Ferret allergy

Five Cases of Contact Dermatitis to a Trendy Pet

“…Skin tests, which are not standardized, were clearly positive in 3 of our cases (prick test in 1 case and semi-open test in 2 cases). To our knowledge there are only two reports of skin reactions as a result of ferret contact [3,5]. The case of Splingard [5] is very similar to ours, but skin test was not performed.…”

“…It is the third most common uncaged pet in North America after dogs and cats [2]. The literature about allergy to ferrets is poor and essentially quotes respiratory symptoms with prick test positive for ferret hair or urine and identification of proteins either from urine or hair [2,3,4]. …”

Exotic pet allergy

“…The patient's serum IgE was also bound to 4 high-molecular-weight protein bands in the male and female ferret urine. 15 Another study identified a 66-kd protein in ferret extract prepared from lyophilized antigen obtained from ferret hair, urine, feces, and bedding material. This protein was theorized to represent ferret albumin because of its in vitro cross-reactivity with cat albumin.…”

Allergy to Uncommon Pets: New Allergies but the Same Allergens

“…The most frequent symptoms presented after exposure to these animals – i.e., rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and asthma – affect the upper and lower respiratory tract and have been reported in relation to prairie dog (5), chinchilla (6), guinea pig (7, 8), ferret (9, 10), gerbil (11, 12), hamster (13–17), hedgehog (18), rabbit (19–21), hare (22), and monkey (23–25). Contact urticaria has also been reported with chinchilla (6), ferret (10, 26), and hedgehog (18).…”

“…The most frequent symptoms presented after exposure to these animals – i.e., rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and asthma – affect the upper and lower respiratory tract and have been reported in relation to prairie dog (5), chinchilla (6), guinea pig (7, 8), ferret (9, 10), gerbil (11, 12), hamster (13–17), hedgehog (18), rabbit (19–21), hare (22), and monkey (23–25). Contact urticaria has also been reported with chinchilla (6), ferret (10, 26), and hedgehog (18). In cases the owner was bitten by the animal, the subsequent symptoms reported varied from urticaria (15, 27) or respiratory discomfort (28) to anaphylactic shock, as described with gerbil (28), hamster (14, 29, 30), sunda slow loris (2), and mouse (31).…”