Hypoallergenic Kitties

I am allergic to everything. Everything includes cats -- from my reaction, several times over. I also own cats.

Although I am generally opposed to the patronizing of animal breeders for obvious reasons, my wife and I own two purebred Devon Rex cats. They were pricey, hundreds of dollars each, and although they have a different appearance and temperament than most DSHs, what made them worth the cash to me was their status as one of three generally accepted hypoallergenic cat breeds.

• The Devon Rex is a modern cat breed identified in England in the '60s. They are named after their rexed (curled) fur. They are missing a standard layer of DSH fur and are light shedders.
• The Cornish Rex is another rexed kitty which was identified in England slightly before the Devon. They share the Devon's allergy-related traits.
• The Sphynx is another recent DSH breed -- but unlike the rexes is basically hairless. This makes them very light shedders :-) Sphynxes are harder to get in the US than the rexed breeds and tend to be more expensive. They can also leave oily patches on your furniture and clothing.
• The Siberian is a long-haired cat breed that is also anecdotally hypoallergenic. I don't know much about them; they weren't really available when we got our kitties.

Unfortunately, none of these cats are truly hypoallergenic. People who are allergic to cats are allergic to the DSH protein Fel d 1. Research suggests that the rexes and Sphynx do produce less of this protein, but they still produce it, and so they are still likely to provoke some degree of allergic reaction.

There are two companies who claim to be offering allergy-free cats. I do not know of any peer-reviewed science backing up their claims as yet. Lifestyle Pets and Felix Pets both have more information at their web sites. Their engineered cats cost thousands and thousands of dollars.
I've ultimately been quite happy with my Devon Rexes. They have great, dog-like personalities and desire lots of human interaction. These aren't fat cats that loll around in the sun all day long; even as they have aged they are still very active. They are also great (and very warm -- low fur, low body fat) lap warmers. I am allergic to them, but much less than to a normal DSH. If I pet a DSH and then wash my hands I'm generally fine, but anything more is pushing it. I can rub one of my rexes on my face for a several seconds (don't ask) and generally suffer no ill effects.
Today, if I were going to get another supposedly hypoallergenic cat, I would go to a rescue rather than a breeder.