Just heard it on the news, the Swiss say that children who live on farms or who own pets are less likely to get allergic based heath problems.

Now wonder how many dogs have been re-homed or PTS because the parents have been told that it is causing the child's problems - mind you we need to see if the research is accepted.

I should think it is reasonable to suppose that a child brought up surrounded by animals is going to have a tolerance to anything about them that may cause an allergy.  It is usually children that are exposed suddenly to them when they are older that can have problems.

Years ago my daughter had a boyfriend that couldn't even come in the house because he was allergic to dogs but over a period of several weeks he gradually got better and was able to tolerate a couple of dogs in the same room without the sneezing and eyes streaming that he had experienced before.  Then she dumped him. :D

I don't know what is new about their research, but the fact that children who live with animals are healthier and suffer fewer allergies has been around for some time as far as I am aware.

I have had exactly the opposite problem....I have been brought up with dogs, we had GS all my life and then we had a springer spaniel and a heize 57.....I left home when I was about 19 to move to aberdeen .......I decided a few years later to get a dog for myself...so after a lot of research i got a dog ...and OMG was I ill....wheezing coughing itching......the doc said i had developed an allergy to dogs.........at that time i panicked and my best pal's mum and dad took my dog (Thank god)......now 10 years later.......I have been going to my friends house to "de-sensitise" myself after talking to another doc's and doing some research....I have to say it seems to have  worked and now I can go to friends houses with absolutley no problems in fact I have "baby sat" their dogs whilst they have been on holidays.......now I am getting my own wee pal....in fact I pick her up today......sorry if i have yacked to much....

When my cousin's daughter was born it became obvious early on that she was allergic to the cat. Cousin (a nurse), spoke to a doctor she worked with and he told her wait a while before re-homing the cat because he was sure her baby would get over it fairly quickly. He was right, she is now fine.
I worked as a volunteer in a cattery for a few years - the number of cat's that were re-homed because of children was heartbreaking. Obviously, if a child is seriously allergic then you can't take the risk, but in many cases I believe they grow out of it.

Val

I grew up with all manner of animals and never had an allergy or really ever got ill, I had no childhood illnesses and even now rarely get sick with anything other than a mild cold.  I do now however have a slight allergy to my cats :rolleyes: when I was a kid my last cat died when I was 9 and we didnt replace her.  Now 17 years later if my cats lay on my chest when im watching tv I get itchy eyes and I have had to ban them from my bedroom because I get a tight chest when they sleep next to me in bed :(  It isnt bad enough to get rid of them though, even if it was I think I would rather suffer ;)

I have a friend who grew up with a cat and a dog, he is now REALLY allergic to cats and cant even go within breathing distance of one without his eyes streaming and his asthma playing up

Similar to me - I grew up with dogs, horses and cats, and never had any real problems. After swopping a career with horses for the wonderful world of suits (and having no contact with animals) I developed an allergy to cats. After I got Cam I developed an allergy to dogs - astonishing. It's better than it was but I have to use an inhaler. It wasn't something I would have predicted, but I just get on with it.

Jo