Hypoallergenic Cats: Solution for Cat Allergy?
Hypoallergenic Cats: Solution for Cat Allergy?
Oct. 28, 2004 -- For $3,500, you can own the world's first hypoallergenic kitten. Yes folks, the kitten is due off the "assembly line" in 2007 and promises to solve the dilemma of cat lovers suffering from a cat allergy.
Allergy specialists, however, have their doubts.
The cat in question is no clone. It's also not fur-free. It's the product of animal genetic engineering, which will "silence" the gene that produces the Fel d 1 protein produced by a cat's glands. The protein is very prevalent in a cat's saliva and skin and causes a cat allergy in cat-loving (and hating) humans.
When the cat allergy gene is suppressed, the cat produces very little of the allergen protein, explains Simon Brodie, president of ALLERCA Inc., of Los Angeles, the biogenetics company developing this special cat.
"Many people think they're allergic to cat hair or dander, but they're really allergic to the protein," Brodie tells WebMD. "And the nice thing about this process, it doesn't completely suppress the protein production. If the cat still needs this protein, it's still expressing it, so it can produce the protein, but in such tiny amounts that it won't cause problems."
It's not allergy-free, but it produces much less allergen, he explains. "It's like hypoallergenic makeup. The allergens are still there, but in very small amounts that don't trigger allergic reactions."
A British shorthair cat -- a playful, friendly lineage - was chosen for this first line of hypoallergenic cats. Every kitten will be sold pre-spayed and neutered. "We don't want our cat to breed with a non-hypoallergenic cat and [have] someone attempt to sell the kittens as hypoallergenic," says Brodie.
"That's like buying a knockoff Gucci purse that hurts someone's health," he tells WebMD.
"I have my doubts that this is going to work," says David Rosenstreich, MD, director of allergy and immunology at Albert Einstein School of Medicine in New York. "Fel d 1 is the major protein that patients are allergic to. But there are other proteins that cats produce that people are allergic to. Getting rid of Fel d 1 will not create a completely non-allergenic cat," he tells WebMD.
Allergy specialists, however, have their doubts.
The cat in question is no clone. It's also not fur-free. It's the product of animal genetic engineering, which will "silence" the gene that produces the Fel d 1 protein produced by a cat's glands. The protein is very prevalent in a cat's saliva and skin and causes a cat allergy in cat-loving (and hating) humans.
When the cat allergy gene is suppressed, the cat produces very little of the allergen protein, explains Simon Brodie, president of ALLERCA Inc., of Los Angeles, the biogenetics company developing this special cat.
"Many people think they're allergic to cat hair or dander, but they're really allergic to the protein," Brodie tells WebMD. "And the nice thing about this process, it doesn't completely suppress the protein production. If the cat still needs this protein, it's still expressing it, so it can produce the protein, but in such tiny amounts that it won't cause problems."
It's not allergy-free, but it produces much less allergen, he explains. "It's like hypoallergenic makeup. The allergens are still there, but in very small amounts that don't trigger allergic reactions."
A British shorthair cat -- a playful, friendly lineage - was chosen for this first line of hypoallergenic cats. Every kitten will be sold pre-spayed and neutered. "We don't want our cat to breed with a non-hypoallergenic cat and [have] someone attempt to sell the kittens as hypoallergenic," says Brodie.
"That's like buying a knockoff Gucci purse that hurts someone's health," he tells WebMD.
Cat Allergy Specialists Are Skeptical
"I have my doubts that this is going to work," says David Rosenstreich, MD, director of allergy and immunology at Albert Einstein School of Medicine in New York. "Fel d 1 is the major protein that patients are allergic to. But there are other proteins that cats produce that people are allergic to. Getting rid of Fel d 1 will not create a completely non-allergenic cat," he tells WebMD.