Tuesday, September 26, 2006

hypoallergenic cats?

i was browsing the wthr website looking for local news, when i happened to see this link in the "recently featured" section: hypoallergenic cats

from the website:
The cat allergen is a potent protein secreted by the cat's skin and salivary glands. ALLERCA has focused on naturally occurring genetic divergences (GD) already present in cats that do no harm to the cats in any way. The resulting ALLERCA GD hypoallergenic cats will now improve the health and quality of life for millions of cat-allergy sufferers.

While some breeds of cats have been promoted as having less allergen than others, scientists that have tested this hypothesis have shown that all cats, regardless of breed, produce allergens. The ALLERCA GD cat is the only scientifically-proven cat that helps those individuals with feline allergies and was developed using proprietary methods under ALLERCA's pending patents.

The first breed of the ALLERCA GD hypoallergenic cat is friendly, playful and affectionate. The ALLERCA GD cats come in all coat colors and patterns. The coat is medium-long with low maintenance and minimal shedding.

i don't have cat allergies (or if i do, they're mild enough that i can't tell them apart from my other allergies), and even if i did, i wouldn't have the 5 grand to buy one of these kittens and have it delivered. so i'm not sure what to make of this. part of me can't help but marvel at the science... have they really bred hypoallergenic cats? another part of me just wants to look at the cute pictures of kitties. and then my cynical side has to wonder about allerca's breeding conditions: are they humane?

still, if the tech works, and no dark secrets come out, i can see these allerca people making a lot of money.

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