News Briefs for the Week of January 28, 2002
By Marcella Durand for Cat Facts
- Are Lighter Cats Less Allergenic?
People who are allergic to cats are, understandably, always looking for a way to get around it. Many of these poor cat-deprived souls, therefore, were very interested to hear about research that seemed to indicate that light-colored felines may produce less allergen (in the cat's case, a protein called Fel D1) than dark-colored ones. However, a new study, conducted at the Wellington Asthma Research Group in New Zealand, suggests that the color and coat length of a cat have no effect at all on how much allergen she or he produces. Researchers in the study measured the amount of Fel D1 in dust from living rooms in 42 single-cat households, but no matter if the resident cat was black, white or calico, there was no significant difference in the amount of Fel D1 found.
The co-author of the original study linking allergies to coat color, Bernard Silverman, MD, of the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, responded, "Given the [new] findings, it makes it even more imperative to see what the levels [of Fel D1] are on the cats themselves."
Robert Siebers, MIBiol, lead author of the current study, agreed, but says, "A possible way to test it would be to wash the cat and to measure the allergen... in the wash solution." However, he asks, "Have you ever tried to wash a cat?"
- New Technique Can Help Detect Feline Cancer
One of the many reasons cancer is so scary is that it can be a hidden disease, with symptoms only appearing when the disease is in an advanced stage. So, it's encouraging to hear that researchers at the University of Illinois have reported great success with cats using a new early-detection technique that identifies enzyme activity associated with cancer. Their study, published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research, says the cancer detection technique, known as the Telomeric Repeat Amplification Protocol or TRAP, found enzyme activity in 29 of 31 malignant tumors in cats, and just one of 22 benign tumors. TRAP is a simple protein test that has already been successfully tested on dogs and humans.
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