Hay I think I'm allergic to my pigs hay!-Long - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**stafishtaylz** · #1 08-17-09, 06:52 am

Hello,

I'm looking for some advice. I'm quite certain I'm not allergic to my pig, as I can practically rub her all over my face with no problem. When I got her (a couple weeks before I came to this site) I picked up some plain old pet store quality timothy hay. No problems for the first 2-4 weeks. Then, when I ran out, after reading all the posts I switched her to Oxbow pellets and hay. I think thats when the nightmare started!!! I have been A MESS for about 2-3 weeks now! My eyes swell every morning when I wake up and go into the main house, my face itches, mouth and ears itch, and I'm more congested than ever before! I thought the hay might be the culprit so I donated the bag to a friend, and left enough in my pigs cage to get us through a few days until I go to pick up different hay. My LPS had Oxbow, Sweet Meadow and all the other regular pet store brands. Has anyone had any more success with one brand or another? I'm thinking of picking up the SM to try that out. I'm not getting rid of pig because I'm allergic to the hay. I'm allergic to my cats too and they're still here! If in fact I am still bothered by the SM hay, would it be all that terrible to go back to the pet store brand hay as long as I keep her on the Oxbow pellets and fresh veggies 3x a day?

Any help would be great!!!

**Rnd210** · #2 08-17-09, 10:21 am

Any good guality grass hay would be fine and many poeple are allergic to timothy hay so you may want to try orchid grass hay.

**fieryone** · #3 08-17-09, 10:49 am

I've heard that Kleenmama's bluegrass hay is tolerated by people allergic to hay a bit better than other kinds.

It could be a little trial and error to which ones you can tolerate the best. I've used Sweet Meadow's meadow hay in the past and it wasn't dusty so that may also be an option for you. I'm also in CT and have only seen Sweet Meadow timothy and alfalfa in my local feed store. I ordered the meadow hay from their site. I'd try ordering the smallest quantities at first to see how well you do with any given type.

**MapleOwl18** · #4 08-17-09, 12:34 pm

Oxbow orchard grass as opposed to Timothy works better for my allergies.

Also I agree with the above poster I love Kleenmama's bluegrass.

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**akstrohm** · #5 08-17-09, 12:37 pm

Yes, KM's bluegrass is one of the best for allergies.

If that doesn't work for you, the pet store brand of timothy hay is okay (as long as it's just grass hay and doesn't have any herbs or something else mixed in). Brand is more of an issue with pellets.

Switching to fleece might help too if you're not aleady using it.

**stafishtaylz** · #6 08-17-09, 01:15 pm

Thank you all so much. I'm going to go tonight and see what my options are. I do use fleece already and I LOVE it! I have already turned 2 pig owners on to it and this site!

**BabyBellie** · #7 08-17-09, 07:55 pm

I would definately try the orchard grass. I am severely allergic to the timothy hay but the orchard grass barely bother me.

**Skeetersmom** · #8 08-17-09, 07:59 pm

I've been having problems with this too. Ever since I have gotten my guinea pigs I have been having severe allergy problems. I've tried different hays and I use fleece. My problem is actually the guinea pigs. I've been having a really hard time and my husband really wants me to rehome them. I'm not sure what I should do but can not take allergy meds either. I may have to give up soon. It's gotten so bad that I have been so itchy that I end up with my scalp bleeding and hives all over my arms. Good Luck with your allergies, I'm losing my battle.

**webjetter** · #9 08-20-09, 12:04 am

The piggies and I absolutely love Kleenmama's Timothy, Bluegrass, and Orchard Grass hay. (Not that I've actually TASTED it, ha ha.) Out of curiosity and to try to save a little money on shipping, I recently ordered a 9 lb. box of Sweet Meadow Farm timothy hay ... and my allergies attacked with a vengeance! I've never had an allergic reaction to ANY other brand or type of hay. I suspect it's because the farm is in Massachusetts and that's where I grew up suffering lots of horrible allergies. (Grass showed up as an allergen on my tests at age 10.) The Sweet Meadow Farm hay had an extremely strong scent, I couldn't stand it. I sealed up the box and could still smell it pretty strong. I ended up giving it away to a friend for her horse. The friend likes the smell and the horse likes the taste.

So keep trying different brands in small quantities to find the one(s) that don't spark your allergies. Best wishes ... I feel your pain!

**stafishtaylz** · #10 08-20-09, 06:33 am

I picked up some of Sweet Meadows Orchard Grass and it is WAY better than the Oxbow for my allergies. I'll stick with it for now, but I might order some bluegrass in the future to give that a try.

Rachelle15 · #11 10-09-09, 08:27 am

I sneeze every time I open up the bag of timothy hay

**Karsluma** · #12 10-12-09, 09:03 pm

I just wanted to add that my 2 year old neice and my mom are allergic to the Oxbox Timothy Hay. I'm thankful that no one living here has that problem! I just recieved my 45 lb "bag" of Kleenmama's 3rd cut timothy hay, so I'm interested to see either one can tolerate it. My poor neice was here on Saturday and she immediately went to the hay to stick it through the grids to feed the guineas, and her eyes swelled up bad.

**JD In Van** · #13 10-12-09, 09:29 pm

I'm sensitive to dust too. I buy Timothy Hay but it's high grade stuff for racing and show horses. It's much much less dusty then the stuff I bought from the pet store. It comes in nice smallish bags (about a weeks worth of hay per bag) and that helps me too a lot cause it limits my exposure. I store it outside on the balcony as well which also helps.

**azalea** · #14 10-13-09, 09:34 am

I have purchased K**t** timothy hay from the box-marts and online purchased Sweet Meadow (and I am waiting for my first Kleenmama order) but the best purchase I have found for my hay, dust and dander allergy is a script for Omnaris with a chlorpheniamine maleate kicker first thing in the morning.

To each their own, but it is when loved ones have issues with the fluff, fur and hay that the choices in life get a bit harder. We installed a screen door on a bedroom to keep the cats from sleeping on the linens and in general leaving dander in the room. Fritter and Freckie were a bit disgruntled at first because the room has the best afternoon sun but they got used to it and my son could breath in the morning.

I am so glad I don't have the issues with allergy meds that Skeetersmom has. A few meds make me a bit sleepy the first 48 hours but I do a happy dance for the chance to have pets and garden, and breath and not have hives and itchy eyes and ears and stuff and junk. Long post but my quality of life is pretty much directly related to my allergy meds - sad but true.