Allergies to ferrets: do the same things as for anything else that
causes a bad allergy for the most part:
 
1. See an allergist.  There is no alternative for the level of care
needed with asthma.
 
2. Get hepa filter air cleaners.  Do NOT get the ionizing aircleaners
because too many of those create ozone and that will only further
irritate the children's lungs.  We use three large hepa filter cleaners
in our 1000 square foot condo during ragweed season and that does help --
some.  Also, ask the allergist for fliers on life-style products to
decrease allergies (types of bedding, types of flooring, no smoke
exposure, cleaning products to avoid, etc.).  Ask if the fur sprays work
and then before buying or using ask the ferrets' vet if it is safe to use
those on the ferrets.
 
3. Ask about shots, but realize that ferret allergies are rare enough
that there may not be any specifically for ferrets yet.
 
4. Realize that the problem may be something in the ferrets' fur rather
than the ferrets themselves.  (Think dust, litter, perfumes, shampoo,
bits of treats, etc.)
 
5. Know that as per multiple past reports in the FML a lot of people who
don't normally react to ferrets do react to whole males and that this
group *seems* to often include people who are allergic to cats for some
reason (and I have even heard of a very few who are very sensitive to
whole males who react to sterilized male ferrets when they get adrenal
neoplasia so realize that there is an off-chance that this may indicate
that the ferret may need medical care).
 
6. Medicate appropriately.  There are some wonderful asthma preventatives
and asthma treatments to both reduce the risk of an attack and to treat
an attack when it happens.
 
7. Watch carefully to be sure the problem actually is the ferrets;
ragweed season is starting up and that is one of the most common
allergens around (and sadly it is among the plants which like extra
carbon dioxide -- not all plants do -- so the global warming types of
pollutants also increase ragweed populations and ragweed pollen counts
which is yet one more reason to sweep instead of cleaning sidewalks with
a blower, use a vehicle with better gas mileage, etc.).
 
8. If nothing works then find a loving way to not have the person
exposed.  There is one case on record of a man who went into a severe
anaphylactic reaction to a ferret, to the point where admittance to the
hospital was needed after emergency care saved his life.  Bad allergies
can happen and thousands of people do die each year of the combination
of severe reaction types to all sorts of allergens.  Luckily, the
chances of reacting to ferrets is extremely small.
 
I put off having shots for my allergies for years because of my history
of anaphylactic reactions, but after being repeatedly urged to try them
(including by Dr. Bruce Williams) I started with a very, very slow
build-up.  The result is that even though I had to build up over years
rather than months, had to stop building up at a lower level than most
people, and have to get shots more often than most I got a LOT of
reduction in my allergies.  It's been a huge win for me, my lungs, my
lifestyle, and my family.  Yes, I am careful to stay in the allergist's
office for a while after my shots because I have reacted over a half
dozen times and needed epi and extra Singulair (an alternative to
steroids for those have ocular hypertension or another counter-indication
to steroids, but sometimes the risks have to accepted and steroids used
anyway after epi).  The shots have been worth it, and I find that the
allergies for which I could not get shots don't bother me as badly,
either, likely because my lungs are no longer chronically inflamed.
 
BTW, there was a recent study of hospital emergency rooms and the same
sort of mistakes with anaphylactic reactions were seen with those as get
mentioned here on rare bases in some animal hospitals, but my impression
is that the animal hospitals have a far LOWER RATE of making such
mistakes.  In human emergency rooms only 1/3 of those tested knew enough
to know that epi is the FIRST med of treatment with an anaphylactic
reaction.  ( Most also did not tell patients to get to an allergist
afterward and most did not prescribe anakits of epi, steroids, and
Benedryl -- in fact most didn't even prescribe the epi.) It seems like
more vet hospitals know that epi is the first med to use.
 
There is a LOT in the FML Archives on this topic.  The URL for the FML
Archives is in the header of every day's FML.
 
BTW, it is not unusual for Dr. William's travel to take him off-line,
sometimes for very extended periods, and especially during summers when
he is often tapped to do teaching elsewhere, and his schedule has been
absolutely hosed by extra work ever since the war began and added yet
more workload (which I guess is probably the case for AFIP employees in
general), but your's is NOT a ferret pathology question; this is a human
allergy question so other experts will be the right ones to ask,
principally allergists.
[Posted in FML issue 4604]