Short haired cat

[housemover]

I am thinking of getting a cat for our family. Have always had cats myself growing up and am very keen on the idea. The only problem i have is that my 5 year old daughter has very sensitive skin. We visited a friend with very fluffy cats and she ended up with a lot of itching. Does anyone know of a short haired cat that may not cause this problem? Thanks

[bensmum]

I don't know much about specific breeds having always had moggies but I have a friend who has a problem with long haired cats but is okay with short, smooth haired ones.
I don't know if you have a re-homing centre near you but it may be worth having a word to see if they could suggest anything or even if they would let your daughter pet one of the cats to see if there were any problems. The last thing you would want I'm sure is to get one only to find that it irritates your daughter and you have to return it. Other than that do you know anyone with a short haired cat?

[wolf63]

You can actually get bald cats - I have attached a link to one of the breeds and you can see what other breeds they are.

They are really ugly though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphynx_%28cat%29

Susan

[rodz]

A company in the states has bred a cat that no one can pick up any allergy from at all.
It has taken them a long time to breed out the genes that cause irritation to people and this reflects in the price.
When they had perfected the cat it was about �8000 but now is down to the give away price of �2000.
If you throw enough money at it you can almost do anything.
Rodz

[Kleiber]

Allergy to cats is usually caused by the dander in their skin (like human dandruff), not so much the hair. Having said that, the Devon Rex is, apparently less likely to cause an allergic reaction, as they have very close, curly fur. You could also try getting an ioniser - it worked for us when K Jnr was small & had paediatric asthma. We had a cat & the Dr thought he might be allergic to her, but I'm a dreadful mum & refused to get rid of my cat, so I bought an ioniser & put it in his room, and another one in the living room. Worked a treat & K Jnr grew out of the asthma. He's now a strapping 18yr-old & we've got 5 cats!