Dogs, Allergies and Asthma

Brittney and were talking about Allergies, Asthma and dogs.  So she did some research for us.  Seriously!

Do Chihuahua’s help with Asthma?  We found on Wiki Answers the following:

I am not sure why.. But I am positive that they do. The problem with most owners is thay don’t bond with there chihuahua. If you are mean to, or dislike the animal it wont make the b ond that is neccisary.

I have had asthma my entire life, we got a male chihuahua.. and I never bonded with him. Also another theory is that you have to get them when they are a puppy. The male chihuahua was already grown.

By chance when I was 12 early in the year, we had to take in a 17 hour old female chihuahua, and bottle feed her from the time of birth… By the end of the year we noticed that she had start to have coughing fits and started wheezing. Not very long after that did I notice I could go outside and run and not even need my inhaler. Were as before I would have been having an attack.

So as far as it being a myth.. NO! I am a true believer in this and I will stand strong on that.

I thank that little chihuahua Indie now for giving me my life back. She still has coughing fits and weezing when overexcited.

~Chihuahua Lover For Life

 

We also found a forum on Topix that was loaded with believers!  One of those users, RT from Texas wrote:

RRT wrote:

Are local doctors really telling their respiratory patients to get chihuahuas? A lady told me recently that her gynecologist told her to get a chihuahua for her asthma and it would also help her husband’s emphysema. Do they really do any good?

My kids had asthma when they were toddlers. Since we couldn’t afford to move to a drier climate. We got a chihuahua instead, after my mother in law said this would help. The kids gradually stopped having so many attacks and actually has been asthma free for a good many yrs. One Dr. said they probably just grew out of it. But I would swear by it. Since then the only kind of inside dogs we own are the little ankle biters.

We also found:

My sister had severe asthma as a child. She spend a lot of time in oxygen tents in the emergency ward. My mother was advised to get a chihuahua that their body oils were helpful to asthma patients. You could always hear my sister breathing through the house. The first night the dog slept with her, after a while you could not hear my sister breathing. My mom panicked thinking the dog had killed her and slung the dog across the room grabbing my sister just to find she was breathing normal. Then she rushed to the dog. We always had a chihuahua till my sister got married. She still has asthma, but being a military wife and moving around could not have a dog, so she does the drugs. They don’t help her near as well as the dog did.

It’s going to be different for everyone. Different chemistries get different results, same as with drugs.

We then found some great stuff on York Talk!  Seriously!

 In our case, It was true. My son, Paul (23 now) had asthma really bad. At the age of 2, we had been to the ER 24 times in less than a year. We had the nebulizer etc. We had this fantastic specialist tell us that there is no proven data but that he has several patients that went and got Chihuahuas and noticed a significant difference in the asthma attacks. Well, let me tell you, when you watch the ER doctor inject this long needle into your baby’s chest while he has blue lips and nail beds from not being able to breathe- you will try anything. So we looked around and found this breeder and got Pablo. It was the best thing we ever did. The asthma attacks did not go away but they did lessen significantly. We let Pablo sleep with Paul. They were the best buddies. Pablo passed at the age of 15.

Pablo never got asthma…Never heard of that. The breeder we got Pablo from said it is something to do with the dander of a Chihuahua. That she had sold several pups to people looking for help like us.  So this was our experience…

So, fellow Dog Liberators, my son Ryan, has allergy and asthma.  Do I get him a Chihuahua?  Maybe I’ll foster one and see!  I’m anxious to read your comments!  Ay Chihuahua! 

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