Possible rat allergy.

Question
Good afternoon, Ms. McMorran. Just a small question, to
clear up some doubt. My boyfriend owns a small female un-
spayed 18-month old rat called Dixie (I'm honestly not sure
what kind she is) and I'm curious if some symptoms I'm
exhibiting might be due to exposure to her.

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend let her scuttle about his bed
with us whilst we watched television, and as the evening
progressed, my breathing became quite laboured and shallow,
my eyes became extremely itchy and I ended up sneezing and
had a sore throat. It turned out I had a chest infection
also, I put the symptoms down to the infection. However,
last night, she was on the bed again, and my sneezing, sore
throat, itchy eyes and breathing problems began again. I
also had small welts where she'd scratched my arm and
wrist. My chest infection was completely cleared up and,
now that I'm home, I'm perfectly fine.

I've been around Dixie for around five months now but never
in such close proximity before. Do you think that I could
be sensitive to her? And if so, do you think possibly
taking an anti-histamine before handling her will help at
all?

Thank you very much for your time, and I hope I've given
enough information.

Answer
Sounds like an allergy to me! Try taking an antihistimine about 20 to 30 minutes before exposure to Dixie and see if that helps; and if you handle her, limit rubbing your nose and eyes until you're able to wash up and change clothes. Rat allergies seem to be rarely that serious but you're not the first -- I had a client with a little girl who was hospitalized by her allergies to their pet rats.

Good luck, I hope it all works out!