Is your pet making you sneeze, but you can’t bear to part with your best furry friend? Your dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig or other furry friend is family, after all. Finding a solution to keep pet allergens under control and your partner, your kids and yourself happy may be your top priority. An air purifier can help.

If you’re like one in five pet owners, you or someone you love is allergic to your pet. To provide relief from the sneezing, watery eyes, rashes and hives, there are simple measures you can take. Like all allergy relief, the best way to control allergens is source control but, understandably, getting rid of Fido is not an option.

IThe next best thing to do is to look at the allergens themselves. Most pet allergies are largely caused by the proteins found in pet saliva, sweat and dander (the skin flecks shed by furry or feathered pets). These tiny flecks take to the air whenever your pet scratches, shakes and moves about your home and cling to dust particles in your home for a long time.

But doesn’t pet dander fall to the ground, you wonder? Sometimes. But more often than not, the flecks are miniscule and lightweight that they remain suspended in the air much longer than allergens from cockroaches or dust mites (ew!). The medium-sized and large particles are still tiny and settle onto the surfaces in your home—from your sofa and carpets to pillows, curtains, bedding and other home textiles.

And as pet dander isn’t enough to deal with, there’s the other allergens and asthma triggers—like pollen and dust—entangled in their fur and covering their paws that your pet brings indoors from outside.

Whether you or a loved one is allergic to your dog, your cat or other pet, it’s clear you need relief—especially in the comfort of your home. Air purifiers do a great job at removing these tiny particles and providing relief from allergy and asthma triggers. Air purifiers also get rid of pet odors wafting around in your indoor air, so you never notice strange scents from your dog and cat.

There are also practical hands-on ways to limit contact with pet allergen triggers, although some dog and cat owners may find these measures hard to do. It may be hard to keep your dog or cat out of your bedroom, for instance. Or to restrict their access to a few rooms in your house using pet gates. But think about it. It makes sense to limit pet access—and your exposure to pet allergens—to the rooms where you spend the most time, like your bedroom or the family room.

Keeping your dog or cat off your furniture and away from carpeted areas in your home can reduce exposure to pet allergens. Vacuuming with HEPA vacuum cleaner on a regular basis is another smart pet allergy-reducing measure. Give your dog or cat a bath (but not too often) and use lukewarm water and gentle pet shampoo so you don’t dry out your pet’s skin, which will only result in more dander.

Choosing an effective air purifier to reduce pet allergy symptoms can be tricky. Look for an air purifier that has a high Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR), which indicates how well unit filters airborne pollutants and allergens. Go with a unit with the highest airflow you can find.

Blueair air purifiers use HEPASilent™ technology, which effectively remove dog, cat and pet allergens from the air you breathe. Consider a Blueair Classic 405, 605, 480i or 680i, which organizations like Asthma Allergy Nordic recommend for people with asthma, allergies and other respiratory problems.

Do air purifier work for pet allergies? The answer is a resounding yes! Isn’t it time you and your loved ones enjoy breathing clean air that’s virtually pet allergen-free.

Feeding on dead human skin cells found in dust, dust mites are not parasites, meaning they do not bite, sting or burrow into our bodies. While that is a plus, they do create harmful allergens from their fecal pellets and body fragments.