Right now we just have a cat, and DS and I are both allergic. She is older and has a very skittish personality, so we run an air purifier and take Allegra and just deal with some symptoms. She is not allowed in the bedrooms and that helps a lot.
I love having a cat though. If we go away, even up to 5 nights, we just put out a lot of food and water and she takes care of herself. It's so easy having a cat I almost don't even think of it as a responsibility.
That said, we will not get another when she is gone. I have been willing to suffer through allergies my whole life to keep pets, but I don't think it's my place to make that decision for my son. My cat is almost 15 and has thyroid issues now and some minor heart problems, so sadly I don't think we will have to suffer allergies for too many more years.
I am also allergic to mice, mites, feathers, and molds... and that's out of the few things they actually test for. I definitely think I ended up allergic to every animal I ever kept in my bedroom
The animals they tested for that I am not allergic to were dogs and rats, 2 animals I never had in my home. (Our dog was a work dog on the farm and while I spent a lot of time with her, it was all outdoors)
I also forgot about turtles. Box turtles are easy, I had one for a while. It was a nice, gentle pet and more interesting than might be expected. Don't catch your own though, they can have salmonella. I knew someone who kept a snapping turtle in a tank for a long time too, but I wouldn't say that it made a good pet!
In my opinion dogs are the most work, someone has to let them out constantly, even driving home over lunch and sometimes waking in the middle of the night. All of my friends who have dogs have ruined floors as well. Plus you can't go anywhere without finding someone to care for them, which is difficult if you don't have family nearby. So I definitely think of dogs as one of the higher maintenance animals.
