the subsequent risk of frequent wheeze but not of atopy5, showed that 'early pet exposure does not seem to significantly influence the development of allergic sensitization.' However, the researchers did conclude that 'dog exposure in early life might prevent the development of asthma-like symptoms' and having no influence on developing allergies also means that these children weren't more likely to have allergies, even if it didn't confirm the protective effect that the new study did.
And lastly, a even more recent study, Exposure to cat allergen, maternal history of asthma, and wheezing in the first five years of life6, showed that if a child's mother has asthma, then a cat in the home actually triples the risk that the child will develop persistent wheezing - an initial indication of asthma - by age five. Children of non-asthmatic mothers had a 40% less chance of wheezing, so having a cat in the home did seem to be protective for them. So what should you do? I would follow the advice of Dr. Guy B. Marks in his article, What should we tell allergic families about pets?7, were he advised that:
at this stage, we should probably not be advising such people to rid their homes of pets. However, we should probably also not be recommending pet ownership as prophylaxis against asthma. Further research must focus on the mechanisms underlying the observed protective effect and the path to safe, effective, and environmentally acceptable methods of achieving this reduced risk of allergic disease in the general population.
Still, there are safety concerns when bringing a new baby home to your pets. Take steps to prevent rivalry and don't leave your baby unattended and unsupervised around your pets.
And remember that if you have a specific allergy or are sensitive around dogs or cats, then you should still avoid them. Being around pets might prevent young children from developing allergies, but once you develop an allergy, you should avoid whatever it is that you are allergic to.
5Remes S, Castro-Rodriguez J, CJ, Martinez FD, Wright AL. Dog exposure in infancy decreases the subsequent risk of frequent wheeze but not of atopy. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2001;108:509-15.4
6J. C. Celedón et al. Exposure to cat allergen, maternal history of asthma, and wheezing in the first five years of life. The Lancet 360(9335):781-82 (2002).
7Marks GB - J Allergy Clin Immunol - 01-Oct-2001; 108(4): 500-2
While this studies may reassure people who have pets that they can keep them as they are having children, more testing will likely need to be done before doctors can make a general recommendation that people should buy pets to prevent their children from developing allergies. The main problem is researches don't yet know why having a pet protects your child from developing allergies.
Is it the pets themselves, or something that people with pets do?
Is it because children that grow up with pets live in less sterile enviornments? Early exposure to other things, such as egg whites and peanuts, are still thought to increase the risk of allergies, so it isn't clear why the same risk isn't there for pets.
And other studies don't show a decrease in allergies or asthma in people with pets.
Instead, one study, Pets, parental atopy, and asthma in adults4, concluded that 'keeping furry pets and parental atopy increase the risk of asthma development in adulthood.' The study didn't say if these people grew up with pets though.
Another study, Dog exposure in infancy decreases the subsequent risk of frequent wheeze but not of atopy5, showed that 'early pet exposure does not seem to significantly influence the development of allergic sensitization.' However, the researchers did conclude that 'dog exposure in early life might prevent the development of asthma-like symptoms' and having no influence on developing allergies also means that these children weren't more likely to have allergies, even if it didn't confirm the protective effect that the new study did.
And lastly, a even more recent study, Exposure to cat allergen, maternal history of asthma, and wheezing in the first five years of life6, showed that if a child's mother has asthma, then a cat in the home actually triples the risk that the child will develop persistent wheezing - an initial indication of asthma - by age five. Children of non-asthmatic mothers had a 40% less chance of wheezing, so having a cat in the home did seem to be protective for them. So what should you do? I would follow the advice of Dr. Guy B. Marks in his article, What should we tell allergic families about pets?7, were he advised that:
at this stage, we should probably not be advising such people to rid their homes of pets. However, we should probably also not be recommending pet ownership as prophylaxis against asthma. Further research must focus on the mechanisms underlying the observed protective effect and the path to safe, effective, and environmentally acceptable methods of achieving this reduced risk of allergic disease in the general population.
Still, there are safety concerns when bringing a new baby home to your pets. Take steps to prevent rivalry and don't leave your baby unattended and unsupervised around your pets.
And remember that if you have a specific allergy or are sensitive around dogs or cats, then you should still avoid them. Being around pets might prevent young children from developing allergies, but once you develop an allergy, you should avoid whatever it is that you are allergic to.
References:
4Jaakkola JJ. Pets, parental atopy, and asthma in adults. J Allergy Clin Immunol - 01-May-2002; 109(5): 784-85Remes S, Castro-Rodriguez J, CJ, Martinez FD, Wright AL. Dog exposure in infancy decreases the subsequent risk of frequent wheeze but not of atopy. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2001;108:509-15.4
6J. C. Celedón et al. Exposure to cat allergen, maternal history of asthma, and wheezing in the first five years of life. The Lancet 360(9335):781-82 (2002).
7Marks GB - J Allergy Clin Immunol - 01-Oct-2001; 108(4): 500-2
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