Hypoallergenic cat?

[ApollO88]

Does such a thing exist? My DH is allergic to to cats and we're not allowed a dog. There is a furry shaped hole in our family. Can the ladies who are owned by cats offer any insight??

[Fluffycloudland77]

How allergic? Full on anaphylaxis or itchy eyes?.

[YesYABU]

Sphinx cats are hairless- bit of a specialty breed though

[YesYABU]

Sorry, ignore that. Apparently they have very fine hairs and cat allergies come from a protein also found in their saliva. Who knew?

[NeedACleverNN]

My dh has a cat allergy. The basic is itchy eyes and sneezing. Maybe a bit of swelling if he gets scratched.

The worse is it triggers an asthma attack.

We have discovered that long coated cats are not as bad as short hair. We got a kitten with a long coat (or rather a semi long coat) and touch wood so far, apart from sneezing every now and then he has been fine

[Thisisnotworking]

I second the long haired cat being a bit more allergy friendly. If you google there is some explanation for it re the levels of some protein in their saliva being lower. Plus the long hair somehow helps too...
Anyway my DS is allergic to cats so we went to a rescue and had a cuddle with a cat that could have been suitable and then waited. Sure enough he got the itchy eyes and sneezing. Tried another rescue with a long haired kitten and it worked! No allergies :-) or only very mildly after the first cuddle. So the when Mickey came home we were really careful. So always washing hands after touching, cat not allowed in DS' room ect. DS did have a few mild symptoms the first week but that all disappeared. Mickey now sleeps in his bed

[Ilikegin]

Strange about the long haired /short haired advise above, I was going to say the opposite, my brother and sister have both always had severe allergies to our long haired cats, (poor brother growing up we didn't realise this is what it was until cat died) he now lives fine with a short hair but if he come to visit us with a long hair he sets off straight away! Same for my sister!

[Quodlibet]

I have the same level of allergy as NeedACleverNN's DH and our long-haired moggy doesn't set me off anywhere near as much as other peoples' short haired cats.

[NeedACleverNN]

Very strange isn't it?

We only discovered it after he spent the day around my nans very hairy rag doll. It's the first cat he had been able to be around and not have an asthma attack

[nannyplumislostinspace]

Bengals are good for people with cat allergies.

[Fluffycloudland77]

My Dh and dn are allergic to our Bengal.

Dh has to take two inhalers now.

[Bogburglar75]

I always say this but Siberians are lovely (and very long haired interestingly!). DH is allergic and we have had a Siberian kitten for a full year, very successfully.

[ApollO88]

Sorry ladies I went off shopping. Anyway DH gets the itchy eyes and sneezes. When we got together he was really bad with my short haired moggy (Apollo was 6 when he was killed in a RTA) he was on inhalers and double doses of antihistamines (but the cat was there first and I wasn't getting rid of him) when Apollo died and after a few vacuums of the carpet his symptoms all vanished. So he's always been very anti new cat to the idea when I asked over the years. Then we stumbled across a lady with a Siamese who took to him and no sneezing which lead me to google for answers lol

[ApollO88]

And then mighty mumsnet for a second opinion lol

[ApollO88]

My beautiful boy Apollo

[Bogburglar75]

Gorgeous! Try a Siberian, most breeders will let you have an allergy sitting where you do an experimental cuddle.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Apollo was a looker. I'd have kept him too.

Try a Siamese rescue, see if he reacts then.

[LowDudgeon]

DD2 had asthma & eczema as a child but didn't react to our 2 short-haired cats. However when friends acquired a fluffy (as opposed to silky iyswim) long-haired kitten & she cuddled it a bit, her face swelled up & one of her eyes was almost closed.

It does seem to depend on the right combination of cat & person so trying him with different ones sounds like the best way to go

Good luck finding one that fits

[inaclearingstandsaboxer]

I am very allergic to cats - it's their protein not fur I am allergic to.

I have a 21 yr old mangy pussy so I have to take inhalers and antihistamines envy day and I cannot touch her now without gloves on. If I have a cut or scratch on my hand and I touch her my hand swells. If I touch my face after stroking her my face swells and my eyes become so swollen I cannot see because of the 'jelly eye'

I became allergic after getting her and now she is so old we cannot and will not rehome her.

When she goes to the great litter tray in the sky we will be getting rid of the remaining carpets etc and won't be getting another cat.

Which is a shame because I love cats!

[inaclearingstandsaboxer]

My ancient pussy

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

I have a thread running on this exact issue! Have just been looking at Siberian, Bengal etc breeders... £850!!!!

[Bogburglar75]

Oof! Bogbastard didn't cost anywhere near that but yes, I think most pedigree kittens will be a good three figures. It's very weird but it was that or never owning a cat again, and I had a big birthday coming up ...

[Bogburglar75]

There are some breed specific rescues I think, but not many for Siberians as they are quite a new breed in the UK.

[NeedACleverNN]

I've seen breeders of birmans for about £450

[OneFlewOverTheDodosNest]

We've got two Siberians which are supposedly hypoallergenic- frustratingly we didn't do an allergy sitting for our second cat and DP is still mildly allergic to him so if you're going to get one make sure you test!