Cat allergy experience anyone?

[Barbara]

My niece Eva has a new partner and it turns out he is badly allergic to cats. They came to see us last year and he could not sleep in the night as his nose got so congested he had to sit up in bed to be able to breathe. Next evening he took meds which made him sleepy. Of course our house is full of cat hair and you could really see his face turning red and swollen- even when the kitties were not close.
Now Eva is used to live with pets and badly wants a kitty or two. The test with us turned out as negative as can be.
Now they read somewhere about Rex kitties which should cause less allergies than others.
She also heard about Bengals being hypoallergenic but I never heard about that one.
Does anybody have experience in this?
Thank you for your help.

[Freedom]

I don't know about the Rex cat.

In dogs, those with HAIR are less likely to trigger an allergic reaction, than those with FUR. A dog with hair needs regular grooming, either at the salon or do it yourself. It is a lot of work, but worth it IMO.

I am guessing the same would apply with cats. He should "test" a cat with hair. BUT . . . the allergic reaction is triggered by an enzyme in saliva. Dogs don't self groom the way cats do, so it may well be that even in cats with hair, you can't avoid the reaction.

[Karen]

There's a lot you can do to mitigate the allergies - up to a point. In my case, I am forbidden to ever own a cat by my allergist, who is a wonderful and understand woman, but saw the reaction I had to the test for cats, and was pretty much aghast.

If they get a Sphynx or a Rex, it may work out better than one who will shed a lot. Keeping the kitty out of the bedroom is most important, though, so your niece would have to abide by that, hard as it can be!

All sorts of people claim this or that breed is "hypoallergenic" and it's just not true, the dander and reactions may be lighter in some than others, and it can vary cat to cat in fact. It all comes down to how much he can tolerate, and taking meds may help, at the right dose so it doesn't make him drowsy.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I just saw the latest episode of "My Cat From Hell" on Animal Planet and in the second part of the episode the woman was very allergic to cats. The behaviorist suggested that they bathe the cat regularly and to also get an air filter. They also set up a catio enclosure on their balcony so the cat could go outside and still be safe. The woman said that by doing these 3 things that this helped her allergies a lot.

There is a couple that live in my building and the man is allergic to cats. His wife really wanted a cat so they did some research and they found that the Siberian breed is a hypoallergic cat. They own one and I've seen them at cat shows. The man does have to take medicine before he goes to cat shows but he's been fine with his own cat. I'm sure that there are other breeds that are also more hypoallergenic than others. Here's a link about the Siberian:http://www.siberian-cat-breeder.com/hypo_allergenic_cat.html.