It says here (http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/allergies_to_pets/index.html) that it has nothing to do with hair, actually, and that all breeds of cats and dogs are allergenic to people who have that allergy. Hmm...
Very interesting, the husband is deadly allergic to the cats, his throat closes and he can't breathe. He gets similar reactions from dogs like golden retrievers or labs but, not from soft hair dogs like ours. The grooming regularly might be a more important factor than I ever consider. Ta Da!
According to one of my University biology professors it's a combination of the more often grooming and the fact that since there's such a significantly lower amount of shedding with haired animals then furred ones, the allergens are spread around less.
I personally suspect the grooming might actually be the biggest part of it. My dad's cousin is significantly allergic to cats, however, she owns 8 of them (all but one of which are indoor cats) and suffers almost no side effects from them, and it's not because she takes medicine for it. She's a firm believe in homeopathic treatments and avoids medicines as much as possible. However, what has done is seemed to have developed a system that keeps the allergen levels at a minimum.
Every few days the cats get wiped down with a damp towel, which they really seem to enjoy, and once a month they get a trip to the groomer for a full bath. Also, she has a type of vacuum called a Rainbow that uses water to trap what's vacuumed up, supposedly releasing the lowest amount of dust back into the room possible, and she makes sure to vacuum every week religiously.
That was probably more info than you ever wanted, and more than I originally intended to write, but I do have a tendency to ramble. ;)
:) Well in that case I'll mention one other thing. As the article Emma linked to mentions, in addition to the skin secretions that cause the allergies, allergens are also present in saliva. That would be one of the reasons why people can tend to be more allergic to cats. A cat that bathes itself a lot will carry a much higher amount of the saliva based allergens on their fur then a dog.
Interestingly, there is one breed of cat, the Siberian I believe it's called, that by a quirk of breeding no longer has the saliva allergen. So if someone with a cat allergy is allergic only to the saliva allergen, or primarily allergic to that allergen, they generally are nearly symptom free around a Siberian.
Ok, that's enough putting my biology class to use. Have a good day/evening/night/whatever!
I'm allergic to cats. How badly I react depends on my tolerance. Growing up I would help my mom with her pet-sitting business. I could sit on furniture in a home that had cats, play with cats, etc, and as long as I washed my hands immediately after and didn't touch my face, I wouldn't get much more than a sniffle. I haven't been around a cat in years though and now spending even 10 mins in a house of cats, without even seeing one, can stop up my nose and give my eyes hell.
However, my family has had dogs around our entire lives and so either I'm not allergic to dogs or my body has just gotten used to it.
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Date: 2006-07-04 10:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-04 10:24 am (UTC)The grooming regularly might be a more important factor than I ever consider.
Ta Da!
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Date: 2006-07-04 04:12 pm (UTC)I personally suspect the grooming might actually be the biggest part of it. My dad's cousin is significantly allergic to cats, however, she owns 8 of them (all but one of which are indoor cats) and suffers almost no side effects from them, and it's not because she takes medicine for it. She's a firm believe in homeopathic treatments and avoids medicines as much as possible. However, what has done is seemed to have developed a system that keeps the allergen levels at a minimum.
Every few days the cats get wiped down with a damp towel, which they really seem to enjoy, and once a month they get a trip to the groomer for a full bath. Also, she has a type of vacuum called a Rainbow that uses water to trap what's vacuumed up, supposedly releasing the lowest amount of dust back into the room possible, and she makes sure to vacuum every week religiously.
That was probably more info than you ever wanted, and more than I originally intended to write, but I do have a tendency to ramble. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-07-04 10:33 pm (UTC)Thanks a lot for the explanation, it really helps clear some rather old ideas we had.
Have a great day and yeah! for knowledge!!
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Date: 2006-07-05 12:40 am (UTC)Interestingly, there is one breed of cat, the Siberian I believe it's called, that by a quirk of breeding no longer has the saliva allergen. So if someone with a cat allergy is allergic only to the saliva allergen, or primarily allergic to that allergen, they generally are nearly symptom free around a Siberian.
Ok, that's enough putting my biology class to use. Have a good day/evening/night/whatever!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-05 01:31 am (UTC)However, my family has had dogs around our entire lives and so either I'm not allergic to dogs or my body has just gotten used to it.