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Some dogs may cause fewer allergic symptoms than others, but there are no hypoallergenic dog breeds. Pet allergies are typically due to proteins found in the saliva and urine of dogs and cats which stick to their dead flakes of skin (animal dander). Some dog breeds that are marketed as hypoallergenic may shed less than other breeds, and therefore less of their allergy-causing dander is released into the air or on the floor than breeds that shed more. However, no dog breeds are truly hypoallergenic.

Source: AAAAI

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 29 -- Feline allergies' nine lives may be up.

A fluffy white cat named Joshua and brethren would have allergic tabby-lovers, long starved of feline companionship, believe the day of the litter box is just $3,950 away. Some allergists are skeptical. Other are taking a wait-and-sneeze approach.

Joshua, now 20 months old, is touted by a company here called Allerca as "the world's first scientifically proven hypoallergenic cat." Others lacking a key allergenic protein have been bred since Joshua.

According to the company's Web site, "These [hypoallergenic] cats allow some of the millions of people with feline allergies to finally enjoy the love and companionship of a household pet without suffering from allergic symptoms."

Dogs can offer babies all kinds of love and attention -- and they might help them breathe easier, too.

Living in a home with multiple dogs may help reduce an infant's risk for developing wheezing in the first year of life, according to a study in the December issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

University of Cincinnati researchers found that infants living in homes with high levels of endotoxins and multiple dogs were more than two times less likely to wheeze than other infants.

Wheeze. Sneeze. Sniffle.

Recent news reports have dangled a stratospherically priced option for wannabe cat owners who are allergic to the bewhisker-ed, twitchy-tailed set. Just plunk down $3,950 (plus a $995 processing and transportation fee) for a hypoallergenic Allerca cat. (For an extra $1,950 "premium placement" fee, you can jump the two-year waiting list and get one next spring.)

Or you can just buy a Siberian for about $700.

"Siberian breeders have already bred a hypoallergenic cat, but people tend not to believe breeders," says cat geneticist Leslie Lyons of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis. "And now here comes a company that says the same thing. It all comes down to marketing."

by Aliki Nassoufis, German Press Agency

GERMANY - For many people contact with household pets is a normal part of their daily routine. But enjoyment of animals can quickly turn sour once a member of the family develops an allergy to a guinea pig or cat. That allergy can manifest itself in sneezing fits, respiratory problems and watery eyes.

In Germany, about 10 per cent of the population is allergic to house pets.

"From a medical standpoint the best thing to do is give the pet away," says Anja Schwalfenberg of Germany's Allergy and Asthma Association in Moenchengladbach.

Although such a measure seems drastic, a pet owner should weigh up how bad their allergy symptoms are without treatment as an allergy can lead to chronic asthma.

Cat is a well-known aeroallergen which may precipitate symptoms of allergic rhinitis and asthma in cat-sensitive individuals. When such patients are seen and evaluated, they are usually told to try and minimize their exposure to cat allergen. If they have a cat, they may be told to find a new home for the cat or to move it primarily outside. As a minimal step, they are asked to never let the cat into the bedroom.

Despite the best efforts to minimize cat allergen exposure in such patients, often they continue to have trouble. New technology to assess both airborne and settled allergen levels show that cat allergen can be found nearly everywhere in indoor environments. In this study, conducted in different locations in Europe, Heinrich and coworkers attempted to quantify the level of cat allergen in mattress dust and to determine whether there was a relationship between the levels of cat allergen in a given community and the level of specific IgE to cat.

To continue previously published news about allergy-free cats.

A California company is busy breeding seemingly magical kitties that won’t make you tear up, ending the misery for allergic cat lovers everywhere but hitting them hard in the pocketbook.

The fancy felines, called “lifestyle pets,” cost $4,000 and are selectively bred because they lack a protein in their saliva that in most cats produces the allergens that give people so much grief.

“We look to provide really special animals for people who have been deprived,” said Steven May, spokesman for Allerca, the San Diego company that is taking applications for the hypoallergenic kitties, including several from Boston customers.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Some people prone to allergies keep their homes pet-free, a study shows -- but such "avoidance" of furry companions only partly explains the lower allergy risk found among pet owners.

The findings, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, lend some support to the theory that growing up with a pet trains the immune system to be less reactive to potential allergy triggers.

If you are allergic to cats, would like to have one and have $3,950 spare, this may be your lucky day. Allerca Inc., California, USA, says it has managed to breed the world's first hypoallergenic cats. People who are allergic to cats and buy one of these will not experience sneezing, red and itchy eyes or asthma - except in very acute cases.

The company says that as soon as the news got out people rushed to place orders and now there is a waiting list.