# strange and frustrating allergy



## sss8765 (Jan 1, 2012)

many hedgehog ownwers have diffrent , and sometimes wierd, but when you own a hegie of your own, the worst allergy is ... well... to a hedgehog! i did not know i had this allergy until about 3 months after i got my beautiful hedgehog prince. I was holding him but he got freaked out cus there was a loud noiser upstairs and he fell on my leg. I put some cold water on it and it seemed ok. The next day, i kept scratching my leg but didnt really pay attention to wat i was scratching but when i lifted up my pant leg, there were 7 huge red dots. I told my mom and she put some cream but nothing worked. Eventually, it was ahuge deep red bubble on my leg that itched and hurt every single time i moved it.The next day i got a prescription and slowly it got better. Now i have to be real careful and whenever that happens, i rub some antibiotic ointment and it goes away. tough luck for me!


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

I don't have this exactly, but I do have a minor allergy. I'll get some patches of redness and some little red bumps/hives on my skin - it happens most often if his quills press into me, and the more sensitive areas of skin (inner wrist/forearm, upper chest) are the most prone to it. It never happens on my hands, and it's also kind of inconsistent - sometimes it just doesn't happen at all. I just wash my hands/forearms and wherever else after I handle him with soap and water, and it goes away within 10-15 minutes. It's gotten to the point that I don't really notice it anymore, and it's never come in the way of my normal interactions with him.


----------



## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Taking one of those daily allergy medications has seemed to help, or putting topical Diphenhydramine on the rash.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Christemo said:


> Taking one of those daily allergy medications has seemed to help, or putting topical Diphenhydramine on the rash.


Yeah, daily allergy meds should definitely be taken for any allergy with a pet. I take Claritin pretty much daily (unless I forget, which happens on occasion) and have done so for several years, so I can't really comment about how much it's helped with a hedgehog allergy - but I assume my very mild reactions would be at least a little bit worse if I weren't taking that. There are a few other good OTC allergy meds out there, but from personal experience and pretty much everyone I know with allergies, Claritin is the most effective.


----------



## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

It all depends on body type to which one is more effective. 
Claritin is like popping tic tacs for me.


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Christemo said:


> It all depends on body type to which one is more effective.
> Claritin is like popping tic tacs for me.


Yeah, I have exactly one friend that Claritin did absolutely nothing for. For me, it's Benadryl that does little to nothing; now and then when I get occasional strong reactions to things (like if I'm in a house with a cat for some ungodly reason) I'll take it, but it's pretty worthless, lol. In my experience, Claritin seems to be the OTC preventative med that's most effective for the most people, but there are definitely some exceptions.


----------

