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No-sneeze cats? Use Teh Google before buying
By Gina Spadafori
September 17, 2009
We’ve written about this before, and we’ll likely write about it again. But the creator of “lifestyle pets” is in the news again. From the Santa Cruz (Calif.) Sentinel:
Company founder Simon Brodie estimated [Linda] Selby would have a kitten in 12 months, and though that deadline is not long gone, Selby said she has been promised too many delivery dates and is concerned after finding recent complaints about the company, and about Brodie’s former business dealings, online.
Then she was unable to get any response from the firm for two months. An e-mail finally came Wednesday, though, with a promised October delivery. But Selby, who works as a tutor, is not biting.
“I don’t believe it,” she said. “I don’t want to get my hopes up. I love cats, so it was very exciting and then very heartbreaking. Last year it seemed legit and it’s not like I wired money to Nigeria or something.”
Brodie said the cat production business is fraught with inherent delays and uncertainties.
[...]
The company was based in San Diego, then Delaware and now is in Las Vegas. They are in the process of being sold, Brodie said, declining to name the buyers or to say whether he was staying on.
Here’s the rest. With all due respect, Ms. Selby, you didn’t do very much research before wiring away your hard-earned $5,000. If you had, you would have found enough to give you pause, at the very least. I hope you find a cat you can live with, not become a lesson to others because you wanted that cat too much.
Word to the wise: Use Teh Googles, people. Use Teh Googles.
And by the way, although no animal can be guaranteed to not trigger allergies in someone, some people have reported success with some lines of Siberian cats. I know that for an actual fact, because my own Clara and Ilario are exactly such cats, from a breeder who works to produce low-allergy cats — and even he doesn’t make any hard and fast promises, because people aren’t machines, and neither are cats.
Clara and Ilario are the first cats I have been able to share my bed with since childhood. My brother probably couldn’t share a home with them — he’s even more allergic than I am — but he can spend hours here before his eyes redden and nose twitches.
Of course, the fact that some Siberians seem to cause fewer allergy problems doesn’t mean all Siberians will. Not to mention: You know darn well there are people out selling any kind of Siberian-looking cat with long-hair and a heavy body, calling it a “hypo-allergenic” Siberian with all kinds of hype and promises.
Buyer beware. Always.
Image: Ilario and Clara, complaining about being forced to stay inside while the dogs play in the yard.
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Wow, I didn’t know there were low-allergy cats. I am fairly allergic, which is a big nuisance, given all the time I spend each week at shelters.
When I had my pet-sitting business, it seemed like the orange “Morris the Cat” breed (is that tabby??) gave me the worst trouble.
Ahh CHOO!
Worse than the sneezing was the itchy watering eyes. For hours.
Comment by Mary Mary — September 17, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
Simon Brodie has an Internet trail of scams that would probably encircle the globe twice if not more, both in Britain and here in the US and is easily googled just by typing his name.
Comment by Anne T — September 17, 2009 @ 6:59 pm
Adorable cats, Ilario and Clara.
BTW, I finally have the numbers beside the comments. Ya-hoo, and without Firefox, too, which did give the numbers.
It was either “Black Dog” or my windows update, but I am glad I have the nos. now.
Ilario is almost twice the size of Clara, but he is a year younger. Could it be because he is a male? :>)
Comment by Colorado Transplant — September 18, 2009 @ 6:01 am
‘Brodie said the cat production business is fraught with inherent delays and uncertainties.’
They call it cat PRODUCTION business?! What a d-bag. Who’d want to buy from a person who uses that kind of language when referring to living beings?
Comment by Pai — September 18, 2009 @ 10:31 am
From the article, it’s not clear if he used the words “cat production business” or the reporter did. It’s not in quotes, so one must presume the reporter did.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — September 18, 2009 @ 10:36 am
I have horrible cat allergies, and I still have 3 cats. I’m in the process of immunotherapy and so far it is helping a LOT.
We have 3 cats…2 Siamese and a Birman. None of these cats seem to trigger my allergies as much as our Siamese Mix did who recently passed away. I think one of the big keys to living with cats when you have allergies is finding a cat with as little undercoat as possible. The undercoat seems to be where the dander lurks; the thicker the undercoat, the worse you’ll be.
That’s my experience anyway :)
Comment by Celia — September 18, 2009 @ 11:02 am