No, Balinese cats are not hypoallergenic. Why should they be? Because Catster says so? No, the Catster author who lists hypoallergenic cat breeds does not provide any information as to why he/she claims that Balinese are hypoallergenic. Where is the science? Common sense dictates that there is no reason why Balinese should be hypoallergenic and therefore they are not.
All cats have the Fel D1 protein in their saliva. This protein causes an allergic reaction in around 10% of all people it is believed. Unneutered males are more likely to cause the reaction.
For the record ‘hypoallergenic’ means less likely to cause an allergic reaction. It does not mean no reaction.
The truth is that some cats, purebred or not, may be hypoallergenic to a lesser or greater degree. It will be part of their anatomy that they produce less of the Fel D1 protein. Perhaps also older cats might tend to be hypoallergenic if they groom less often because they will deposit less saliva on their fur.
Dried saliva containing the protein flies off the fur into the room and is deposited on furniture. So a person can get a reaction even though the cat is not near by or in the room.
The default position is that all cats are not hypoallergenic. Some individuals might be slightly easier to live with than others and vice versa for people who are allergic to cats. Allergic people should adopt a rescue cat and spend time with the cat before adoption to test their reaction.
People have constantly sought the holy grail of a hypoallergenic cat. The desire to find such a cat lead to the so called scam of Allerca cats. There is money in these cats but they don’t exist. You’ll have to alter the anatomy of a cat to make him/her hypoallergenic. I don’t believe anyone has done that (including Allerca cats) and neither should anyone try. It is just unfortunate that cats have this protein in their saliva. It is bizarrely unfortunate.
Web surfers ask the same question of all the cat breeds: Are ******* cats hypoallergenic. They search for this magical cat. It is a shame because lots of cat lovers probably don’t adopt because they are allergic. I have found, by the way, that an allergic reaction can fade with time. Also it is conceivable that all people are potentially allergic to cats; it is just that in most people the reaction is too faint to notice. That idea has never been discussed.
Note: Balinese cats are long-haired Siamese.
I’m allergic to cats. I take Claratin in the genetic. Problem solved. It costs me around $5 a month.
That’s a very interesting notion at the end, that all people are potentially or mildly allergic. I’ve always thought that either you were or weren’t, but sometimes my eyes will itch painfully. I wonder now if I do have minor flare-ups of what might be a reaction though it’s so minor it may as well just be something else, and practically nothing. I am so glad I’ve been able to be so close to cats and literally can’t keep my hands off them.