Anyone here living with cat allergies but still has a cat?

Exotic Pets Forum
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So I’ve always loved cats but I’ve got mild allergies :weary:. Eyes itch, nose runs… the usual. I’ve been looking into hypoallergenic cats, but apparently there’s no such thing as truly hypoallergenic? Kinda bummed about that. But I read that some breeds might produce less of that Fel-D1 protein or whatever. Anyone here own a cat with allergies? What breed? How do you manage?

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Yeah same boat here. I got a Balinese and it’s been soooo much better. They don’t shed much and are super chill.

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Laine said:
Yeah same boat here. I got a Balinese and it’s been soooo much better. They don’t shed much and are super chill.

Wait Balinese cats have long fur tho… how are they better for allergies?

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@Jamie
Yeah they do, but apparently they produce less Fel-D1. IDK the science lol but it’s been working for me :man_shrugging:

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Sphynx cats are where it’s at if you don’t mind a lil alien look lol. No fur, no shedding.

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Teo said:
Sphynx cats are where it’s at if you don’t mind a lil alien look lol. No fur, no shedding.

But don’t they still make that protein thing? Fel-D1 or whatever?

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Logan said:

Teo said:
Sphynx cats are where it’s at if you don’t mind a lil alien look lol. No fur, no shedding.

But don’t they still make that protein thing? Fel-D1 or whatever?

Yeah they do, but since there’s no fur to spread it around it’s not as bad. Just gotta bathe them a lot.

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Logan said:

Teo said:
Sphynx cats are where it’s at if you don’t mind a lil alien look lol. No fur, no shedding.

But don’t they still make that protein thing? Fel-D1 or whatever?

Ohh I didn’t know that. So it’s more about the protein in saliva, not the fur itself?

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Javanese worked for me. Short hair, no undercoat. Plus they’re super active and funny lol.

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Marin said:
Javanese worked for me. Short hair, no undercoat. Plus they’re super active and funny lol.

I’ve never even heard of Javanese cats tbh. Are they hard to find?

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Skylar said:

Marin said:
Javanese worked for me. Short hair, no undercoat. Plus they’re super active and funny lol.

I’ve never even heard of Javanese cats tbh. Are they hard to find?

Yeah not super common. You probably won’t find them at a shelter, gotta go through a breeder and it ain’t cheap :grimacing:

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Tried getting a cat from a shelter once but my allergies were wild after 2 days… learned the hard way that random breeds are not the move for allergy folks :sweat_smile:

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Tristan said:
Tried getting a cat from a shelter once but my allergies were wild after 2 days… learned the hard way that random breeds are not the move for allergy folks :sweat_smile:

Same here lol. I love shelter pets but yeah, not worth the constant sneezing and red eyes.

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FYI, neutered male cats produce way less of that allergy protein. Also female cats have less too. So maybe that’s something to think about too?

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Sydney said:
FYI, neutered male cats produce way less of that allergy protein. Also female cats have less too. So maybe that’s something to think about too?

Oh wait really? Didn’t know that. So like a neutered male might be better than an unneutered one?

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@Dane
Yup! There was a study on it. Neutered males had like 3-5x less Fel-D1.