London - If you’re among the millions who suffer from sneezing, coughing and itching whenever you come within a whisker of a cat, the good news is that a jab to cure your allergy is on the way.
And the even better news? It’s the cat who’ll have to face the needle, not you.
Instead of having to resort to eye drops, antihistamines or injections to stimulate the body’s natural immune system, one jab could see cats “neutralised”.
The injection works by attacking a protein carried in a cat’s saliva, urine and sweat that is the most common cause of allergies. Fel d 1 is spread over the cat’s fur when the animal licks itself clean.
The protein then attaches itself to cat dander, tiny particles of dry skin one tenth the size of a dust mite.
As cats prowl their territory, they leave dander on surfaces such as bedding and sofas, wreaking havoc on sufferers whose symptoms are triggered by the protein.
Sheffield company Benchmark Holdings claims the HypoCat vaccine can “neutralise” the Fel d 1 protein altogether, without harming cats.
The firm is spending up to £8million on research by Swiss firm HypoPet, based at the University of Zurich, in the hope of making the vaccine available through vets within three or four years. - Daily Mail