Siberian kitten Ollie at 14 wks old, 10 Aug 2017

Here’s a photo taken yesterday of Siberian kitten Ollie, who will be 15 weeks old tomorrow.

Ollie is a seal lynx point, one of three in a litter of four kittens (the fourth is a tabby).

Ollie’s a lovely fellow but his Fel d1 allergen level is “mild/normal”, so he needs to go to a family where there are only mild allergies or no allergies.

See more photos on the Ollie page.

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Mira, now renamed Suki, lives in Sydney, where she is bringing lots of low-allergen joy to the family.

Paula writes:

Paula welcomes Suki to her new home, May 2017

Suki has slotted into family life with ease. I never believed I would be able to have a kitty in my home, let alone enjoy the cuddles and the lap time I’ve been getting. I’ve always suffered from severe reactions to cats: sneezing, hives, itchy eyes, culminating in asthma.

My allergies were very, very mild when Suki first came home and have since all but disappeared! I still pinch myself and can’t believe how fortunate we are to have become her forever family.

The kids have jumped into their added responsibilities without complaint. James is on poop duty and Eleni responsible for washing the litter box once a week and giving Suki a brush. I’ll often find Suki sitting with one or the other during homework time. Suki is very egalitarian when it comes to sharing the love around.

I still find that she follows me from room to room and never really lets me out of sight but she’s become a roly-poly kitty, that loves running the length of the house during her energetic bouts of ‘play-time’ and letting me know it’s time to join in.

Suki, June 2017

Scott has made a 2-metre scratching post (thanks for the inspiration Neil) and she loves being high up. She plays with her ‘kitty tunnel’, scratching post (eternally grateful she only ever scratches there) assorted balls, toy mice and has discovered the basket that holds all our balls of wool! I’ll often see Suki on one of many window sills, watching the birds. She makes a strange little clicking sound when she sees them.

In the mornings she’s shown an interest in running water from the shower or basins. She will play under a running tap and sit outside the shower door telling us she wants in.

Suki samples the Sydney water, June 2017

She’s brought a ton of laughter, smiles and some tears (mostly mine because I’m a sook and love her so much) and I feel we’re lucky to have all found each other. We all appreciate your kindness and care for Suki and our family. It was great visiting and taking the time to feel at ease with a kitty after all these years. I had some serious doubts about being able to ever care for a cat again and I’m so glad that we found you and now have a have a new member of the family.

Thanks so much, Paula. We’ve enjoyed meeting you and Scott and hope for many more updates on your life with Suki.

» See more on the Suki page

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Low-allergen Siberian cat Ksana at 13 months old, 25 Oct 2016

Here’s our 13-month-old seal lynx point queen Ksana.

She’s not only beautiful, she’s extremely low allergen, which is great news for families on our waiting list for a low-allergen kitten.

And if you think she looks pregnant in this photo, you’d be right! Not long to go now, so stay tuned for updates next month.

The post Ksana has good news appeared first on Seacliffe Siberians.

Opening soon: a café for people allergic to cats, featuring…cats. Siberian cats, naturally.

Michael Lebrun, co-owner of Siberian Cat Café, is allergic to cats. But in 2013 he got a low-allergen Siberian cat and now he and his partner have three.

The couple is preparing to open a café with as many as seven Siberians in residence.

“Cat cafés started in Taiwan and became popular in Japan in the mid-2000s before expanding to Europe, then North America,” says Metro newspaper. “Siberian Cat Café is partly inspired by Montreal’s Cafe Chat L’Heureux, which opened last year.”

The café will also have an animal-free room, where people who aren’t necessarily fond of cats can congregate, and a patio where dogs are welcome.

Mr Lebrun says opening date is 4 July, but may be adjusted depending on how the cats settle in.

“The cats really have to make the place their own before we invite people to come in,” he said.

I like coffee and I love Siberian cats, but I have mixed feelings about the Siberian Cat Café.

I hope the cats are given plenty of safe space to be themselves. And I also hope that people with severe allergies don’t come away disappointed if they have an allergic reaction at the cafe. People’s sensitivity to cat allergens varies greatly, as does the allergen level of each cat. Not all Siberians have low allergen levels, although they are more likely to than most other breeds, particularly if their parent are low-allergen.

What do you think? Would you go to a cat café?

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Siberian kittens Ariana, Alexander and Alfie at 11 weeks of age, 21 July 2012

The kittens responded well to the testing, and our informal testing thus far (having visitors with known cat allergies spending time in close quarters with the kittens) has been quite encouraging.

We should soon be able to identify which kittens will be available to which homes.

The post Allergen testing completed on the 3 Siberian kittens appeared first on Seacliffe Siberians.

Ariana rests her head against brother Alfie

The kittens had their first round of saliva sampling today, to test their levels of Fel d1 allergen, which is what triggers most allergic reactions to cats.

Fortunately, Judee has been training them for the past week, getting them used to having a cotton swab worked around inside their mouths.

It must have paid off, because each kitten was pretty relaxed during the process.

Two more rounds of sampling to do, then a couple of weeks’ wait for the results from the USA.

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And I can’t imagine a much worse situation for anyone with a cat allergy than being on an airplane where cats are traveling just metres away in the passenger compartment.

Nevertheless some airlines do allow passengers to bring cats aboard their planes. One of them is Air Canada, which argues that it must allow cats because some passengers require them as “emotional support animals.” [Story on canada.com has been removed]

Air Canada says it is bound by US disability laws on most of its flights. As Postmedia reports:

Unlike in Canada, a US law about the non-discrimination of persons with disabilities in the transportation network recognizes all “emotional support” or “psychiatric-support” animals as service animals, except for snakes and other reptiles, ferrets, rodents and spiders.

“These animals need not have received any formal training. Although cats usually cannot be trained as a service animal (the adage: ‘you cannot herd cats’), they often are used as emotional support animals,” states Air Canada’s submission.

The US rule applies to any flights of an American carrier, and to flights to and from the US operated by a foreign carrier. It also applies to all domestic and international flights operated by Air Canada that are code-shared with United Airlines or Continental Airlines.

Air Canada says “most” of its flights fall into this category, and as an operating carrier of a United or Continental-marketed flight, it “often” has to transport cats as emotional support animals.

Air Canada says “most” of its flights fall into this category, and as an operating carrier of a United or Continental marketed flight, it “often” has to transport cats as emotional support animals.

So which do you think is more important? The need for an emotional support cat, or the risk of being exposed to a cat that causes allergic reaction?

I’m siding with allergy sufferers. Even though Judee and I breed low-allergen Siberian cats, I can’t understand why cats are ever allowed in the passenger compartment. We’ve transported our cats all the way from Toronto to Auckland, New Zealand – in the cargo area – and they’ve managed just fine. As have thousands of other animals shipped worldwide.

I wouldn’t even want our low-allergen Siberians traveling as carry-on baggage. Allergen (Fel d1) levels vary greatly, even among Siberians, as do people’s sensitivity to the allergen.

What’s more, a cat that is under stress is likely to have higher levels of Fel d1 than normal.

We love our cats, but for a few hours of air travel, they can ride down below.

Photo: dicherry on Flickr

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And they say that people who have other allergies, or who allow a cat into their bedroom, are also at higher risk than those who do not.

The European research, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and reported yesterday by Reuters, could be discouraging news for any adult who is just discovering how much pleasure a pet cat can bring.

Fortunately, going catless is not the only option for such people.

There are many things one can do to reduce the irritation caused by a cat allergy, and a number of them are outlined on Tom Lundberg’s excellent website kittentesting.com.

They include placing the litterbox outdoors (and getting someone who isn’t allergic to manage it!), bathing the cat weekly, and general household hygiene.

Complicating the issue, however, is the fact that there are several known cat allergens.

About 90 per cent of people with a cat allergy react to the Fel d1 protein which cats produce in widely varying levels.

Our breeding programme at Seacliffe Siberians aims to reduce the level of Fel d1 in Siberian kittens, so that even it you have a moderate to severe sensitivity to that protein, you may be able to select a cat whose Fel d1 level is low enough for you to be comfortable.

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Our Siberian kittens are pedigreed, bred from lines with no known history of HCM or PKD (heart and kidney diseases). They are raised in our home and are part of our family. They are playful, affectionate and, of course, extraordinarily cute.

Waterlily Calina Seacliffe is our foundation queen. Calina is the offspring of Birchgrove Valeria of Waterlily and Veniamin Black of Lundberg.  She is a beautiful mackerel tabby, and from kittenhood has been loving, inquisitive and fun.

She shares our home with Mari (Varinas Marya Nikolayevna), our gentle, spayed lynx-point Siberian.

Seacliffe is a registered member of TICA (The International Cat Association), cattery no. 22547.

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