Are men more likely to be allergic to cats than women?

No, would appear to be the answer based on my research (see below) but a survey in Australia found that about twice as many men compared to women attended hospital for an allergy to the feline allergen Fel D1.

In 2021–22, open wounds were the most common type of injury, accounting for 13,420 (57%) cases, followed by fractures (15%), toxic effects (10%), and superficial (5%) and soft tissue injury (4.5%). The upper limbs (46%) and head and neck (14%) were the body parts most likely to be injured. Allergic reactions to animals sent 1,180 cases to hospital, the majority being males who were twice as likely as females to be hospitalized for this reason (5.9 and 3.2 per 100,000 respectively).

 But my assistant Bing Copilot reports this on whether there is a difference:

The likelihood of cat allergies does not appear to be significantly different between men and women. However, it’s interesting to note that non-neutered male cats produce more Fel d1, which is the protein that causes allergic reactions, compared to other cats. This means that male cats might pose a higher risk of triggering allergies, but this does not necessarily correlate with the gender of the human being allergic.

In general, pet allergies, including those to cats, affect a substantial portion of the population, with estimates suggesting that between 10% and 20% of people globally may suffer from some form of pet allergy. The development of allergies is complex and can be influenced by various factors, including genetics, environment, and early exposure to pets.

Sources: Many including: Springer, Sage and An Allergy.

What is Fel d 1?

Fel d 1 is a protein complex primarily found in cat saliva and sebaceous glands. It’s encoded by the CH1 and CH2 genes in cats and is the major allergen responsible for allergic reactions in humans sensitive to cats. The protein’s function in cats is not fully understood, but in humans, it can trigger an allergic or asthmatic response. Interestingly, Fel d 1 levels vary among cats, with non-neutered male cats producing more of this allergen.

Sources: Four including Allergy UK and Wikipedia.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

CAT ALLERGY #shorts (funny video)

A cool little video about cat allergies. It's funny; the mix up is very easy to make. When we speak of a 'cat allergy' it can mean two things: a person who is allergic to cats or a cat who is allergic to certain things like food or environmental allergens.

So, if you say something like: I am looking for a treatment for a cat allergy it's not really clear what you mean. You have to rephrase it like this:

'I am looking for a treatment for my cat who suffers from allergies to unknown allergens'.

Or:

'I am looking for a treatment for my allergy to cats'.

It's boring, I know. But the jokey video is based on this weakness in the English language which is ambiguous on the issue of cat allergies!

Cat allergies video. Screenshot.

Trespassing Cats: A Neighbourly Battle Of Biblical Proportions

Lady releases trapped cat

It happens everywhere especially, as far as I can tell, in the United States of America.  A neighbour likes cats and looks after lots of them. She can't help it. She just loves cats too much and can't stop herself from helping them.

Her next door neighbour either dislikes cats or is neutral about them.  His young boy is allergic to cats. His neighbour's cats wander into his yard. They urinate in his yard and occasionally defecate there as well. He puts up with it but after a while he decided to put down traps then take the cats that are trapped to the local rescue centre.

The cat loving neighbour finds out that she is missing some cats and then discovers what is happening so at 4 in the morning she sneaks out of her property onto her neighbour's property and releases the trapped cats. The person who trapped the cats figures out something is going on because he knows the cats were in the traps at one stage.

We have the makings of a war between neighbours which is something to be avoided at all costs.

Anyway the guy who set the traps sets up surveillance cameras to record what happens at 4 in the morning when his neighbour comes onto this property to release the cats he has trapped. He uses the video material to tell the police what has happened and she ends up facing what in America is called a “criminal trespass charge" for walking onto her neighbour's property.

Trespass is normally a tort meaning a civil wrong and not a crime. In addition, I do know what crime she has committed. Opening traps? Perhaps she damaged the traps.

This must be an American law.  Anyway she will probably end up with a criminal record and the guy who got her prosecuted will end up with an extremely angry neighbour who will carry on doing exactly the same thing as you did before.

No one's a winner, everyone's a loser.  The answer has to be a common sense answer which is that the lady who'd like to look after cats continues to do so but at the same time respects her neighbour's rights and wishes in order to keep the peace with her neighbour. I say that being a cat lover but even cat lovers need to respect other people's rights.

Being a cat lover does not trump everything: the behaviour of a cat lover has to fit in with society just like the behaviour of everybody else.

This is not a made up story but a real one. The lady who looked after the cat is Jean Kerdock-Locke and her neighbor is Ben Sanchez. The live in southeast Albuquerque, USA.

Dust Mite Extract Immunotherapy - Cure for Cat Allergy

It seems likely that science will be able to reduce the large number of people who are allergic to the domestic cat through dust mite extract immunotherapy administered orally in a pill perhaps.

Researchers at University Hospital Southampton lead by Hasan Arshad have discovered that it is possible to dramatically reduce a baby's allergic reaction to allergens causing allergies by exposing the babies to dust mites. As a result they are less likely to develop allergies to food, pets and dust, which points to a future cure for a sizeable percentage of the population of allergy sufferers.

In the trials a quarter (25%) of those in the control group (those given a placebo) developed allergies to:

• dust
• grass
• cats
• eggs or
• peanuts.

This is similar to the general population. Yet only 9.4% of those on the dust mite extract oral treatment did so. The tests were carried out using skin pricks.

These are early days - it will be several years before something is available at your doctor's -  and for many these trials have come too late but they indicate that sensitising children to allergens when very young could help them avoid allergies when they are adults.

There are an estimated 10% of the population who are allergic to domestic cats. This is approximately 30m in the USA. If, in the future, a reduction of about 63% can be achieved, it would dramatically improve the lives of about 20 million Americans who care for a pet.

There are many cat allergy sufferers who wish to look after a cat. In the future there appears to be hope for these people. That would help rehome unwanted cats too.

The cat in the photo caused an allergic reaction in her owner. She was relinquished. Photo by Jennifer McGinn

Injections to calm down your allergic reaction to cats

Yes, injections to calm down your allergic reaction to cats! This is the holy grail of the cat world. An injection which allows you to live with your cat when you are allergic without sniffling, sneezing and scratching.

But does it work? Well, it is too early to know. And how healthy is it? There are lots of unknowns. At the moment we know that for this new product four injections are required compared to the usual 40 which is obviously a huge advancement.

The product is called CATPAD. It is not yet approved by the FDA. However, it has been studied before and at the moment more work is being carried out on the product to make it more effective and safer.

At the moment the researchers into this product are looking for people who have a cat allergy to participate in this new study.

Apparently, about 10% of the population are allergic to cats. It is a terrible twist of nature that many people who love cats are unable to live with their cats without some discomfort.

The best known method of tackling an allergy to cats is to buy a cat that does not produce the cat allergen. That cat is meant to be an Allerca cat.

There was at one time a lot of discussion about that cat. I think we can say that the business was discredited. Their top branded cat (Ashera GD) was in fact a Savannah cat, first generation. As it happens, there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that first generation Savannah cats are to a certain extent hypo-allergenic.

Anyway, if you are allergic to cats and you want to take part in the study I would suggest that you Google CATPAD STUDY and take it from there. Click on this link to get started:

http://www.breatheamerica.com/albuquerque

Good luck.

This video explains how the cat allergy happens. I expect Catpad works in the way described in the video:

Siamese Cat Allergy Information

People search for Siamese cat allergy information. This can mean two things and I will address both here.

First it can mean, "do Siamese cats suffer from allergy problems", through, perhaps, a genetic predisposition i.e. a genetically inherited disease.

There is no evidence that this is the case, as far as I am aware. Please see Siamese cat health problems - a comprehensive list of diseases suffered by this cat breed and particularly the contemporary Siamese.

Secondly, it might be that you are looking for information on whether the Siamese cat breed is hypoallergenic in any way, meaning: "is the Siamese cat less likely to cause an allergic reaction in people?"

There is neither gossip nor scientific evidence that the Siamese cat is hypoallergenic - sorry.

This page provides further reading on the subject of hypoallergenic cat breeds.