Mary Allen
If you love cats but are allergic, you still have to do without your pet. The allergy-free cat developed by a US company was nothing more than a scam. However, the latest reports from a spin-off company from the University of Zurich sound promising.
Around ten percent of the population suffer from a cat allergy – and react to the sweet four-legged friends with red eyes and sneezing instead of with a “Jö”. The main culprit is the cat protein “Fel d1”, which is produced in the sebaceous, salivary, and anal glands and is distributed over the entire fur by licking. This persists surprisingly stubbornly in living areas and can still be detected a year after a cat has been removed.
Even if people do not react allergically to the cat hair itself, but rather to certain proteins, the cat hair plays an important role in that it falls out every day and thus spreads the allergens over a large area. So it’s no wonder that various cat breeds are advertised as “non-shedding” and therefore particularly “low-allergenic”. According to veterinarian Patrick Hensel from the veterinary special practice for allergies in Basel, this is a myth: “I am not aware that there is a breed that does not shed.” Especially since shedding depends on various factors, including stress, seasons, and health conditions. And because hair isn’t the problem, hairless breeds can also trigger allergies.
Take it Home as a Test
In fact, affected individuals do not seem to respond to all cats in the same way. According to the Swiss Allergy Center, for example, it has been found that neutered tomcats and females secrete fewer allergens than the rest of the cats. However, “most allergy sufferers” would still react. According to veterinarian Hensel, it is safest for allergy sufferers to first take the animal in question home for a test: “To see how one reacts.”
The wholesaler’s solution, according to which the cats can be treated with anti-allergenic shampoos, is also controversial among experts. “In my view, the use of cat shampoos does not make sense because the main allergen is also excreted with the saliva,” says Martina Schybli from the Swiss Animal Protection STS. In addition, many cats do not like to come into contact with water: “A shampoo is therefore not pleasant for the animal either.”
HypoPet AG’s main project is to reduce the allergy potential in humans. The spin-off company from the University of Zurich is developing a vaccine that “starts at the source”. Specifically, the cat should be vaccinated against the allergy-causing protein “Fel d1”. According to Gabriela Senti, director of research and teaching at Zurich University Hospital and founder of HypoPet AG, pilot studies have already been carried out successfully – i.e. without side effects for the cats. “It’s extremely important to us that we were able to show that,” says Senti. A market launch is planned for 2022.
7000 Francs for a Cat
More and more people are paying a lot for the love of pets – and are thus also calling dubious business people onto the scene. In 2013, for example, the US company Allerca made negative headlines. The biotechnology company had sold supposedly low-allergen cats for around 7,000 francs to cat fans suffering from allergies. According to the revelations of the US broadcaster “ABC”, the animals sold were normal cats.
Other US companies such as Felix Pets, based outside of Denver, are still in business and are promising they are close to bringing allergy-friendly cats to market. The aim is to change the cat’s genome or to remove the genes that produce the “Fel d1” from cat cells. It is unclear how much such a manipulated cat will one day cost. What is clear, however, is that the creation of such a “genome-edited” cat is not easy, because either clone have to be created or work has to be carried out on cat embryos. In addition, it is not known whether cats without the relevant genes would even be healthy.