pet connection

Clara has a secret. Or rather, I have a secret about Clara.

She’s a Siberian, a breed of forest cat from … well, Russia.

Now, aside from my Flat-Coated Retrievers — I’m involved with them because I love these guys, and because it’s a rare breed I want to help preserve with all its historical smarts and working abilities, not just as a family companion — most all my pets are adult-adopted rescues. I’m Sheltie Drew’s fourth home, and Pip came from a shelter in Modesto, Calif., with the help of German shepherd rescue. Two of the three rabbits I’ve had came from the Sacramento SPCA, and VTR was handed to me by a crying child in a Petsmart parking lot. Eddie the Caique parrot (interesting aside: The linked Web site lifted a picture of mine without asking — that’s Eddie on the bottom right) came from a reputable source recommended by my “Birds For Dummies” co-author Dr. Brian Speer, but my first parrot, Patrick the Senegal,was a sickly little guy who’d been left at the vet’s to die after his owners couldn’t afford his care. (He lived two years with me, with Dr. Speer’s help, despite all Patrick’s illnesses.) I chose Eddie because I wanted a small, relatively quiet, un-talking parrot, and I knew the bold and playful Caique would do as well as any parrot could in a multi-species household.

Obviously, my preference in a cat would be a shelter or rescue adoption, but there’s a hang-up: I’m moderately allergic, and my brother is severely so. Now, I can live with my allergies — and do, since I’m slightly allergic to the dogs and moderately allergic to the rabbit, too — but I couldn’t live without having my brother over here all the time, since he’s my best friend.

I explored the potential for less sneezing and wheezing from the Rex cat breeds, but they were just normal cats to my allergies. And then, fellow pet-care columnist Denise Flaim of Newsday wrote that some allergic people seemed to able to live happily with Siberians. Since my personal preference leaned toward big, long-haired furballs anyway, this seemed to good to be true.

The research began. I talked to veterinarians researching feline genetics, and with their help I finally found a breeder who tested the allergy levels of his cats (along with other health-related tests) and bred for good health and low allergy levels.

Clara has been here almost a year, and neither I nor my brother have once sneezed or wheezed in her presence. To me, to have a cat again and my brother not sick when he’s in my house is a dream come true.

Now, before you run off to some Internet kitty-mill site to order a Siberian from someone jumping on to the bandwagon, stop. Not all Siberians have the potential to be lower in allergy triggers and not all low-allergy Siberians will work for all allergy sufferers. You need to be careful to work with a reputable breeder who’s testing the cats for both allergy levels and the health problems (heart, in this breed) that can pop up. And you need to make sure you, personally, are not sneezing and wheezing around the breeder’s cats.

Of course once the news really gets out there, all kinds of quick-buck scumbuckets will be selling “hypoallergenic” Siberians, or cats that look like Siberians (which basically is any big, agile long-haired cat, or a Maine Coon or a Norwegian Forest, etc., etc.). You need to do your research, allergy-test yourself with the breeder’s cats, pass the breeder’s screening and then be willing to wait a long while. (A year on a waiting list, in my case.) If someone is going to ship you a kitten today, with nothing more than a few mouse clicks and a credit card number, you should run away as quickly as you can. Don’t support unscrupulous dirtbags who are trying to take advantage of people while adding to the surplus of adoptable cats. Just don’t do it.

But if you’re a cat-lover with mild to moderate allergies and haven’t been able to have a cat, you may — let me stress may — be able to live with a Siberian from a reputable, ethical breeder with allergy-tested lines. And the evidence on that is purely anecdotal … but I’m one of the success stories.

About that announcement? Next month another Siberian is joining the household, from the same breeder (another year on the waiting list!) He’s three weeks old now, a red tabby with white accents. I can’t wait! Cute, isn’t he?