Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
So upset
I think you guys know by now that Luke is always sick/congested. Even after his Adenoids were removed it did not get better.
His ENT wanted to get him allergy tested again to see if he now has environmental allergies too which could be causing his symptoms.
Well, the test was today. He reacted pretty badly to rabbit and very badly to cats. We have a rabbit and daycare has two cats.
I am so upset. I love my bunny to death, he is awesome. The only good thing is that he lives in the sunroom and I can isolate him more or less but it will get difficult at times when it gets too warm or too cold in which case I usually take him inside the house. Also, as it gets warmer, Luke will want to play in the sunroom again and I need to open the door to the room in the summer so the AC air can get to it.. otherwise it gets way too hot for the bunny in there.
I am crying just thinking about the idea of possibly having to let go of the bunny. I don't know what to do.
Same thing with daycare. We have no family here and the daycare lady has become the family we don't have. She is a gift from heaven and she has even taken the boys over night several times. The thought of not being able to go there anymore and have Luke go to her makes me so upset. I talked to her and she will keep the cats out of one of the play areas and will keep Luke in that room on the 3 days he is there. She will also have the carpet cleaned. I am so amazed what length she will go for us but I also feel horrible to put her through it. And what if it is not enough?
In the end my child's health always comes first to me, but these are sacrifices that are really breaking my heart. I also absolutely did not see this coming. I never even thought of pet hair ...
The doctor wanted to give it one last attempt and put him on 3 different meds at once. If that does not help then he highly recommends to remove Luke from the Allergens. So for the next two weeks he will be on more meds and kept away from the pets as much as possible and we will go from there. I am really worried and am not sure what to do if this doesn't help!
Anyway, I guess there is no real point to this point, I am just very upset and needed to let it out. If any of you have any recommendations, please let me hear them!
Re: So upset
I am so sorry you are going through this- it sounds like your doctor is at least open to waiting things out a bit. Would it be possible to not send him to daycare for 2 weeks and see if it's mainly cat related? like do a partial elimination trial- try some time totally w/o the cats to see if that helps and then try some time totally w/ the bunny if possible to see if that helps.
I know that bunnies can live in cages outside, but are susceptible to over-heating in the summer. Would you consider having your bunny be outside part of the time?
I have heard of children outgrowing these sorts of allergies.
I know how excited you were to get your bunny and that you adopted him- I hope that you are able to work something out.
He will be home for 1 1/2 weeks now so we will see if that changes anything and if it changes again when he goes back...
Thank You for your response, I really appreciate it
BFP#1: 01/10, M/C 6w -- BFP#2: 06/10, M/C 5w -- BFP#3: 09/10, DS born June 1, 2011
BFP#4: 07/12, M/C 5w3d -- BFP#5: 12/12, EDD 08/18/13
Decorate This
Oh Jenni, I'm so sorry! You've had such a rough year already--I hope it gets better ASAP!
As for Harry... if you need to get him out of the house, he absolutely can live in an outdoor hutch--even year round. I had rabbits as (outdoor) pets all through childhood until I went to college. If it comes down to this, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to help you get everything set up so Harry will be happy, healthy, and comfortable outside.
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home D
Anyway, as daisy already said, kids can most certainly outgrow allergies or build tolerances - I was allergic to dogs and cats as a child, but by having enough consistent exposure to both, I built up a decent tolerance and eventually outgrew the dog allergy. My cat allergy is horrendous, though, and b/c I haven't been around any cats in years, my tolerance is extremely low, so I react immediately to any exposure despite having that tolerance built up when I was younger. My reaction to them seems to be less when in a home that is thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis (so the dander never has a chance to build) - maybe that would help a bit in his case? And would allergy shots be an option for him?
I also had friends who had outdoor bunnies, and it was never an issue since we live in such a relatively moderate climate here. I suppose if nothing else, it could be a part-time solution?
In any event, I really hope you can come up w/ a solution that works for everyone and keeps you from having to give up your bunny or your babysitter!
... every single day of forever.
So sorry to hear that.
You may want to try posting on pets. There is a nestie on there with pretty bad cat allergies; she might have some good tips for you.
5 cats. 1 baby.
DE IVF #1= 04/11 - BFP
How awful:-( I'm sorry. One thing that will help tremendously is an indoor air purifier--a really good one, and they can get spendy but worth every penny. Keep that where you keep your bunny. Change the filters on your furnace, have ducts cleaned, clean all grates in your home. Keep your child out of the house while this stuff is being done because it can aggravate syptoms. You may want to do some research and purchase a new vacuum that has the best HEPA filters, etc. to do a better job when you are cleaning.
Please, please don't put your bunny outside. Maryland is not a moderate climate at all and bunnies really suffer when they are out there isolated and not with their family. Too many bad things can happen to them outside. Neighborhood kids/pets can torment them, let them out, do mean things to them. Snakes and other biting insects/spiders can get them, and they can even have a heart attack very easily if a predator comes up to them. If you are unable to keep her (I really hope you can) there are two organizations who will take them in and find great homes (Lunashouse.org and The House Rabbit Society). They are fabulous people and that is where I rescued my two buns. Good luck.