Hypoallergenic Cats 215
Lambticc writes "The BBC is running an article about how a US firm has successfully bred cats to reduce the production of the protein which causes an allergic reaction. Since the result was achieved through selective breeding, there should not be any complaints from the anti-GM lobby." From the article: "The cats will not cause the red eyes, sneezing and even asthma that some cat allergy sufferers experience, except in the most acute cases. Despite costing $3,950 (£2,104), there is already a waiting list to get one. Allerca first started taking orders for genetically engineered hypoallergenic cats back in 2004."
Dupe (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Yes, but they are now shipping! (Score:5, Funny)
Selectively Breaded Cats (Score:2)
Funny, I figured they'd be available down at the local Chinese restaurant...
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Maybe it has something to do with catbread [ytmnd.com]?
(more [ytmnd.com], originals [flickr.com])
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Re:Dupe (Score:4, Informative)
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"Down kitty, no I'm not a scratching post AAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE"
And to think some people PAY for vasectomies.
Fucking cat.
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It's funny how dog owners are expected to pick up their dog's sh1t and put it in a bin, but cat owners are allowed to let their animals roam free and crap whereever the hell they like, but obviously not in the owner's garden because cats like to crap elsewhere! Nice.
Years back our dog got into the next door garden after chasing their cat and the neighbour came around to complain. My dad was quite happy to comply ... "certainl
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2. The cat by its temperament is unlikely to attack a human, its natural prey being always smaller than itself; when outside its own territory, if it confronts a giant, it prefers to flee. The fox, a locally populous wild creature,
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I used to live in a block in Germany. There where 2 families having cats in the block. They thougth all of the following was reasonable to expect their neighbours to put up with:
Why this is news (Score:4, Interesting)
1. Have you seen a Siberian? The Siberian isn't just another body shape or fur pattern, it's something as big as your arm. It's a _huge_ cat. It's bigger than some dog breeds. (And legends have it that some are also actually able to function as a dog, because at that size it feels a lot less threatened by someone human sized. So it _can_ defend its territory from a human, if needed. I wouldn't know if it's myth or not, though.)
Now I'm all for large cats myself, but I can also see why someone would want a standard 5 pound lap cat instead.
2. The Siberian isn't anywhere near allergen-free. In fact, no natural cat breed is, from moggie to lions and tigers. The Siberian does produce a lot less allergen, but for some people it's still too much. So producing cats with even less, would still be welcome news for a lot of people.
3. The Siberian only has less of the cat-speciffic protein. I.e., it won't help anyone whose allergy is to something else. E.g., someone with a generic allergy to fur, will still be just as allergic to the Siberian as to any other cat breed. Basically, if holding a rabbit or petting a dog also gives you an allergy, getting a Siberian won't help at all.
I don't know if this new breed addresses this third point, but it IS one area where improvement is possible.
I have a Siberian (Score:3, Informative)
i have some pretty sensitive (not severe, just very easily activated) cat allergies, but I haven't have any symptoms with our cat. before we got her, as a test, we went to the breeder's house and i stayed in the 'cat room', with five aduts and ten kittens, for an hour - just to make sure i was symptom-free. no problem at all.
i'm also taking Zyrtek, but that's not supposed to be all that great against pet allergies.
Well, here's some more info (Score:2)
So, yes, I'm not that surprised if yours is a female (you say, "she") and I'll guess something like only 1-2 years old, since you say her parents were bigger. Well, that's just the thing: these cats keep growing. Yours will very likely get bigger too.
It's not intended as an insult or anything, but basicall
Ahem (Score:2)
i don't, didn't and don't know why you think i would.
my cat is not huge, and she hasn't grown any in 6 months. i'm sure there are truly huge Siberians, as they are known for their size. but there are also many smaller individuals who are not huge, and painting the whole breed as some kind of dog-like mini-tiger is a bit unfair - they're not all like that.
>Basically you can't extrapolate your experience to _everyone_
well then it's a damned good thing i d
Re:Dupe (Score:4, Insightful)
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Probably didn't get bought (Score:2)
The Fel D1 protein will be all over the cat's fur and in her saliva, so you only need a little hair or saliva to determine how much of it does it produce. Since the fur will be the most problem for people with allergies (due to sh
Mexican Hairless? (Score:2)
So I guess that this new development should really be called: "People who want a hypoallergenic cat that actually looks like a cat and not like a shaved poodle."
* I just did some research and it would appear that Mexican Hairless Cats are an extinct breed, and that the dominant breeds of hairless cat are the Canadian Hai
Heh (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Heh (Score:5, Funny)
Patents? (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe they'll sell one gender of cat?
Re:Patents? (Score:5, Informative)
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Only way they could (currently) close that loophole is by selling only aged and decrepit cats. Young'uns would clone nicely
(sigh...You know you're a nerd when thinking about selling clones reminds you of Compaq.)
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And that, my friend, is why I release all of my pets under the GPL. What an outrage!
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But you could clone a neutered hypoallergenic cat. The offspring would not be sterile.
Of course, the "intellectual property" which is represented by the cat's genetic makeup may also be copyrighted or patented.
Now, if you'll excuse me as I entertain Buttons(TM) here with a Laser Pointer [youtube.com](TM) until I go broke from licensing fees or fall asleep in a hypnogogic Benadryl(TM) haze [wikipedia.org]...
la la la la la atchoo atchoo atchoo! bless me dammit i'm an atheist but i do love benadryl and cats
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Good! (Score:3, Insightful)
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Artificial species (Score:2)
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KFG
Breading? (Score:5, Funny)
("The BBC is running an article about how a US firm has successfully bred cats to reduce the production of the protein which causes an allergic reaction. Since the result was achieved through selective breading, there should not be any complaints from the anti-GM lobby." if they fix this one)
I for one welcome our new hypoallergenic overlords (Score:4, Funny)
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As Norm MacDonald once said:
Side effects (Score:2)
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Does anyone know if this gene has a desired effect besides "make humans allergic to us"?
You don't think "keeping humans away" is enough of a positive side-effect in an animal gene?
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I posted this idea to Usenet back in 1992 (Score:2, Interesting)
The real question (Score:2, Funny)
Good BYEEEEE karma
I have one thing to say about that... (Score:3, Funny)
Okay already! (Score:2)
Great but can they.... (Score:2)
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Or you could just make sure there's no Y chromosome. That's another clear sign. Dude, they're ALL nuts, just in different ways, and to different degrees. That's why they're always a surprise!
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So you banged her too, huh? My advice is to not let her know where you live.
Yawn... (Score:2)
38 million households own a cat?? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:38 million households own a cat?? (Score:5, Funny)
Get off my damned keyboard you whiskerfaced devil!!!
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Re:38 million households own a cat?? (Score:5, Funny)
The Dog sees the Man serving food and water and generally taking care of it and loving it. The Dog concludes: "Wow, he must be God".
The Cat sees the Man serving food and water and generally taking care of it and loving it. The Cat concludes: "Wow, I must be God".
Heh. No, not really (Score:2)
Note that you're not even automatically always the pack leader there. I really mean it that to the dog you're just another dog. Sure, you're the bigger and more dangerous one, and thus a natural choice for the alpha
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Hypoallergenic Handbag (Score:2)
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Why pay $4000 for a cat? (Score:2, Interesting)
Take the Basenji for example. It's hypoallergenic, doesn't bark, grooms itself like a cat, and dislikes water like most cats.
And while they don't bark, they do make a yodeling type of noise.
And, you can usually get one for quite a lot less than $4000.
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They're also content in relatively small spaces, like an apartment. A dog really should be taken outside every day if at all possible.
This isn't a debate about what's "better". It's just some people will
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That's the main reason I have cats: low maintenance!
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Selective breeding vs GM? (Score:2)
IMHO, selective breeding is just one way of genetic modification. It does alter the DNA as well, and the difference is a matter of degree. People have practiced it for millennia, and for some weird reason it's only in recent years that we've had anti-GM activity.
I imagine it's possible to get the same results with modern, direct GM, as these guys did with SB. In that case this is equally evil and unnatural as any GM ;)
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The anti-GM activity is due to the proliferation of new protiens in existing foods that will trigger new alergies/diseases. Also with plants once they start releasing pollen you cant control it.
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Bullshit! Mutations are (mostly) random. If a bioluminescent gene gets mutated into a tomato vine "naturally," it could then be bread in to more vines. The effect could potentially be strengthened via selective breeding.
GM merely speeds up the process (by A LOT).
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Sphynx cats (Score:3, Informative)
Siberian cats (Score:3, Interesting)
They're also very expensive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_(cat) [wikipedia.org]
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I had never heard this anecdotal evidence. Perhaps if I had, the
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i have pretty sensitive cat allergies (i can usually tell if someone has a cat by sitting next to them). but i'm symptom-free with my cat (unless she scratches me, then my skin reacts a little). i also take Zyrtek for allerigies in general and Sigulair + Advair for ashtma in general, so maybe i'm not a good clinical study.
expensive, yes - because they're pure-bred.
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Do hairless cats groom themselves as often? Does their skin absorb the saliva, as opposed to it drying and flaking off (as is the case with cat hair)?
Hypoallergenic (Score:5, Interesting)
As one marketeer put it during a presentation - "My job is great - I sell a product that is 90% air and people pay a premium for it!!"
Questionable Background (Score:2)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060
great news for allergy-suffering biodiesel users (Score:2)
this would certainly get ME to buy as diesel car as I'm allergic to cats !
Copyrighted genetics? (Score:2)
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Don't know what it would take to reverse that process if that is even possible.
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An allergy cure is just three years away (Score:2)
Wrong way round (Score:2)
After all it's a human with the intolerance problem (who probably didn't get to play around in the dirt/with "wild" animals enough as a child so didn't receive the trigger stimulus for the necessary bits of the immune system to develop)
Piracy? (Score:2, Funny)
How about fleas? (Score:2)
I'd pay at least $1000
Selective breeding is "GM" too (Score:3, Interesting)
We have been "genetically modifying" animals through selective breeding for millenia.
It is not neccessary to introduce bits of cells (the narrow understanding of "GM") from other things to modify genes.
If agriculture was invented today, it would've been banned...
Bah! I have hyperallergenic cats (Score:2)
These 2 are super frendly and leave you covered with a thick layer of hair after a few minutes of petting. If you are allergic these pictures could make you sneeze.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webweasel/6022722/ [flickr.com]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webweasel/127260496/ [flickr.com]
he's right (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, there are other predators. Owls are dying because cats eat all the easy prey!
Humans cause mass extinction, sure... by supporting cats. This is especially bad near beaches, because that is where people like to live. Rare beach mice are going extinct. Without them, the beach grass dies and then the beach erodes.
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Haven't you seen Young Einstein? Even the summary mentions this idea of selective breading.
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