I believe that it's *less* common to have an allergy to ferrets than to
dogs or cats, but I don't know that it's necessarily rare.
 
I'm allergic.  severely.  My allergist did the test via a blood sample,
and I know myself because when I am not using the treatments I get welts
whenever I handle them and have a hard time breathing.  If it were not for
the treatments I'm sure that it WOULD get so bad that I would have to find
new homes for them...I cannot take care of ferrets if I cannot breathe.
 
My treatments are simple, but effective.  Ferret fur is used to create
a solution that I take that desensitizes me to the ferret allergin.
 
I've seen many people claim that it's because ferrets gather dust, etc.,
if you're allergic to dust, this certainly will not help, but allergies to
ferrets are REAL.  Be aware and don't push an allergy off on something else
just because we've been told that ferrets don't cause allergies.  They can.
And just like most other allergins, they can be treated, and should be.
 
 
Sue M.
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[Posted in FML issue 3306]