Hi
I'm just wanting some advice from anyone who has experience of asthma in children.
I have 2 girls & 2 boys, my 2 girls have never suffered from a bad chest, my eldest boy now nearly 8 had a "viral associated wheeze"(could'nt be classed as asthma as he was under 5yrs old)& had inhalers until he was 4yrs old. He no-longer needs inhalers & has appeared to have outgrown the VAW.
My youngest boy is now 4 1/2, at 15mths old he was admitted to hospital with a VAW & has been on inhalers ever since, he never gets wheezy just when he gets a cold it goes straight onto his chest.
We own a tibetan terrier (which does'nt affect his chest)& one day we would love to own a cavalier,  I have received alot of conflicting advice over dogs from Dr's at clinic/hospital & the asthma nurse we see about whether a cavalier would affect his chest.
If anyone has any info on the subject it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, I've had asthma since I was 6 years old, the doctors thought I would grow out of it but 21 years later I'm still on inhalers! Its not very often I get wheezy, mainly when I have a cold wich goes straight onto my chest and stays for a good few weeks. All the doctors I saw at the hospital told my mum I could never have a pet as they would aggrevate my asthma, I desperately wanted a dog and a rabbit when I was younger. Anyway I've had 2 dogs (one with short hair and one with longish), birds and rabbits and I've been fine, I've never had a problem around any dogs and my family is full of all different breeds which I've grown up with. Your son will learn how to control his asthma and may even grow out of it like your other boy, the best piece of advice I can give you is not to let his asthma hold him back. I made the mistake of putting off getting a dog when I moved out of my parents incase it triggered my chest, I ended up looking after my aunties staffy for a few weeks while she was on holiday to see how I felt.

If he's ok with your terrier chances are he will be ok with a cavallier.

Good Luck in your decision.

We have just bought a Cavalier (Flynn) and my son is very slightly asthmatic (normally has problems when he gets a cold and cough) as are the rest of the family (my son a little more).  Flynn has been with us 2 weeks tomorrow and so far so good.  We do however have other pets (2 cats, 3 guinea pigs and a parrot (all inside)) so maybe my son is a little immune.

Anyway just thought you would like to know that all is well here. 

I suffered with my chest from a tiny tot up until I was around 6 which co-incided with us  moving house.  Our old house had warm air central heating which was the cause of my asthma and, when we moved to a house with central heating I pretty much cleared up over night.

I have suffered ever since with my chest - ie if ever I get so much of a sniff of a cold or a bug then it will generally go straight to my chest and I still have inhalers and a volumatic spacer to take them with as the blast of inhaler will generally set off another bout of coughing when I'm really bad.

I have however always been brought up with dogs, horses, cats, mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, budgies etc etc and never really suffered from an allergy to any of them.

My brother is asthmatic (as is my dad).  Before we had dogs my dad couldn't spend too long at my grandparents due to the boxers bringing on his asthma, and similar happend with my brother.  Many years later we have dogs (setters) that have never really effected either of them.  Nowdays Both can spend as much time with any dog.  Both are fine :)

You will get conflicting advise from doctors/nurses, some of them are so anti animal with children :(

My son was diagnosed with Asthma 'proper' at 9 months old, he gets a wheezy cough when the weather changes, when its cold outside, when he laughs too much if he gets a cold, and often at night.  My husband also has asthma.  We have 2 bedlington terriers, which my son adores, often sleeping with them on their beds, and they haven't affected him at all.  He was diagnosed before we had the dogs, and hasn't got any worse at all, in fact he seems to be better as he gets older.  OH also isn't affected by the dogs :)

Murphy, as with any medical condition, it can be individual. Some people can display asthma-type symptoms when exposed to feathers, smoke, industrial pollution, whereas others don't. Your boy may be OK with the cav, others might not be. I'm afraid it's a case of 'try it and see'

Hi-thanks for all your replies, when the time is right hopefully in a few years we will go & spend sometime with a breeder with several ckcs & see if his asthma is affected.
Its interesting how people with asthma are affected by different things my son seems bad when we go caravaning & pitch under trees.
Thanks again for your replies.

Girls tend to develop asthma later on, at around 8, whereas boys tend to suffer from it earlier and often outgrow it at around the same age as girls get it. The biggest trigger animal wise for asthmatics is cats, as the hair is so fine. Dogs are less likely to be a trigger but the chances are, if you have a dog and your son doesn't react to it, he won't react to any dog, as the trigger is an allergic reaction to that particular animal not a particular pet. However, the amount of hair can be a factor so I agree with visiting the breeders house. If he has no reaction within 10/15 minutes there is unlikely to be one. One thing to be aware of though: allergic reactions get progressively worse with each expossure to the allergen so if you are in any doubt about whether or not her has reacted, it would be worth repeating the visit just to see if there is any more of a reaction. Whatever you do, go prepared with every pump he has!

HTH :)

My daughter isn't allergic to our cat, she always reacts to my sisters cat (different breed) ;)

The breed is probably not a lot to do with it, unless of course it is one of those really fluffy ones and yours is short haired, then it could be a factor, but ppl who are allergic to animals often build up immunity to animals they spend lots of time with but still react to others. I will get weazy around other ppls dogs but don't react to my own, or other ppls who I see a lot of. Every time I've got a new dog I spend the first fews days sneezing but after a while I'm better. Cats on the other hand, I keep well away from them. I think cats are a different thing entirely anyway. Even ppl who aren't generally allergic to anything will get sneezy around cats, their hair is so fine. *shudder*

my son now 20yrs was diagnosed with asthma when he was 4yrs old he had the odd attack  until he was around 12yrs he had inhalers and treated with a nebuliser on two occasions after particularily bad attacks.

His very first attack was the day before his 4th birthday party !!..Ah remember it well 20 kids arriving and I'm in Alder Hey Childrens Hospital !

We have always had cats and dogs around the house but they came after the first diagnosis his asthma was brought on by stress rather than pets or an allergy.

He has grown out of it ..luckily.

Thanks again for the replies, my husband is allergic to cats (sneezes like mad) & he has hayfever but has never been asthmatic.
I am hoping he will outgrow the asthma, he has had a day off school every week since he started school in September with his chest & a week off with croup(sp).
Its funny how all the medical advice I have received from Dr's, asthma nurse & hospital differ, the first Dr said "pets are filthy & should'nt be allowed in the home", hospital staff said our dog could have triggered the asthma, & the asthma nurse said it would'nt have been the dog!