Hypoallergenic cats?

Fivefootsix

Can't really help with the original question, but I have read quite a few articles saying that light haired cats cause less allergy symptoms than dark haired cats. Not sure how true that is but it's worth looking into also.

lowis

as previously mentioned, many allergies are down to the dander/dried saliva on the cat fur/body - hence why people still have reactions to the hairless breeds and supposed hypo-allergenic cats.

my ex thought she was ok with siamese cats, she spent some time with a breeder - no reaction so eventually bought two kittens - 3 months later her allergies kicked in. she struggled to live them for another 3 years, and was regularly hospitalised due to severe asthma attacks. in the end the cats came to live with me (she still sees them but can;t spend any longer than an hour with them before her breathing goes).

if you are determined to try and see if you can live with a hypo-allergenic cat then you could contact the specific Breed rescues and ask them if you could foster a cat to see how you get along? save the expense of purchasing a kitten PLUS if you do get allergic it will be one less kitten being given up to a rescue centre. breed rescues can be found here: http://www.catchat.org/adoption/pedigree.html

good luck

tifrap_2

We bought 2 Bengal toms on the understanding that they are less likely to cause a reaction due to having a different kind of coat - my wife was seriously allergic to all cats before that - to these bengals she was mildly allergic, but it soon got worse if we didn't hoover the entire house regularly.

We tried a product called 'petal cleanse' that was used to wash the cats with once a week, it was quite good, supposedly attaching a protein to the allergen in the dander - sadly it got too distressing giving the cats their weekly wash (they hated it) so we stopped.

After learning to manage the dander around the house, no fitted carpets, special head for the vacuum cleaner, not putting fur covered clothes in the bedroom etc. we realised that the allergy seemed to have a 'critical mass' sort of effect, if she could spend enough of the day in a clean environment without dander, the exposure to dander didn't amount to a serious threat. summer was fairly easy, winter was awful, and moult times unbearable.
We lived like that for several years.
The breakthrough came when my wife decided to enroll with a homeopath, who over the course of a year or so has managed to rid her off the allergic effects almost entirely. I was sceptical, but have to say that it has changed our lives, although we are still careful not to provoke dander and to clean it often, we can live normally with the cats (who are worth the effort a million times over) - she can even sit and stroke them on her lap for hours now, when before ten minutes was too long.
When I say 'almost cured her' we have noticed that when she is coming down with a cold, or such like, the allergy returns, though much more mildly.

I know that this is too much of a long shot to risk on getting a new cat or 2, but if anyone is currently suffering from the asthma and streaming eyes of a cat allergy, give it a try - Be careful to find a homeopath that feels confident that they can treat pet allergies, you should expect an initial thorough consultation, and then a visit every couple of months for a year or so, as they tweak the treatment - the cost for us was about £250 in total (incidentally about half the price of one of the cats) it was money well spent.

Here they are:


edit: Forgot to mention that our cats have free access to the outside world - I think that if they had been kept inside, my wife couldn't have managed to survive the build up of dander - the fact that they could go out was what made summer more bearable, they were around less and we could air the house (although the wind tunnel effect of opening all the doors and windows raised enough dander to make a rich environment that she could not cope with, until it had all blown away).

Fire_Fox

May I ask what you feed your Bengals Tifrap? Just wondering if that might be anything to do with why your wife is less allergic, I know a lot of Bengal breeders raw feed or use high meat/ low grain commercial.

Claire_Bear

I was petsitting for my friend's shorthaired cat for about a month before we got Pepsi, and I got terrible allergies from him. I'd never had an allergic reaction to a cat before but for some reason it was awful from him. Then when I went to look at cats I mentioned to the lady at the rescue centre that I'd been allergic to Sweeny so didn't want to get a longhaired cat in case it triggered it off again. She told me about longhaired cats often being better for allergies which I was a bit sceptical about. But Pepsi is longhaired and I haven't been allergic at all apart from the very odd time when I'll get a hair up my nose or spend a long time stroking her then rub my eyes or something. Although Sweeny was a boy and Pepsi is a girl, and Sweeny was a black cat and Pepsi is lighter coloured so it could have been a combination of all of those things too!

tifrap_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

May I ask what you feed your Bengals Tifrap? Just wondering if that might be anything to do with why your wife is less allergic, I know a lot of Bengal breeders raw feed or use high meat/ low grain commercial.

Interesting question Fire Fox, because we do feed them a particular diet. Because one is a thoroughbred, it gets really bad diarrhea if fed anything other than a high meat content dry biscuit food - so it's Royal canin sensible 33 or at a pinch the science plan equivalent. luckily they are both water lovers (a bengal trait) and will ask for a bath tap to be turned several times a day on so that they can drink from it.
They are getting on for 5 years old now, and have always been fed exactly the same food.

Incidentally I have had many cats in the past and have never found a cat food that cats don't get bored of, but with the Royal Canin stuff, they still behave like we are giving them a big treat everyday.

Buttonmoons

You tifrap, your cat on the left, looks REALLY like a wild cat, just his whole face (Im saying his, it may be a girl lol) They are both awesome looking cats though.

One of mine also loves the bath, so much so he climbs on my chest when I'm IN the bath, and starts drinking from my bath water (he's not pedigree anything though he is a bit pointy and vocal like a siamese)

scotsgirl_3

Funny tifrap mine are also on the same food! This thread is not helping to narrow down why my friends aren't allergic to them, lol! Mine are on RC 33 for exactly the same reason, the youngest maine coon has avery runny tummy on cheaper foods, won't touch raw either sadly, and all 3 seem to be thriving on it now.

paddypaws101

I agree totally with the idea of system overload sometimes leading to apparent allergy. Many years ago I shared a flat and we had 2 cats.The flat was above a busy main road and I spent half my tome there and half at my BF flat which was in a tree lined street. In spring I developed a terrible allergy to the cats, never having had a reaction before. When spring passed and we moved away from the traffic fumes the symptoms disapperared ( phew ) so it was a cross re-action of pollen and fumes AND cat hair.
Still...if I knew I had an allergic re-action I don't know if i would take the risk and take on a cat. Streaming eyes and a stuffy head are no fun at all and homeopathy does not work for everyone. Sadly it may just mean that you are not meant to have cats.

Person_one

paddypaws101 wrote: »

I agree totally with the idea of system overload sometimes leading to apparent allergy. Many years ago I shared a flat and we had 2 cats.The flat was above a busy main road and I spent half my tome there and half at my BF flat which was in a tree lined street. In spring I developed a terrible allergy to the cats, never having had a reaction before. When spring passed and we moved away from the traffic fumes the symptoms disapperared ( phew ) so it was a cross re-action of pollen and fumes AND cat hair.
Still...if I knew I had an allergic re-action I don't know if i would take the risk and take on a cat. Streaming eyes and a stuffy head are no fun at all and homeopathy does not work for everyone. Sadly it may just mean that you are not meant to have cats.

I understand that this may be the case, but I intend to explore every avenue to find out first! I used to think I'd never be able to live with a dog but have found quite a few breeds that have no effect on me at all!

I would get another dog if it were an option but me and OH both work full time and live in an 10th floor flat. I've considered house rabbits and other small animals. I've had rats before and been fine but maybe a rabbit would be a bit too much fur!