Pet allergies: October 2006 Archives

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.