Most people in the West have a pet: a cat, a dog, a hamster, a rabbit or a parrot. They are good company and doctors believe that having a pet lowers stress and stress is the biggest killer in the West. Keeping a pet helps you live longer. It is a real pity then that some people develop allergies to their pets.

If you or someone in your close family has developed an allergy to a family pet, it can be a tricky problem to solve. Especially if you have young children. Young children become attached to pets very quickly, so the obvious answer to the problem - getting rid of it - is not always an option. If this is your quandary, help is at hand.

You see, the allergens - the substances that cause allergies - are almost always airborne. The allergens come from tiny pieces of dry skin, hairs, feathers and dry faeces floating on the air and entering your nostrils while you are breathing. It is quite logical then that if you can eliminate these substances from the air that you breathe, you will decrease the severity of or even completely eliminate your allergy.

Therefore, your stricter hygiene routines could reduce your plight. Wash, comb or brush your pet more often and clean out their cages or baskets more often. This could work, but it probably will not work completely. This is because these substances are being shed by the second, just as every human being sheds tiny pieces of skin every second as well. You have to prevent these substances becoming part of your inhalation of breath.

What you really require is an air purifier. Almost all air purifiers will remove pets' detritus from the air, but be aware that not all air purifiers are the same. Most of the good air purifiers are quite specialist devices. Some will eradicate smoke more efficiently, while others will trap airborne mold and mildew more successfully. Therefore, you have to check the capabilities of any air purifier you like before you buy it.

Portable air purifiers can usually only handle a small volume of air at a time, so they will only cleanse a small room. This is all right if you live in a bedsitter, a caravan or a trailer or are camping out in a tent. If, however, you live in a house or apartment, you ought to try to invest in a whole house air conditioner. As the term says, this will clean all the air in your whole house at the same time, which is far better than doing just one room.

The trouble with less powerful, portable air conditioners is that as soon as someone opens the door, you are back to where you started, whereas a whole house air purifier means that you can walk around the house and go about your daily routines as normal.