What are hypoallergenic cat breeds and do they help people with allergies?

Hypoallergenic cat breeds do exist and as someone who has known people who suffer from cat allergies they do help out manage allergies, at least to some extent. As with many things in life, there is a twist however and depending on how bad your allergies are, getting a hypoallergenic cat might not help manage the symptoms at all.

What are hypoallergenic cat breeds and do they help people with allergies?

When people hear the word hypoallergenic, they assume that it means something is completely void of allergic triggers. That’s not the case however. Hypoallergenic just means that whatever it is that we are talking about, in this case cat breeds, are less likely to trigger allergic reaction in people who suffer from allergies. No cat is completely void of triggering allergic reactions, although some companies like Allerca and Felix Pets are claiming they managed to breed cats without the gene that is causing production of glycoprotein responsible for allergic reaction in humans.

Nothing has however been fully collaborated by scientific research, so use caution if you plan on buying kittens from these companies. But before you do that, you might want to look into hypoallergenic cat breeds who have demonstrably showed that they don’t cause allergic reactions in people with mild to moderate allergies. We’re talking about breeds like Sphynx, Siamese, Ocicat, Javanese, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex, Colorpoint Shorthair, Burmese, Bengal, Balinese, Siberian, Russian Blue and Oriental Shorthair. For starters, if you are suffering from allergies, try and arrange visits to these cat breeds (shelters, friends) and see which one will be best suited for you. Some of them are better, some are worse for allergies, so make sure to shop around before actually putting in your order.

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