Birds and Asthma

Have they been allergy tested? If anyone has a fowl or feather allergy, you need to steer clear for sure. Secondly, if you do get a bird, they are very dirty and you will have to clean the cage daily to keep mites and dirt from spreading through your home. Otherwise, you should be okay.

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my son has asthma, mostly triggered from cats and dogs. we really wanted a famiy pet, so we chose a bird! we have a parrotlet. very cute. there is a store called "adventures in birds" and they know everything! it is on westview near antoine. cockatoos and cockateils are not good for allergies, because they tend to shed more bird dander (sorry, don't know the right word). anyway, my boy loves the bird, and no asthma!

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Dust, dander, feathers, I can think of no good reason to have a bird with all of your families health problems.

I have had asthma since I was about 11. My family had a bird (cockatiel) all through my junior high and high school years, basically, and I never had a problem. Now my husband, daughter and I have a Quaker parrot. He also does not set off my allergies/asthma, as long as we keep the cage clean. Parakeets should be fine. You might want to consider a little bit bigger bird like a Quaker, cockatiel, parrotlet, or lovebird as they can be friendlier pets. However, those bigger birds also take more care (more play, etc) and some of them make more noise (although not necessarily the cockatiels). I would agree with one poster that the cockatoo probably is not a good idea because of allergens. Hope your daughter has fun with her bird(s)! They are wonderful animals!

Do they have allergy triggered asthma? If so, you guys are not good candidates for a bird (or a guinea pig, hamster, gerbil) I really wanted a bird when I was younger and my parents bought me one for Christmas that we bottle fed as a baby. I really loved it but my asthma was so bad we ended up having to give it to someone else. I think it was much harder to have loved it and given it away then to have not had it in the first place. The Dr. told us I would be best with a long haired type of dog, and he was right. I had my dog for 19 years and had very little trouble around her. Good luck finding the right pet. You might take her to the pet store and introduce her to the Oscars (big fish) apparently they are very friendly and can be trained.

hi A., how do you feel about dog!! i have 2 children with asthma. they had a chuwahs( taco bell dog ) their asthma have very good. their is myth that these dogs help control asthma. hope this helps

I know of a person with MANY birds and breathing issues. She never had a problem until she had TOO many birds. I mean a 100 birds. I think you would be ok with one or two. As a pet, one is better and you can teachit tricks and to talk. If you have two birds, they will have company but may be less soical with humans.

hello A..well i have asthma and my son does as well.i have had it since i was eight and we had birds my whole life and now im 29 and i have had every kind of differnt bird there is i just love birds.they are a little messy but i love it when they make sounds and talk to each other its always better to get to birds at the same time so they dont get sad being by there self.but i have never had any problems with my asthma with birds cats yes very much so.i really think ur daughter will enjoy them that would make a cute christmas gift if u decide to get her some.she will love that alot wish yall good luck and have a merrychristmas.

not sure about asthma...but i had 3 parakeets growing up and loved them! they were a great pet and taught me a lot of responsibility...feeding, cleaning cage, teaching tricks, etc......

My brother had lung issues and never had a problem with our cockatiels we had growing up. They were great pets, but you do have to keep the cage clean. Most people are allergic to the down, not the feathers themselves, and it is the down that tends to float around a lot.

On a side note- In my experience when you have more than one bird, they will entertain themselves and generally are more wild (aka not people friendly). If you have only one, it will need to be handled more often to keep it tame. I tamed my parents (now my Grandma's) cockatiel about 4 times in 2 years when I left home for college. They didn't handle him very much, so he went wild. When I'd come home to visit, I'd retame him and away we would go again.

Hi - my aunt has been a nurse for over 25 years and she has told me on multiple occassions that many of her patients with lung problems have birds. She says it is indeed a fact that many bad things are airborne when birds are in the house and it can definitely be harmful for people with asthma. I'm just relaying in general what she has said because I don't remember exactly the contaminants, etc. that come from birds. I bet if you Google it, you will find confirmation of this issue.

K..

I have severe allergies and asthma. As a child we had a parakeet and we had to get rid of it. It irritated my allergies severely which in turn severely aggravated my asthma. We have family members that still have birds and it is hard for me to go stay at their houses for any length of time (even a few hours) without having breathing trouble for some time after. I am even on allergy shots and medicine daily to keep asthma under control. Anyhow, I would take extreme caution in getting one as you will not know how it will affect each person differently. Birds and all that go with them can sometimes be a little pricey and it would not be fun to spend a lot and then find out it won't work. Not to mention the ill feelings that those that are not affected by it could have. When we had to get rid of our bird as children my oldest sibling was not acceptable to it and I remember her saying some harsh things to me in regards to having to give the bird away.

Also, I would not do anything without talking to your children's doctor first.