What cats are hypoallergenic?

No cats are hypoallergenic although some individual cats might cause less of an allergic reaction that other cats. Also some cat breeds might cause a reduced allergic reaction than other cat breeds. But all the claims are anecdotal. There is no science on this.

Also we should remember that most people are not allergic to cats. The allergen that causes the allergic reaction is a protein in the cat's saliva called Fel D1. It is deposited on the fur when the cat grooms. It dries and flies off into the atmosphere as cat dander. If you are allergic to cats you need not touch a cat but just be in the same area and feel itchy.

Unneutered male cats are more likely to cause an allergic reaction. Incidentally, the word "hypoallergenic" means less likely to cause an allergic reaction.

Cat breeders like to mark out their cat breed as special. It is a marketing method. One Siberian cat breeder claims the Siberian cat is hypoallergenic. I cannot confirm or refute that. The Savannah cat is said, by a respected person who knows, to be hypoallergenic but this is not confirmed with science. The Life Style Pets (Allerca) Ashera GD is an F1 Savannah and claimed to be hypoallergenic. That is why they are sold.

Answering the question, "what cats are hypoallergenic?" we get the answer, "None, except that some will be less likely to cause an allergic reaction in people who are allergic to the Fel D1 allergen." The key is to find the individual cat or go to a Siberian or Savannah cat breeder and see if you start to itch!

F3 Savannah Cat

I have got to show you this photograph of an F3 Savannah cat. The cat's name is "Shine". You can see why - her silver spotted coat shines. The photographer is Kathrin Stucki, the proprietor and manager, with her husband, Martin, of A1 Savannahs, the number one Savannah cat breeder anywhere.

F3 Savannah Cat "Shine" photo: copyright Kathrin Stucki

Shine is a silver Savannah cat. The photograph was taken at Kathrin's own photographic studio on her farm where the breeding cattery is situated.

Savannah cats are not meant to look like Bengals. This is solely my observation but the Savannah cat is, I think it fair to say, more natural looking than the heavily developed (through selective breeding) Bengal cat.

While the Bengal has a variety of coat markings from the classic blotched tabby coat to a rosetted spotted coat, the Savannah has what I would describe as wildcat spots. These are the sort of spots that you see on wildcats not selectively bred domestic cats. I like that, personally as it is more natural. Once again this is my personal view but one reason for this is that the wild cat parent of the Savannah cat is the serval. The serval has a simple, clean high contrast spotted coat against a yellowy background. The Bengal wild cat ancestor is the leopard cat and that wild cat has a coat that is more complex and "fancy" for want of a better word.

The Savannah spotting is similar to the Egyptian Mau's spots, which comes direct it is thought from the African wildcat.

Talking of wildcats, Shine has an awesome wild looking face. It is very purposeful and gentle but with a hint of fierce wildcat lurking underneath. Don't get me wrong, though. All of A1 Savannah cats are highly socialised and make great companions.

Shine is a breeding cat incidentally.

Selected related pages:

F4 Melanistic Savannah Cat

F1 Magic

F1 Focus

F2 Savannah Kittens



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