In article >, "Ophelia" >
wrote:

> Just beautiful I can't have cats I am allergic to their dander

Hi Ophelia,

I'm allergic to cats, too. Although my reactions are usually limited to
sneezes and wheezes, not the life-threatening, turning-blue, trips to
the emergency room stuff.

Cindy is a long-time cat lover, and I like critters of all kinds, so we
made an effort to find a workable solution. We discovered, after
visiting the homes of several breeders, that some types are more or less
likely to trigger my allergies. Oriental breeds seem to be the worst
for me: Siamese, Tonkinese, Birmans. I've read reports that this is
true for other people, too.

I seem to do OK with Russian Blues, perhaps because they have an unusual
type of fur (short, very dense). Our first two RB's, Jasper (recently
departed) and Phoebe (14 and still going strong) could jump and crawl
all over me, without causing a sniffle. I'm having a bit more trouble
with Luka - I was getting some asthmatic reactions when he arrived. But
there may have been some compounding effects from high levels of grass
pollen in the air. The reactions seem to be abating, so maybe my immune
system is learning and adapting.

Phoebe and Jasper came from a European line of Russian Blues. Luka is
from an American line that was bred for a smaller, more slender body
shape. These differences are purely fashione/style issues, dictated by
the prevailing breed standards in various parts of the world and the
tastes of the judges at cat shows. Back around WW2, RB's were
outcrossed to Siamese to improve the robustness of the genetic pool.
It's possible that the current breeders, by selecting out animals with
the slender (more oriental) body type, are also creating cats with more
of the proteins that trigger my allergies.

I'm not trying to convince you that RB's will work for anyone who is
allergic to cats. Allergies vary from person to person, and (as I
found) from cat to cat, too. Even the hairless sphynx cats causes
reactions in many people. But if you really like cats, you might find
it worthwhile to talk to an allergist, and maybe test your reactions to
different breeds.

--
Julian Vrieslander