Hello All,

I joined this forum because I am looking for realistic options for me and my parrot. I have had her since I was 15 years old and she is not 19. My Pikachu is the most loving well mannered parrot I have ever met. She is not much of a talker but super loving and great with other animals. She has lived with dogs and cats her whole life. Recently I found out my mother developed a severe bird allergy. She was diagnosed with Hyper sensitivity Pheumonitis. I took the bird to live with me but the dander continues to be a concern. Does any one have any advice on how to eliminate the dander.

I am trying to avoid rehoming my sweet bird. She has only ever known my family and I worry what the future will bring for her if I cant keep her with me. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Kind regards

Vanessa

Hello and welcome, so sorry you are having trouble with this dander issue.

I'm a bit confused here as I read. You said you took her to live with you, but your mother is still having a dander problem at her house? In this case, why would you have to rehome her? I'm just confused on why she would have to be rehomed if she no longer is in the home your mother lives in.

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- Jackie & Boo

Ouch, that sounds like a serious pain.

If I understand correctly, your and your bird live together in one home, while your mother lives apart from you somewhere else. Is your concern about dander remaining at your mother's house, or about dander being in your home when your mother comes to visit, or about dander carried on your clothes/hair when you encounter your mother?

The way of dealing with the problem would differ depending on which of the allergen delivery methods you're trying to address.

Itzjbean, I think the problem more relates to when they visit each other. Mother can no longer go to herhouse because of the bird and I'm not sure if any dander on the OP would cause a flare up. It is a tricky situation, you can get an air purifier but that'd only do so much. Regular baths would help. A lint roller might be a good idea if you plan to go out and visit your mom...

How allergic is she? Like would she have to carry around an epipen? Does she burst into hives?

Thank you all for your quick replies. I have had Pikachu live with me for the past two years. My mom and I live very close to each other and are in contact almost every day as she helps me watch my son. I have three heavy duty air purifiers and she has air purifiers in her home as well. She developed hypersensitivity pneumonitis which became a much more serious fibrosis issue. We don't have a clear answer if they were directly related but the doctor has said she is now affected by the bird dander and droppings.
As it stands my mom cannot visit me but we have been reluctant to rehome Pikachu because she is a member of the family. I wanted to see if I could foster my bird and see if my mom does better before deciding to rehome Pikachu. I really do not want to do so but I have to think of what may help my mother. Thank you for your attention and any ideas on how to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Vanessa

IMO, determining how many of your mom's health problems really are directly related to Pikachu is the first step, before you can make any real decisions. As an alternative to fostering, maybe your mom could avoid meeting you physically for a week or two, and see if that makes a positive difference?

I also hope in addition to air purifiers, she's had every single scrap of fabric in her house thoroughly cleaned of allergens: clothes, curtains, upholstery, carpets... sometimes it's even necessary to completely replace hard-to-clean like mattresses or couches. It's not an easy process to get diagnosed with this kind of thing.

Is her not being able to visit your place something you're willing to accept in the long term?

If the conclusion is that you and/or your son are carrying allergens to your mother, there are still things you can try: changing your clothes and washing/covering your hair before seeing her, for example.

Wow.
Just following with interest, and hoping for the best...

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A very frustrating part of working your way through this is how the target keeps changing! In homeopathic's, as you reduce the pathogen, it's effects actually increase! And results, as you clean your environment you become more and more sensitive! The key is to try to figure out why you were suddenly becoming sensitive and to work on the underlying causes!

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..David..

Flboy has something there. Her Dr needs to determine what set this off initially. He should be working closely with a real Certified Avian vet to double check symptoms and causes. My vet here in Suffolk Cty is such a vrt and I;m sure she would help in this case. I would take your B&G for a few weeks , if that becomes a part of the investigation, I/m in Suffolk cty, exit 56 on the LIE, but lets see what the above query yields. I will Pm you her name and contact info and make a preliminary call to her, it you want. PM me on the side please.

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Salty and AL - hard at work
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Tinker - Cairn terrier, 4/15/08

Thank you all for your ideas. My mom originally went for shortness of breath. Her father passed away a few years ago from Fibrosis of the lungs. He did not have parrots but he did keep chickens, but they were out doors. My mom had a lung biopsy and they determined she had fibrosis of the lung but it was not progressing. They did a blood allergy test and determined that she was allergic to bird droppings and feathers.
Because this happened to my grandfather and my mom there are concerns there is a genetic component. I have already gone for allergy testing and it turned out negative for me thankfully. I am moving to a new apartment and considered fostering my bird with a friend but it did not work out. The fostering was to determine if there was any difference in health for my mom, since I would be in a new space that would be free of dander. Since it did not work out I am considering bringer her with me and I want to reduce or ideally find a way to keep the dander and feather as controlled as possible.

My mom lived with the bird for 17 years we don't know when she became affected exactly.