I was joking with students that some company should get busy and develop non-allergenic cats, so my family could have one. Then I wondered if anybody actually had already done this, so I googled.
There is a company called Allerca that specializes in breeding non-allergenic cats and dogs. For 22 thousand dollars you can have a cat that you can rub your face in even if that would normally require hospitalization. For about 8 grand, you can get a dog that you can play with but have no symptoms.
http://www.allerca.com/html/pricingreserve.html
4 comments:
POODLES!
Big, hairy Standard Poodles!
This photo is somewhat contradictory. Cats are rarely leash-comfortable. I've only seen a handful of such cats in my whole life--and those seemed quite exceptional. Whereas, of course, dogs on leash are legion. This is a classic differential in the two species.
Has there ever been research on this?
Cats seem either unable to understand the idea of being on a tie, or to be preoccupied with removing the encumbrance. We used to have pretty little collars for our Siamese cats, but we could never get ours to wear them. It drove them crazy. Cats may be "wilder" than dogs. Less domestic.
The cat appears to be taller and stronger than ordinary house cats. I wondered if it was crossed with an ocelot or something along those lines.
It appears to be quite ferocious. There was however no explanation. I think the company wants to keep their recipe for these cats secret.
For people whose allergies are uncomfortable but not life-threatening, one can secure a FAIRLY hypo-allergenic cat by getting a Siberian. Spayed females are less likely to cause allergic reaction than even neutered males. Unaltered pets of either sex cause more trouble with allergies, though. Many people with bad cat allergies have gotten on really well with Siberians, and many catteries will send out fur samples of the parents of the litter so an allergy test can be done with the prospective kitty parents.
Curtis is right. Cats have only been "domesticated" for a few hundred years as household pets. Dogs have been our friends since we've been human (so it seems).
-EMMY BEE :)
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