Mayberry
19-11-2009, 09:40 PM
Hi Everyone,
Both myself and my boyfriend and huge cat lovers- but here's the problem- my boyfriend is asthmatic and very allergic to cats.
Now, you may think that I would stop there and give up the dream of cat ownership- but no! :) It was a bit of a slog- but I thought i'd share everything we learned and hopefully a possible solution for others!
1. Contrary to popular belief- it's not acutally cat hair that people are allegic to, so please don't rule out lovely long hairs or run out to buy a sphynx! People are allergic to one or many protiens contained in cat saliva. They lick their skin, then the dead skin cells with a layer of dried drool falls off- this is cat dander and it is public enemy number one!
If you've only got a mild allergy- you can probably ward it off with a regular kitty bath and an awsome hoover. There's also a thing called petal cleanse which you can spray onto mr kitty to keep his dander count down!
2. If your allergies are more severe- then we move on! The protien you're most likely to be allergic to is called FelD1 and it's assosiated with the mating cycle. Nursing queens have the highest proportion in thier saliva. This means that neutered kittys are best for you! And neutered as young as possible.
Another protien is associated with colouring- black kittys to be presise. Try looking for a ginger or white kitty as these won't have the offending protien.
3. Ah- I see your allergies are very bad. In this case moggies are generally a no-no. Moggies have such mixed genetics that they're likely to carry all the possible allergic protiens- so you're best bet is to look at some specific pedigree breeds.
-Siberian
-abyssinian
-any variety of rex
-russian blue
But you simply must check first- if you explain that you're testing for allergies, most good breeders won't mind you comming for a visit. Be sure to see and handle a breeding queen if possible, as if anything with set you off, she will! and bare in mind that one line may have very different genetics to another- be sure you've visited that breeder before you buy!
That's everything! good luck everyone! Hopefully this should work for most people! It certainly did for us! We visited lots and lots of cats, and it turned out russian blues from a european imported line were for us. Don't give up! :)
Both myself and my boyfriend and huge cat lovers- but here's the problem- my boyfriend is asthmatic and very allergic to cats.
Now, you may think that I would stop there and give up the dream of cat ownership- but no! :) It was a bit of a slog- but I thought i'd share everything we learned and hopefully a possible solution for others!
1. Contrary to popular belief- it's not acutally cat hair that people are allegic to, so please don't rule out lovely long hairs or run out to buy a sphynx! People are allergic to one or many protiens contained in cat saliva. They lick their skin, then the dead skin cells with a layer of dried drool falls off- this is cat dander and it is public enemy number one!
If you've only got a mild allergy- you can probably ward it off with a regular kitty bath and an awsome hoover. There's also a thing called petal cleanse which you can spray onto mr kitty to keep his dander count down!
2. If your allergies are more severe- then we move on! The protien you're most likely to be allergic to is called FelD1 and it's assosiated with the mating cycle. Nursing queens have the highest proportion in thier saliva. This means that neutered kittys are best for you! And neutered as young as possible.
Another protien is associated with colouring- black kittys to be presise. Try looking for a ginger or white kitty as these won't have the offending protien.
3. Ah- I see your allergies are very bad. In this case moggies are generally a no-no. Moggies have such mixed genetics that they're likely to carry all the possible allergic protiens- so you're best bet is to look at some specific pedigree breeds.
-Siberian
-abyssinian
-any variety of rex
-russian blue
But you simply must check first- if you explain that you're testing for allergies, most good breeders won't mind you comming for a visit. Be sure to see and handle a breeding queen if possible, as if anything with set you off, she will! and bare in mind that one line may have very different genetics to another- be sure you've visited that breeder before you buy!
That's everything! good luck everyone! Hopefully this should work for most people! It certainly did for us! We visited lots and lots of cats, and it turned out russian blues from a european imported line were for us. Don't give up! :)