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need to borrow some cats
Mar. 2nd, 2020 02:16 pmYes, cats.
Vic badly wants a cat and has done a bunch of research about Siberian cats. Many Siberian cats have mutations to the feld-1 protein and thus provoke much less of an allergic response. Actual allergen levels vary wildly within the breed, though, so it's not something one can count on. The purebred Siberians are like $1,800 apiece for kittens. Some of the breeders send samples from the cats to labs to be tested, but the labs seems kind of questionable, and in many cases the kittens are adopted out at 12 weeks even though they might not express their adult level of allergen until 14 weeks of age. Seems a lot of money for not a sure thing.
I have an appointment to talk to an allergy doctor on April 2nd about my allergies. I hear they can now do something about this-- that they now have shots that work. To what extent they work, and how long it takes, I don't know yet.
I'd like to go in to the meeting with the allergy doctor with some real-world data. I think maybe my allergies to cats have faded over time. It's been years since a cat made me wheeze. However, it could be that I'm being more aloof about touching cats, and people are vacuuming better.
We visited the house of a breeder of Siberian cats. She has several cats in residence (however, it's a big house, and she vacuums constantly and runs air filters.) As a test of allergies to these particular cats, I didn't take antihistamine, and I deliberately petted and held and put my face up against the cats, and we were there for about 90 minutes. I'm not sure that I had any perceptible allergic reaction at all. I felt a bit off after putting my face in the cat's fur, but that might be just that after so many years of allergies, I've cultivated a squeamishness about touching an animal's fur and especially getting essence of animal near my face. (Particularly as this cute little animal smelled a bit of wet cat food that had been sitting out.)
So, no itchy eyes, no runny nose, no sneezing, no wheezing, no hives. This would seem to be a successful test of the Siberian cat concept.
But how much would I react to a regular cat? I don't want to pay a ton of money for a purebred cat if it's the case that my allergies have faded and I wouldn't react to any cat.
I need to find out. If you have cats, I would like to come and visit your cats. Pet and cuddle with the cat, if cat will tolerate that. Have your cat sit on a towel, take the towel home, and see if I can live with longer exposure to a surface with essence of cat on it.
Thanks!
Vic badly wants a cat and has done a bunch of research about Siberian cats. Many Siberian cats have mutations to the feld-1 protein and thus provoke much less of an allergic response. Actual allergen levels vary wildly within the breed, though, so it's not something one can count on. The purebred Siberians are like $1,800 apiece for kittens. Some of the breeders send samples from the cats to labs to be tested, but the labs seems kind of questionable, and in many cases the kittens are adopted out at 12 weeks even though they might not express their adult level of allergen until 14 weeks of age. Seems a lot of money for not a sure thing.
I have an appointment to talk to an allergy doctor on April 2nd about my allergies. I hear they can now do something about this-- that they now have shots that work. To what extent they work, and how long it takes, I don't know yet.
I'd like to go in to the meeting with the allergy doctor with some real-world data. I think maybe my allergies to cats have faded over time. It's been years since a cat made me wheeze. However, it could be that I'm being more aloof about touching cats, and people are vacuuming better.
We visited the house of a breeder of Siberian cats. She has several cats in residence (however, it's a big house, and she vacuums constantly and runs air filters.) As a test of allergies to these particular cats, I didn't take antihistamine, and I deliberately petted and held and put my face up against the cats, and we were there for about 90 minutes. I'm not sure that I had any perceptible allergic reaction at all. I felt a bit off after putting my face in the cat's fur, but that might be just that after so many years of allergies, I've cultivated a squeamishness about touching an animal's fur and especially getting essence of animal near my face. (Particularly as this cute little animal smelled a bit of wet cat food that had been sitting out.)
So, no itchy eyes, no runny nose, no sneezing, no wheezing, no hives. This would seem to be a successful test of the Siberian cat concept.
But how much would I react to a regular cat? I don't want to pay a ton of money for a purebred cat if it's the case that my allergies have faded and I wouldn't react to any cat.
I need to find out. If you have cats, I would like to come and visit your cats. Pet and cuddle with the cat, if cat will tolerate that. Have your cat sit on a towel, take the towel home, and see if I can live with longer exposure to a surface with essence of cat on it.
Thanks!
