Best cat for allergy?

[Hellokittycat]

We are just starting to consider the possibility of a cat as a pet at some point. Dh is allergic though. He sneezes a lot and gets asthma if he goes in a house with cats (even if the cat is not in) but once he's been to a house with a certain cat in it a few times he stops reacting when he goes there and only reacts if he strokes the cat a lot and doesn't wash his hands straight away.
I'm wondering if there are cats that don't moult? Thinking this night help or even cats with much less hair as I'm presuming it's the hair that causes the reaction?
Also we are thinking that as his reaction lessens after a couple of visits that he may well become immune after a short time to cat in our own house?
What do you think?

[Rhubarbgarden]

I could be wrong, but I think Devon and Cornish Rex cats are supposed to be low-allergy. I also once visited a house full of fur-less sphynx cats; the owner said they had them because her son was allergic to normal cats. I'm not sure about the ethics of sphynx cats though.

[TheHouseCleaner]

My cousin was talking about this only today. She's severely allergic to cat hair but was told that lighter coloured cats can often cause less of a reaction than darker ones.

Being a scientist she had to do a bit of research, carried out doing online reading and by meeting cats of various colours and monitoring the results, and the results seemed to bear out the theory.

[MollyBdenum]

Siberian cats produce less of the allergen in their saliva, so lots of period with cat allergies can live with them.Many breeders offer allergy visits where you can snuggle cats in an environment with no other allergens to see if you react.

[KatyMac]

This is what I've been told:

Cats have 3 layer of fur - the bottom layer is the very fluffy lightest hair and it's the one people are most allergic to.....but more people are allergic to the spit that the cat uses to wash their fur

Siamese& Oriental don't have this 3rd layer (apparently) & my very allergic DH & Dad have not been allergic to our 4 Siamese/Oriental cats

[MollyBdenum]

Siberian cats produce less of the allergen in their saliva, so lots of period with cat allergies can live with them.Many breeders offer allergy visits where you can snuggle cats in an environment with no other allergens to see if you react.

[VenusDeWillendorf]

I'm not allergic to silky orientals like Siamese, Burmese or Tonkinese.

Other cats I have to flee from in about a minute with my ventolin on max.

[RubbishMantra]

No cat is hypo-allergenic, and a decent breeder will make this clear to you. Sphynx, Cornish and Devon Rex moult less.

I have a Devon Rex, and yes, he produces hardly any moult. However, it's the dander (dead skin and saliva) that usually provokes the allergic reaction. Best thing to do is visit a breeder and their cats to see if DH has a reaction.