| Removing animals from the house |
| Keep animals outside (eg, in garage or kennel); restricting animals to certain rooms has not been shown to be effective. |
| Once animal has been removed, the premises should be cleaned thoroughly. |
| Controlling allergen with an animal in the house |
| Difficult because the animal contains 10 to 50 mg of major allergen, while the quantities of airborne allergen are only 5 to 20 ng/m3. Using an air filter can only reduce airborne allergen. |
| Reduce reservoirs: Remove carpets, reduce upholstered furniture to a minimum, replace drapes with blinds, and/or vacuum weekly using a vacuum with good filtration (ie, double thickness bags and/or HEPA filtration). |
| Room air filters: HEPA or electrostatic (maintenance data are better defined for HEPA). |
| Washing cats does not reduce allergen levels significantly. Washing dogs twice a week may help. |
