hay allergies

[Deleted User]

My husband’s sister gave up her bunny to us because she is in between apartments and doesn’t know if she can keep the bun in her new place.  My husband and I are both severely allergic to hay and don’t know what to do – should we try to keep the rabbit -can the rabbit eat other things – or should we try to place him with another family?  Help!!!

[Sarita]

What type of hay are you feeding him? From my understanding timothy hay is the most likely hay for people to be allergic too, but there are other hays like oat hay and orchard hay which are just as good and we are less likely to be allergic too.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Its your call. I’m really bad with Timothy, but could tolerate orchard, but now I’m really bad with orchard (basically get allergy induced asthma when handling it) so my husband has to do the hay feeding.

Hay is a requirement for bunny diets, its not replaceable.

[bunnyfriend]

If I were you I’d experiment with different kinds of hay. Timothy seems to be the more dusty type of hay that more people have issues with. Also it’s possible to keep hay more contained, with cleaning and certain set ups. But yes, rabbits need hay.

[FrankieFlash]

I’m pretty allergic to timothy hay, so if that’s what you’re using, I would try Orchard. I’ve had great success with it.

[Pandorachik]

You could try a different hay, or use hay cubes.

[littlemissflip]

My husband and I both have very bad grass allergies. Timothy hay is the worst for us–especially the batches that have lots of flower heads (which the bun loves!). Our symptoms are much much much reduced with orchard grass. We also run an air purifier in the room, and we take allergy medicine to help with symptoms. This combination of strategies works for us!

[Eepster]

My husband was having really bad allergy attacks when we were using timothy hay, so we switched to orchard grass and now he’s fine.

[Pandorachik]

Like everyone siad, I bet orchard would do the trick!

[RabbitPam]

Maybe I’m just grumpy today, but I want to take a step back regarding your situation. I have had many apartments, and ALL of them allowed my bunny. First, I tell them that s/he is in an enclosed cage. Next, I tell them that bunnies are silent. The two main concerns are damage to their property (and you never let them know that the bunny comes out to wander around and play) and noise bothering the neighbors. Both are moot in the case of a rabbit. So I’d ask your sister-in-law to check with her new landlord specifically before she gives up her responsibility. Now, if she’s just farming it off because she’s…well, the bunny needs a new home.

In your case, you’re looking at years of living with allergies both of you have right in your home. I can’t abide allergies right under my nose (sorry) so before the bunny becomes used to you, I would work on finding a new and happy home. Adults are better than children, so ask around at where you work and socialize and see if anyone (no homes with dogs already, please) will take it. Also, check out your local rescue for adoption. You could be a foster home while they put out a call and do screenings, so you don’t have to give up the bunny to the shelter, but I think you need to think it through more – something your sister-in-law did not do.

[LBJ10]

RabbitPam – Yep a lot of apartments don’t consider “caged pets” to be pets and usually allow them.

Oh gosh, I am allergic to hay alright. I can’t do Timothy at all. It is awful. I use oat for my buns and I’m fine as long as I wash my hands after handling. My allergies were bad for awhile. Most of the problem was they would cause asthma attacks. Now that I have the steroid inhaler though, I don’t have that problem anymore. That thing has been a life saver. The rabbits have no idea. =p

[Stickerbunny]

Not all apartments allow them, though yes a lot of times caged pets will not be counted in the pet policy. The apartment I was at was against ANY caged pets though except birds, I think he’d had some bad experiences with small animal type pets.

Allergies can be handled in some cases, so it depends on how bad. I use orchard for the buns because 1) they like it better and 2) boyfriend is allergic to timothy… don’t have too much of an issue here with the switch.

[LoveChaCha]

When my dad and I were apartment searching, the first question we asked is “Do you allow rabbits?” Their response was “As long as they are caged.” Ha ha ha .. caged. Snort.

[BinkyBunny]

Oat Hay is also another possibility. It is the least dusty of them all and is what many severe allergy sufferers resort to. If you are only mildly allergic to Orchard, then the best mix would be Orchard and Oat Hay.

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