Is the Singapura cat hypoallergenic?

No, the Singapura cat is not hypoallergenic. Hypoallergenic means 'relatively unlikely to cause an allergic reaction'. All cats are relatively likely to cause an allergic reaction but it depends too on the person. All cats produce the allergen that can cause an allergic reaction in people: the Fel d1 allergen but not all people respond in the same way. 

Singapura cat. Photo in the public domain.

An allergic reaction occurs when the immune system responds too strongly to an allergen, an over-response if that is a word. The Singapura produces the Fel d1 allergen like all domestic cats. People look for the Holy Grail of cats: the genuine hypoallergenic feline but they don't, in truth, exist. 

Some individual cats may produce less of the allergen than others e.g. females compared to unneutered males but the allergen is still there in their saliva being deposited on their fur or the skin on hairless cats.

There is a food available which coats the allergen muting its effect. Look it up. Remember that this is a food which makes a cat hypoallergenic. There are other cat foods which are for cats who are allergic to certain foods. It is a completely different product.

The food I am referring to is: Pro Plan LiveClear Allergen Reducing Cat Food. Give it a try. It is brand new on the market.

Cat Breeds That Stay Small

There is only one cat breed that stays relatively small as an adult: the Singapura. That is under normal conditions. However, any breeder can, through selective breeding, breed small cats or big cats or cats with certain types and colors of coat.

The popular teacup or miniature cats are not cats of a certain cat breed. They usually look like miniature chinchilla traditional Persians, however.

Breeders of purebred cats are limited to what they can do because there is a breed standard to follow. This is a document that sets out guidelines as to what the cat should look like. Behavior is also referred to occasionally.

I think that you might find that the concept of miniature cats - adult cats that look like kittens - is frowned upon my some people in the cat fancy because it is unnatural and may be unhealthy. However, not all the breeding practices of purebred cats are healthy. It could be argued that breeders of mainstream purebred cats don't have a right to be critical of miniature cat breeders. Perhaps they are not.

A female Munchkin who is a little smaller than average would have the appearance of a small cat because these are dwarf cats. They have normal sized bodies but short legs.

The biggest problem in buying a miniature cat is ensuring that the cat is fully grown. Obviously a sub-adult cat will be small and the breeder might say he is a full adult. This would be a misrepresentation but it would secure the sale.

Singapura Cat Breeders

Cute guy!, a photo by fofurasfelinas on Flickr.

People searching for Singapura cat breeders should ideally look at alternative ways to adopt a purebred cat such as the Singapura before buying. I agree, though, that it can be difficult to find a relatively rare purebred cat such as the Singapura (the world's smallest purebred cat) that needs re-homing. It is still worth tying however.

Before I try some suggestions that might lead to a Singapura in need I would like to mention the photograph illustrating this page. It is a great photo of a Singapura cat by Giane Portal. She calls him "Cute guy!" He definitely is cute. Giane's Flickr name is fofurasfelinas. She is probably the best amateur cat photographer anywhere and better than many professionals.

The photo on this page is protected by copyright. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA).

One interesting source of information about purebred cats are Yahoo Groups. People form groups on many purebred cats. There are a couple I would like to mention that allow people to ask questions. It might lead to something as I said.

One group is called "singapuracat". It seems to be fairly active. The other is called "Smallest Cat Breed" and looks quiet.

The International Cat Association (TICA) list only two breeders, one in France. The Cat Fanciers Association list one breeder! Click here to go to their breeder referral page.

Purebred cat rescue might produce something.  I have a page on that subject and the most lively third party site is this one:  Specialty Purebred Cat Rescue. You will be lucky to find a Singapura though! Although you might change your mind - why not. There are some really nice purebred cats listed that need a new home.

In the UK the clubs are a great resource for breeder listings. The UK seems to be more interested in the Singapura. The Progressive Singapura Cat Club list breeders. Use their navigation bar for Breeder List. Another British club is the Singapura Cat Club and they list breeders on this page.

Before adopting the right expectations etc should be in place. I prepared this page on how to avoid cat behavior problems.



From Singapura Cat Breeders to Home Page

Smallest Cat Breed

Above: Singapura photo by Helmi Flick. The smallest cat breed is fairly easy to find. First, it is commonsense that the vast majority of domestic cats are going to be of a similar size. The mixed breed cats are all medium sized cats with what I would term "normal" (i.e. to be expected of a domestic cat) appearance. They are well balanced cats, they haven't got wedgie heads or extra long legs.

Although some purebred cats will be a bit on the bigger or smaller side they would normally find that happy middle ground. However, the cat fancy demands that cats be of type (the right appearance for a particular breed) and over a long period of time this objective has separated out cat breeds in terms of size making them more distinct.

That said, one cat is known to be probably the smallest cat breed and it is the Singapura, otherwise known as the Drain Cat (see one in a drain). Thus cat is meant to be native to Singapore but they are very few in Singapore as it happens (if any). This cat is probably a hybrid cat created by the cat fancy. You can read more about this breed on the main website.

Although the Singapura is probably known to be the smallest cat breed there are others that might pose a good challenge to that title. In fact there is more than one. The group of cats called Dwarf Cats would probably produce one or two individual cats that are small enough to be a the lower end of the spectrum of cat size.

There are number of dwarf cat breeds. The founding breed is the Munchkin, a not uncommon cat. The other dwarf cats are quite rare or very rare. These are the Napoleon, Skookum, Kinkalow, Lambkin, Genetta, Knook, Minskin and Bambino. There is one other the Dwelf but there is only a drawing of this cat breed the last time I looked.

These cats are normal cats with short legs due to the dwarfism gene. This will automatically make the cat smaller. I'm guessing here but cat breeders of dwarf cats will probably breed from smaller normal cat breeds (crossed with the Munchkin) as a dwarf cat looks more interesting if she is small. I expect all the dwarf cats to be on the small side.

The Miniature cats and Teacup cats are obviously the smallest but these are not recognized cat breeds. They are normally Persian cats (Traditional Persian) bred small through prolonged selective breeding. I cannot include them in this post as the smallest cat breed.

Finally some cats that are normally mid ranged in terms of size can be smaller and more delicate. The Devon Rex comes mind as such as cat, especially when bred to an extreme. Some of the Modern Siamese and Orientals are also lightweights and smaller than average.

You can see the full range of cat breed sizes on this page: Largest Domestic Cat Breed. The smallest wild cat species is the rusty-spotted cat by the way.

Photograph: Singapura cat copyright Helmi Flick  - please respect copyright. Helmi is a professional photographer.

Smallest Cat Breed to Home page