It’s unfair that some people are allergic to humankind’s greatest pal. An lovely canine or cat should carry pleasure to these round it, not depressing sniffling and sneezing. But between 10 and 20 p.c of the world inhabitants is allergic to cats and dogs, marking a good portion of people who find themselves delicate to 2 of the world’s hottest family pets.
Hypoallergenic cats and dogs are a purported resolution. But what does it imply to be hypoallergenic — and does such a trait actually exist?
What does a hypoallergenic pet actually imply?
Cats and dogs produce a number of allergenic proteins, Sandra Koch, a veterinarian and professor of comparative dermatology on the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, tells Inverse. The commonest ones seem of their saliva and shed pores and skin, or dander. People with allergy symptoms to those proteins expertise immune reactions, that means their immune system responds as in the event that they’re micro organism or viruses, deploying a bevy of disagreeable signs like sneezing, itching, or coughing.
Some cats and dogs are deemed hypoallergenic, which implies they’re “relatively unlikely to cause an allergic reaction, but still can,” Koch says. Dog breeds believed hypoallergenic embody hairless terriers, poodles, bichon frise, and schnauzers whereas cats embody the Cornish Rex and hairless sphynx, based on Koch. These animals supposedly don’t shed as a lot, or could be hairless altogether, however that may not make a distinction in the case of allergy symptoms. Koch says that dogs can produce allergens of their blood, prostate, and anal glands, whereas cats make allergens of their pores and skin oil glands, anal glands, blood, and male cats produce them in urine.
Salivary allergens are particularly problematic as a result of as cats and dogs groom themselves, they unfold these proteins throughout their physique. These compounds can even cling round within the air for a number of days. Even in the event you get a hairless cat or canine, an allergy to their saliva could make them a menace to your immune system.
What the research actually say about hypoallergenic pets
Research fails to indicate any large variations within the quantity of allergen within the air of a home with a hypoallergenic canine in comparison with one with out one. A 2012 research revealed within the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology sampled hair from 196 hypoallergenic dogs and 160 non-hypoallergenic dogs, in addition to airborne mud samples from the animals’ houses. They looked for main sources of the allergen Can f 1, a typical canine allergen, which they detected in “almost all hair and coat samples.” A 2011 paper revealed within the American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy got here to comparable conclusions. It additionally analyzed Can f 1 ranges in mud samples from houses with each sorts of dogs. Allergen ranges didn’t differ considerably between houses on this case, both.
As for cats, one small research from 2014 revealed within the journal Clinical and Translational Allergy concerned 14 cats. It discovered that hypoallergenic cats secreted and distributed much less of the allergen Fel d 1 in comparison with non-hypoallergenic cats.
Still, Koch is hesitant to place her confidence in hypoallergenic cats due to allergy symptoms’ complexity. “Not all dogs and cats produce or shed the same amount of allergens,” she says.
While hypoallergenic pets could have good advertising and marketing, Koch says there’s no science to again up their effectiveness. She says that whereas some breeds shed much less or by no means, “the truth is that all furred pets have the potential to cause a reaction in an allergic individual and, to this date, no breeds have been scientifically proven to be ‘allergy proof.’” You may assume that “furred pets” is the catch, that means hairless pets are protected, however since allergens can come from saliva, blood, and glands, fur isn’t the most important issue.
So is there such factor as a cat or canine that’s freed from allergens? “The simple answer is no,” says Koch. “Allergy is very complex and the allergen triggers and contributing factors can be quite different among individuals.”
