Hi all, I've been to visit a breeder of Siberian
cats in Norway. Siberians have become known for being hypoallergenic and
the theory is that they have less amounts or lack an allergenic protein called
Fel d1.
Anyway, I tested the cats and had no reaction to the adult cats and a negligible
reaction to the kittens. My cat allergy is not so severe as many others but
if I hold and pet ordinary cats like that I would have gotten a reaction.
What was so fascinating that about everything the breeder told about the
cats, their origin, their situation as a scarce number, foreign, hypoallergenic
breed and the breeder's efforts, one could substitute "Siberian Cat" with
"Curly Horse" and it would be like a mirror of our situation! She said they
thought the lack of the protein was due to cold climate adaption! Now remember
these cats are not the slightest curly coated. I have always thought of the
curls and the hypoallergenic trait being connected. She asked if the curlies
was also specially well adapted to cold climate, and I said um, well, YES!
Even more exciting is that her husband that is a biologist or something similar
(I have to get his title right later) and already have one doctorate degree,
is going to spend years on doing a second, on the hypoallergenity of the
cats! And they are very interested in cooperation across the species.
